SciGen Teacher Dashboard
Unit T4
Designing a Fair Test
Reading: Fair Trials in Teen Court
Duration: Approximately 30 minutes
Students read and discuss an article about a teen court program in Florida and think about how fair trials in the legal system might relate to fair tests in science.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Students are learning about the principles of fair testing including objective measurements, controlling variables, and multiple trials. In this passage, students read about a teen court.
Teaching Notes
ACTIVITY OVERVIEW
- Reading the passage (15 min)
- Class discussion (15 min)
Reading the passage (15 minutes)
Read the passage aloud with students or assign as a reading to groups or individually.
Discussion (15 minutes)
Conduct a class discussion using the questions in the last paragraph.
When students give an answer that is unclear but still worth exploring, try the following talk moves:
- Say more?
- Can someone rephrase that?
- Why do you think that?
- What do other people think?
What do you think?
Is teen court a good idea?
Can students be objective when one of their peers is on trial?
Would we be safer if adults who know the law controlled the process and punished teens who broke the law?
Or is teen court the most fair way for teens to have their day in court?
BETA Version - Please send comments and corrections to info@serpinstitute.org
This project was supported by Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation initiative dedicated to engaging everyone with the process of science.
Strategic Education Research Partnership
1100 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 1310 • Washington, DC 20036 • (202) 223-8555
info@serpinstitute.org