http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/deepearth/activities/40441.html#discussion http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/deepearth/activities/40441.html#post7261 Abby Kavner 1267030860 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/deepearth/activities/40441.html#post7261 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/deepearth/activities/40441.html#post7275
I love debates because it helps students really dig into the arguments. How structured is the debate format? Points and counterpoints? ]]> Catherine Cooper 1267033140 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/deepearth/activities/40441.html#post7275 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/deepearth/activities/40441.html#post7283
One thing I've thought about doing to try to avoid the "my side was the right side" phenomenon was to include an assignment right at the end of the debate, prior to making a decision. Maybe writing a summary of the most convincing and most troublesome points from each side of the debate prior to settling on a final decision? I suppose not requiring them to make a decision is also an option!
]]> Anna Courtier 1267033980 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/deepearth/activities/40441.html#post7283 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/deepearth/activities/40441.html#post7386 yue cai 1267121580 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/deepearth/activities/40441.html#post7386 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/deepearth/activities/40441.html#post7468
Thank you for your comments and suggestions! I have incorporated some directly into the activity, and think that others represent good options that a presenting instructor should consider.]]> Brennan Jordan 1267160040 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/deepearth/activities/40441.html#post7468 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/deepearth/activities/40441.html#post7500
Debate is an excellnt teaching strategy for this topic, and for facilitating an understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry. As you state in the handout:

"A significant debate exists in the geoscience community about the origin of melting anomalies. In this activity you will jump into this debate, researching one of the arguments and presenting in a debate format with your classmates."

By jumping into the debate, the students become the scientists.]]> Glenn Richard 1267201080 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/deepearth/activities/40441.html#post7500 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/deepearth/activities/40441.html#post7541 It seems that you could also follow the debate with a class discussion about what is science. Should we not consider the plume hypothesis because some say it is not testable? What makes something testable. Compare perhaps with the hypothesis of the moon emerging from the collision of a Mars-sized bolide with the Earth. When this was proposed did it make testable predictions? Could the predictions be tested at the time? Did the hypothesis evolve? Is that a good thing? a bad thing? Or compare with continental drift hypothesis (which perhaps was a percursor to plate tectonics hypothesis--now theory). What I am trying to say is that once the students partake in this sort of debate, it opens them up to further inquirey about the scientific method.]]> Vicki Hansen 1267203300 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/deepearth/activities/40441.html#post7541