Author: Kate Reber

School/Organization:

School of the Future

Year: 2008

Seminar: Teaching Science with Science Fiction

Grade Level: 9-12

Keywords: American History, Bloodchild, Brave New World, Humanities, interdisciplinary, Math, possible world, Science, Technology, world history

School Subject(s): American History, Biology, Global History, Math, Science, Social Studies, Technology, Technology

This is a 12-14 week unit on Possible Worlds designed to be taught in a 200 Level Humanities Class at the School of the Future. The curriculum for this unit covers World History and early American History from 1000-1500 CE. This unit was planned and will be implemented as one part of an interdisciplinary project that includes the Humanities, Math/Technology and Science classes. The focal texts are Octavia Butler’s Bloodchild collection of stories, Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot collection of short stories, and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. These texts and the films, The Matrix, Gattaca, and Aeon Flux, will be central to all three classes. For their Final Performance of Understanding, learners will create their own Possible Worlds and explain the systems and structures at work within it.

Download Unit: Reber-2.pdf

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