Trailer

Before the students enter the room have a newspaper style headline written on the board along the lines of "Brand New Fibre- Never Gets Dirty or Wears Out". Tell the class they are going to watch an extract showing this amazing fibre being discovered. Watch the one-minute film extract entitled Finalising fibres and, when the film has finished, ask students for their initial opinions about this new fibre. Refer them to the learning objectives, in particular - can they think of any ethical issues that a fibre like the one described in the film might cause?

Main Attraction

Give the students the following quotes from the film:

1. "It'll knock the bottom out of everything, right down to the primary producers"
2. "Step forward? Over a precipice!"
3. "Was the spinning jenny a disaster? Was the mechanical loom? ... they increased output, this will finish it!"
4. "Vested interest, the dead hand of monopoly!"

Check that the students understand the vocabulary from the quotations and then watch the extract Labour and Capital, asking students to note down, in simple terms, what they think each of these quotes mean in relation to the material. If necessary use the first quote as an example, e.g. "every part of the clothing industry will be affected by this new material, right from the cotton pickers (primary producers) to the tailors who fashion the clothing."

Explain to the students that even with seemingly amazing discoveries there can be ethical issues to think about. Under the title "Ethics in Science" ask the pupils to divide their page in to three sections using the headings: Social, Environmental and Economic Consequences. In pairs, give the students a couple of minutes to fill in the table about the possible advantages and disadvantages of the indestructible material and then feedback as a group.

Ask the students to think of other areas in science that present ethical issues such as genetically modified food, cloning or vivisection. Divide the pupils into pairs and give each pair one of the issues to look at, explain that they are going to act as scientific advisors to the government and that they must weigh up the pros and cons about their issue. They should do this by filling in a similar table as before looking at the ethical, social, economic and environmental advantages and disadvantages. They should use the internet and any other resources available to them to help them research the topic. There may also be other useful extracts elsewhere in the Screenonline site.

End Credits

Allow selected pairs to present their ideas to the rest of the class. In the context of this discussion - does the class think this is how the government approaches the problem of writing new legislature regarding new advances in science? Do they think it is a good idea that the government has tight restrictions in place regarding certain controversial issues such as cloning?