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Citizenship at key stage 3 (Year 7-9)
Unit 21: People and the environment
Section 2: How can we weigh up the arguments?
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Objectives |
| Children should learn: |
- about the impact of local action on the wider environment
- about the concept of sustainability
- to contribute to structured group discussion
- to use their imagination to consider other people's experiences and to think about, express and explain views that are not their own
- to understand the terms 'rights', 'responsibilities', 'authority' and 'power'
- to evaluate arguments and draw their own conclusions
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Activities |
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Outcomes |
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Children: |
- Ask pupils to suggest how the behaviour of individuals or groups impacts on the wider environment, and introduce the concept of sustainability, eg what impact would shifting to renewable energy resources have on specific groups of local people and on the environment. Pupils could consider changes in their own behaviour and that of others, eg using a different form of transport, changing car, switching electricity supplier, recycling. In small groups, pupils apply their knowledge and beliefs to this situation and evaluate and decide what should be done, either by:
- a 'consequence mapping' ('what if ...?') activity, in which the impact of change on the people concerned is identified and then discussed in relation to rights and responsibilities, or
- considering the goals, rights and duties of the people affected
- Each group records its discussion (perhaps using a grid showing the goals, rights and duties of a particular group of people). Encourage pupils to identify:
- value judgements, eg we think the farmer has a right to build wind turbines on his land
- where knowledge of scientific principles are useful, eg for taking action or supporting renewable and non-renewable energy resources
- where information is lacking, eg on the power output of a wind farm
- how decisions about this issue are made, eg who decides, whether and how their decisions can be influenced, and what role pupils can play in the decision-making process
- Extension activity: Introduce data on probability and risk and ask pupils to take these into account in weighing up the arguments.
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- identify the wider (possibly global) dimensions of a local issue
- understand the concept of sustainability, referring to examples of how this affects their school and local community
- recognise their own values and opinions about the issues they are investigating
- identify scientific evidence and distinguish it from value judgement
- identify the limitations of available information
- know and understand the terms 'rights', 'responsibilities', 'authority' and 'power' and
relate these to decision-making in the local community
- evaluate different situations and make decisions about how to take responsible action
- justify their personal opinion
- recognise how young people can contribute to decision-making processes
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Points to note |
- This activity aims to: develop understanding of links between the local environmental issue and its wider impact; extend citizenship ideas from rights and responsibilities to include value judgements, power and authority; gain insight into the power and limits of science and information.
- Alternatively, use a pupil-enacted drama to prompt explorations of value judgements. Small groups could each pursue a separate aspect, so that a more rounded picture emerges.
- A clear structure is needed to prevent polarised arguments and unfocused discussion.
- This section links with unit 7 'Local democracy', unit 10 'Citizenship and geography: Debating a global issue', and unit 14 'Developing skills of democratic participation'.
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This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of
activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by
moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.
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