Outer Space

"Received" Civics course material has a traditional "Outer Space" assignment where kids pretend they are marooned on the moon and have to delegate responsibility, prioritize, decide who is in charge and who does what and what's important and so on. I thought it was too easy, kinda dumb and random. People stranded on the moon arguing over who got the chocolate, but no concerns about things like air. So, while brushing my teeth this morning and hating on it, I suddenly thought "human rights, ethical dillemas, military vs. politicians, how to deal with terrorism, freedoms vs. responsiblities, survival, martial law, space...Battlestar Frackin' Galactica, man!" (the 2003 new one)



Now my idea is this: the kids have to pair up, decide who's Roslyn and who is Adama (one focused on protecting people's rights, and the other on saving lives and stopping enemy threats, even if it means stepping on human rights) and debate on paper or tape or video, in character a series of issues, such as:


In the fleet, there is a prison ship which was transporting 200 prisoners to a penal colony when the twelve planets got nuked. Should any or all of these prisoners be kept locked up, taking up air, food and water, or should they be set free and put to work, “spaced” (pushed out an airlock into hard vacuum) or what?


A Cylon agent lights part of the Galactica on fire. Adama’s advisors suggest a plan to vent the oxygen from that part of the ship into space, putting out the fire before the entire ship is destroyed. 40 men and women are trapped in there and will fly out into space if this is done. What should be done?

The human race will die out unless a lot of babies are born soon. One of Roslyn’s advisers suggests that she outlaw abortions. What should be done?


Adama discovers a Cylon agent named “Roger” serving in the Galactica’s crew. Roger is refusing to tell them the details of what sounds like an imminent Cylon attack. He may also be making the whole thing up. Adama’s advisers advise torture. Roslyn’s advise “spacing” Roger. What should be done?



They have to:

Agree as to what the problem is exactly (sometimes this will be quite easy)
Discuss what all the various options are
State a position as to what should be done, Roslyn resisting human rights issues, and Adama military ones.
Explain (give an argument) as to why this decision was made and not the other one(s)



And yes, I'm a'gonna use the papercutter to cut the corners off the handouts. I'm just that big a geek. Man I wish I'd had me for a teacher!