PRELIMINARY Flashcards
STS
interactions between science, technology, social,
cultural, political, and economic contexts
STS Education
Student (natural environment, artificially constructed environment, and social environment)
science <–> technology <–> society
STS Educational Viewpoints
prominence in school science curriculum
ensures development of broad based science curriculum, embedded in cultural, socio-political contexts in which it was formulated
students’ engagement with different perspectives on societal issues concerning the impact of science and technology in everyday life
Paradigm of STS Teaching and Learning
societal response
- positive and negative effects of technology
- science skills (inquiry based)
- science concepts
Global Citizenship and Global Citizenship Education
“a sense of belonging to a broader
community, beyond national boundaries, that
emphasizes our common humanity and draws
on the interconnectedness between the local
and the global, the national and the international.”
GCED’S 4 Pillars
learning to know
learning to do
learning to be
learning to live together
Key Conceptual Dimensions of GCED and ESD
cognitive skills
- acquire knowledge, understanding, and critical thinking
socio-emotional skills
- sharing values and responsibilities and holding rights
- empathy, solidarity, and respect
behavioral skills
- act effectively and responsibility
Laudato Si
encyclical letter of the Holy Father Francis
“On care for our Common Home”
Focus: care for the natural environment and all
people, also broader questions of the relationship
between God, humans, and the Earth
reminder of how people of faith should not only
respect the Earth but also praise and honor God
through their engagement with creation
Chapter 1: What is Happening to Our Common Home
current problems related to the environment
Chapter 2: The Gospel of Creation
the Bible as a source of insight
Chapter 3: The Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis
social trends and ideologies that have caused environmental problems
Chapter 4: Integral Ecology
main solution to ongoing social and environmental problems
Chapter 5: Lines of Approach and Action
applied concept of integral ecology to political life
Chapter 6: Ecological Education and Spirituality
applications to personal life
Tragedy of the Commons
Individuals with access to a public resource
(common) act in their own interest and, in doing
so, ultimately deplete the resource.
Each consumer consumes as much as they can
as fast as they can before others deplete the
good, and no one has the incentive to reinvest in
maintaining or reproducing the good.
shared resources are overused, and eventually
depleted, posing risks to everyone involved
17 SDGs by UN
● shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for
people and the planet
● urgent call for action by all countries (developed
and developing) in a global partnership
shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for
people and the planet
● urgent call for action by all countries (developed
and developing) in a global partnership
17 SGDs
- No poverty
- Zero Hunger
- Good Health and Well-being
- Quality Education
- Gender Equality
- Clean Water and Sanitation
- Affordable and Clean Energy
- Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
- Reduced Inequalities
- Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Responsible Consumption and Production
- Climate Action
- Life Below Water
- Life on Land
- Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
- Partnership for the Goals
Social Darwinism
related to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution
through natural selection
certain people become powerful in society because they are innately better. Social Darwinism has been used to justify imperialism, racism, eugenics and social inequality at various times over the past century and a half
Social Exchange Theory
psychological theory that attempts to explain the
social factors that influence how individuals within
a reciprocal relationship
basic formula for predicting behavior
behavior (profit) = reward of interaction - cost of
interaction
The Emergence of Technology
makes difficult and complicated tasks easier
developments are not just products of one time
thought process
brought about by gradual improvements to earlier
works from different time periods
Key Historical Transitions
- Paleolithic Period
- Neolithic Period
- Rise of Ancient Civilizations
- Industrial Revolution
- The Anthropocene
The Human Origins (6-2 MYA)
● Human Revolution – remarkable and sudden
emergence of language, consciousness and
culture in our species, Homo sapiens sapiens
● Stone Age – called by historians as the early
period of human history
● First humans emerged from Africa, and lived
simultaneously with other hominid species
● Large complex brains provided the capacity to
make and use tools
Paleolithic Age
2.5 MYA-8000 BC
Survival of Paleolithic Age
● nomadic group of people
● traveled in groups, or bands, of about 20 or 30
members
● hunting and gathering: hunted buffalo, bison,
wild goats, reindeer, and other animals (depends
on where they live) and gathered wild nuts,
berries, fruits, wild grains, and green plants
● fished along rivers and coastal areas
● two-thirds of the energy was derived from animal
resources
● Paleo Diet (Caveman diet) : heavy on protein and
low in carbs
Designation of Task within Groups during Paleolithic Age
○ men (hunting)
○ women (gathering; often stayed close to the
camp/body of water; looked after children and
searched nearby woods and meadows for
berries, nuts, grains)
○ everyone worked to find food
○ Some scientists believe that equity existed
between Paleolithic men and women – a man
and a woman worked together to find food for
themselves and their children (first families)
First Tools Made by Humans
●Technology tools and methods to perform tasks
were first used by Paleolithic people.
●Later: made devices from a hard stone called flint
(hard, sedimentary crystalline form of the mineral
quartz)
○ Hitting flint with another hard stone would flake
into pieces
○ Very sharp edges that could be used for
cutting
Flint technology – major breakthrough for early
people
● Over time: made better, more complex tools (e.g.
spears, bows, and arrows – easier for killing
large animals)
● Spears and fish hooks increased number of fish
caught
● Sharp-edged tools to cut up plants and dig roots
● Scraping tools to clean animal hides for clothing
and shelter
● End of Paleolithic Age: smaller and sharper tools
○ needles from animal bones for nets, baskets,
and sew hides together from clothing
Shelter During Paleolithic Age
● learned to make their own shelters
● tents and huts out of animal skins, brush, and
wood
● in cold climates: shelters from ice and snow
● many lived in caves
Fire during the Paleolithic Age
● first use of fire by humans
● for warmth, cooked food, smoked meat could be
stored
● Iron pyrite – stone gave off sparks when struck
against another rock
Communication and Arts during the Paleolithic Age
● Dev’t. of spoken language – constantly growing
and changing
● Transfer of knowledge
● Cave paintings found around the world
● Paint: combined crushed yellow, black, and red
rocks with animal fat
● Twigs and fingertips to apply paint to the rock
walls
Neolithic Revolution
10,200 BC- 4500/2000 BC
● First Agricultural Revolution
● wide-scale transition to agriculture and settlement
● period in the development of human technology
Society during the Neolithic Revolution
● small tribes, composed of families
● domestication of large animals led to dramatic
increase in social inequality
● headed by a charismatic leader of tribal groups
● clothing made of animal skins
● reliance upon the foods produced from cultivated
lands
● encouraged growth of settlements
● production of surplus crop yields
Shelter during the Neolithic Revolution
● growth of agriculture made permanent houses
possible
● mud brick houses and stilt-houses settlements
were common
Growth of Agriculture during the Neolithic Revolution
● surpluses: stored and traded
● agricultural life afforded securities
● sedentary farming populations grew faster than
nomadic
Technology during the Neolithic Revolution
● bracelets, axe heads, chisels, polishing tools
● artifacts are polished
● neolithic grinding stone, neolithic sickle
● skilled manufacturers of other types of stone tools
and ornaments (e.g. projectile points, beads, and
statues)
● Polished stone axe – forest clearance in a large
scale
Rise of Ancient Civilization
sumerian civilization
egyptian civilization
chinese civilization
greek civilization
roman civilization
the middle “dark” ages
the reianissance
Sumerian Civilization (4500 BC- 1900 BC)
● Cuneiform – handwriting
● Uruk City
● Irrigation and dikes
● sailboats
● wheel
● The Plow
Egyptian Civilization (3100-332 BC)
● paper or papyrus
● ink
● hieroglyphics
● cosmetics and wig
● water clock/clepsydra
Chinese Civilization (1600 BC-221 BC)
● silk
● tea production
● Great Wall of China
● gunpowder
Greek Civilization (800 BC-140 BC)
● alarm clock
● water mill
Roman Civilization (753 BC- 476 AD)
● newspaper
● bound books or codex
● roman architecture
● roman numerals
The Middle “Dark” Ages (476 AD-1400s)
● printing press
● microscope
● telescope
● war weapons
The Renaissance (14th-17th century)
● bridge between middle ages and modern history
● started as a cultural movement in Italy and later
spread towards the rest of Europe
Modern History and The Industrial Revolution (1700s-1900s)
● large gains in productivity in spinning and
weaving of textile
● first that employed factory system
● use of machines and “assembly-line” approach
Steam Engine
james watt
Coal Mining
process of extracting coal from
ground
○ coal – valued for its energy content
○ significant increase in demand due to
industrialization
○ substituted charcoal → lowered fuel cost of iron
production
○ charcoal powered steam engine → large
increase in iron production
● invention of first machine tools (e.g. screw cutting
lathe, cylinder boring machine, and milling
machine
Sulphuric Acid
John Roebuck
(1746)
Chemistry during the Industrial Revolution
● fertilizers, detergents, dyes, explosives, drugs,
and other chemicals
● Germany – world leadership in chemical industry
● Aspiring chemists flocked to German universities
Portland Cement
patented chemical process
by British bricklayer turned builder Joseph Aspdin
○ sinter a mixture of clay and limestone to 1400-2,552F), grind into fine powder, mix with
water, sand, and gravel to produce concrete
Rotherham Plough
iron plough by Joseph Foljambe
Thresing Machine
Andrew Meikle
Tin Can
Peter Durand
impact on food preservation and transportation
until the present
Canning Factory
John Hall and Bryan Dorkin
Internal Combustion Engine
● Jean Lenoir (1858)
● heat engine where combustion of fuel occurs with
an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber
→ an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit
● used in mass transportation
Electricity
Benjamin Franklin, Alessandro Volta, Michael
Faraday
Automobile
Henry Ford
Camera
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell
Phonograph
Thomas Edison
Airplane
Brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright
The Anthropocene
era in which human activity has been the
dominant influence on climate and the
environment
● Scientists in the Soviet Union used the term
“Anthropocene” as early as the 1960s to refer to
the Quaternary (most recent geological period)
● term widely popularized in 2000 by atmospheric
chemist Paul J. Crutzen, who regards the
influence of human behavior on Earth’s
atmosphere in recent centuries as so significant
as to constitute a new geological time.
Issues during the Anthropocene
nuclear war
fossil fuels
plastic use
changed geology
use of fertilizers
global warming
6th mass extinction
Nuclear Weapons
○ Warfares left their mark on geology
○ First nuclear weapon detonated on 16 July
1945 in New Mexico
Fossil Fuels
○ Burning fossil fuels marked this age
○ Current rates of carbon emission are thought to
be higher than at any time in the last 65 million
years.
carbon dioxide from fossil fuel and industrial processes: largest
carbon dioxide from forestry and other land use
methane
nitrous oxide
F-gases
Plastic Use
○ developed in the 1900s, grown rapidly since
1950s, now produce 500 million tons a year
○ sediments containing plastic is a clear sign of
the Anthropocene
Changed Geology
○ Destroying a patch of rainforest changes the
future of Earth’s geology
○ More than 50% of Earth’s land area has been
transformed for our own purposes.
○ Deforestation, farming, drilling, mining, landfills,
dam-building and coastal reclamation are all
having widespread effects on sedimentary
processes
○ Disrupting how layers of rock are laid down –
detectable thousands of years in the future
Use of Fertilizers
○ attempts to feed an increasing population will
leave clear indicators
○ Levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in soils
have doubled in the last century because of
increased use of fertilizers.
○ produce 23.5 million tons of phosphorus a year.
○ Human activity had the biggest impact on the
nitrogen cycle for 2.5 billion years.
Global Warming
○ Unusually rapid increase in Earth’s average
surface temperature over the past century
primarily due to the greenhouse gasses
released as people burn fossil fuels.
○ Rate of temperature increase has nearly
doubled in the last 50 years.
○ Average global sea levels are higher than at
any point in the past 115,000 years and are
rising rapidly, which may also be detectable in
future.
6th Mass Extinction
○ moment of extinction – the death of the last
individual of the species.
○ sparked by massive global changes mark the
Anthropocene period
Dark Side of Technology
● Technology is a mostly positive endeavor, except
for some troubling and unnerving possibilities
Michio Kaku refers to as “wildcards”
● The unanticipated uses of technology and
science threaten to turn happy futuristic dreams
into nightmares.
● There are dangers, but only dangers if people
don’t understand where technology is taking us.
Philosophy
●“love of wisdom”
It is made up of two Greek words
○ Philo: love
○ Sophos: wisdom
● Philosophy helps teachers to reflect on key issues
and concepts in education
● Usually through such questions as:
○ What is being educated?
○ What is the good life?
○ What is knowledge?
○ What is the nature of learning?
○ What is teaching?
● Philosophers think about the meaning of things
and interpretation of that meaning
Science Philosophers Problems
ethical
epistemological
metaphysical
Ethical
● Study of values in human behavior or the study of
moral problems
1.Rightness and wrongness of actions
2.The kinds of things which are good or desirable
3.Whether actions are blameworthy or praiseworthy
Epistemological
● Study of knowledge
● Focuses on how we come to acquire knowledge
and what types of limits there are to our
knowledge
● How do we know what is true?
● Sense experience vs. reason
Metaphysical
● Study of what is really real
● Deals with the the so called first principles of the
natural order and
● The ultimate generalizations available to the
human intellect
● Laws, causation, explanation
Three Branches of Philosophy
metaphysics
epistemology
axiology/ ethics
Metaphysics
● What is the nature of reality?
● One of the key concepts of understanding
philosophy
● Concerned with reality and existence
Two Categories of Metaphysics
1.ONTOLOGY: what is the nature of existence
2.COSMOLOGY: origin and organization of the
universe
Epistemology
● What is the nature of knowledge?
● Raises questions about the nature of knowledge:
logic is a key dimension to epistemology
Two Kinds of Logic
1.DEDUCTIVE: general to specific
2.INDUCTIVE: specific facts to generalization
Axiology/ Ethics
● What is the nature of values?
● Explores the nature of values
Two Kinds of Ethics
1.ETHICS: study of human conduct and examines
moral values
2.AESTHETICS: values beauty, nature, and
aesthetic experience (often associated with
music, art, literature, dance theater, and other fine
arts)
The Sciences
1.MATHEMATICS – theorems and axions
2.PHYSICS – measurement
3.BIOLOGY – structure and function
4.PSYCHOLOGY
5.SOCIAL SCIENCE
Inductivism
● Proposes and rests on a common understanding
of the laws of the universe; there are laws of
nature, uniformities that govern these laws
● Facts are observable and that theories should be
derived from these facts by observation
1.Observation using the senses
2.Seeing is believing
● Observable facts are objective
