UPD8

New Womb?

Learning objectives

Students will learn to apply different ethical approaches to making a decision about non-vital transplants

Try the activity

• new_womb_activity
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• new_womb_teachers_notes
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• new_womb_powerpoint
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You will need Acrobat Reader installed to open the activity sheets.

Curriculum link

14 – 16 How science works: data, evidence, theories and explanations
• 4b: consider how and why decisions about science and technology are made, including those that raise ethical issues, and about the social, economic and environmental effects of such decisions

14 – 16 GCSE specifications

Edexcel core B1a - genes
• Describe the social and ethical concerns of cloning mammals, including the possibility of the cloning of human body parts for transplant surgery

OCR Gateway additional B3 – living and growing
• State problems with transplants

Running the activity

Display page 1. This gives the context and sets the task: decide whether the NHS should fund non-vital transplants. Tell students that, traditionally, organ transplants save lives. They are common and generally accepted as ethical. Now, surgeons can transplant non-vital organs, like hands, faces and wombs. These transplants raise new ethical questions. Today's activity focuses on the ethics of uterus – or womb – transplants.

Pages 3, 4, 5 and 6 are posters that summarise one ethical approach each. Photocopy these onto A3 and display in different (accessible) parts of the classroom.

Page 2 gives 12 ethical arguments. The same arguments are on 12 PowerPoint slides. Use the arguments in one of the following ways:

EITHER: Copy page 2 two or three times and cut into cards. Give each student – or pair – a card. Tell them to associate their card with an ethical approach and move to the relevant poster. Once there, discuss the arguments with others by the same poster and decide if they are in the right place. Repeat at least once, having given each student a different card.

OR: Ask more able students to devise their own arguments, one or two associated with each ethical approach. Then continue with the activity as described in 'either' above. You might like to display one or two of the PowerPoint slides first to give students some ideas.

OR: Display Slide 1. Tell students to move to the relevant poster. Repeat for some – or all – of the other 11 slides.

Then use page 7 to conclude the activity and assess learning:

EITHER: Students fill in one of the forms/boxes. They display their completed form next to the appropriate poster, and stand by it. Lead a class discussion to decide whether or not the NHS should fund non-vital transplants.

OR: In groups of 4, each student fills in a different box. The group then decides whether or not the NHS should fund non-vital transplants.

OR: Ask students to fill in all the forms/boxes. Lead a class discussion to make the decision.

Answers: page 2 arguments: Rights-based – cards 1, 6 and 7; Self-centred – 2 and 9; Care-based – cards 3, 8, 10 and 11; utilitarian – 4, 5 and 12. Of course, these answers are open to discussion.

Web links

News links

BBC news

Story about non-essential transplants

BBC news

Another story about non-essential transplants

Reviews & Comments

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