WebQuest: Catholic Social Teaching

 

 

The Task

Your class has been asked to prepare speeches about the Vatican’s stance on cloning, genetic testing, stem cell research, morning after pill, and Roe vs. Wade. You and your partners have the following tasks ahead of you:

• Read articles from the Vatican about these important and controversial issues
• Take notes from the articles
• Discuss the articles with your group members
• Prepare a speech that you would give to educate high schools students about these current issues
• Deliver your speech to the class

 

The Process

• Arrange for you and your partners to visit the following web sites and read THREE to FOUR of the following articles:

The Views of the Holy See on Human Embryonic Cloning

http://www.holyseemission.org/cloning2003eng.html

 

The Promise and Peril of Genetic Screening

http://www.usccb.org/shv/screening.htm

 

Critical Decisions: Genetic Testing and its Implications

http://www.usccb.org/shv/testing.htm

 

Stem Cell Research and Human Cloning

http://www.usccb.org/prolife/stemcellQ%26A.pdf

 

Vatican on the Morning After Pill

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/acdlife/documents/rc_pa_acdlife_doc_20001031_pillola-giorno-dopo_en.html

 

What is gene testing? How does it work?

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/medicine/genetest.shtml

 

Vatican on Stem Cells

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/acdlife/documents/rc_pa_acdlife_doc_20000824_cellule-staminali_en.html

 

Roe vs. Wade

http://www.usccb.org/prolife/heart.htm

 

2. Take notes from THREE to FOUR of the above web sites. Write down a sentence or two for each paragraph that you read. This will help you summarize the articles.

 

3. After reading the articles and taking notes, discuss each article with your group members.

 

4. After discussing each issue, select ONE of the following topics (human cloning, genetic screening, genetic testing, stem cell research, or the morning after pill) and prepare a speech with your group in a Word document. The speech should be 2-3 pages in length and discuss the Vatican’s stance on your chosen issue.

 

5. Deliver your speech to the rest of the class. Each group member should deliver a portion of the speech.

 

 

 

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully prepared for your speech to educate fellow high school students about these important issues in our world today. Thanks for participating in this WebQuest and remember to turn in a copy of your notes and speech to your teacher.