Technology and society

For an interesting discussion with your students on the effects of technology on society, consider the impending solar flares.

As the article states:

The so-called "X-flare" could also cause radio signals to jam, satnavs to fail and electrical power grids to falter. Electromagnetic storms are already reported to have stopped shortwave radio communications in southern China.

• What can be done?
• What are the possible consequences if we can’t  do anything?
• How likely are they to occur, and will it matter? (= risk analysis)
• What does this issue suggest for our future use of/reliance on technology?
• Can English students write stories or poems about it?
• Can drama students write a play about it?
• What  do the Religious Education students have to say about it?
• Can ICT and/or Mathematics students construct a spreadsheet to aid our understanding of the phenomenon and its associated risks?
• And why didn’t the Science students warn of this earlier?!

I think you’ll agree that there is plenty of scope for some rich, even cross-curricular, work around this. And not just with older students.

Are you able to think of any other ideas?

Related articles

• Sun launches biggest solar flare in four years (telegraph.co.uk)
• Earth 'in the crosshairs' of a solar explosion (msnbc.msn.com)
• Here comes a plasma bullet (blogs.law.harvard.edu)