Socratic Seminars in Science

Students are taking on the challenge of Socratic seminars in science.  We have added a period where Science 9 and 10 students participate in a Socratic seminar on a chosen science topic related to the Science 9 and 10 curriculum.  Socratic seminars are a type of collaborative intellectual dialogue built on an open-ended questioning technique.   During the seminars, students practice concept-based conversation, questioning, and analytical thinking, similar to a style of discourse used in ancient Greece.
Our upcoming first seminar is in honour of Black History Month. Students will be exploring issues around the “Immortal Cells of Henrietta Lacks.”  The original cells of a particular tissue culture cell line were taken from Henrietta Lacks 60 years ago without her consent. Issues to discuss involve cells taken without consent, tissue rights issues, racism, ethics, regulation of medical research, and ownership issues.