AP German Language and Culture - Syllabus

Course Overview

The AP German Language and Culture course is carried out entirely in German with the rare exception of intricate grammar explanations. Students are expected to use the target language for written and oral communication with the teacher and their peers inside and as much as possible outside the classroom. The course objective is to prepare the AP students for their German Language and Culture exam and for a successful entry into German college courses. [CR1]

The class incorporates six thematic units and their essential questions: Families and Communities, Contemporary Life, Beauty and Aesthetics, Personal and Public Identities, Global Challenges, and Science and Technology. [CR6]

. Primary Course Materials

Written and Audio Material - Moeller, Jack, et al. Kaleidoskop: Kultur, Literatur und Grammatik. 6th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.- Preparing for the AP German Language Exam: A Thematic Approach. 1sted. New York: The College Board, 2008- Gündisch, Karin. Im Land der Schokolade und Bananen. Weinheim: Beltz, 1990 [CR2c]- Hoffmann, Heinrich. Der Struwwelpeter. Eßlingen: J.F.Schreiber 1831 (reprint of the Frankfurter Originalausgabe). [CR2c]- Busch, Wilhelm. Max und Moritz. Erlangen: Pestalozzi-Verlag (Ungekürzte Ausgabe). [CR2c]- AP German materials published by AP Central- Langenscheidt Basic German Vocabulary. Berlin and Munich: Langenscheidt KG, 1991.- Schöne, Gerhard. Trommle mein Herz für das Leben - Schöne-Liederbuch and Hörkassette zum Schöne-Liederbuch..Atlanta, Seattle: Goethe-Institute, 1996 [CR2a]- My own collection of Folksongs and hits- Several Hörspiele von Internationes [CR2a]

Non-literary Materials [CR2b]

- Online newspapers: www.süddeutsche.de; www.faz.de; www.taz.de- Online magazines: www.focus.de; www.spiegel.de- Own collection of newspapers, magazines, calendars

Audiovisual Materials [CR2a]- Good Bye Lenin. Dir. Wolfgang Becker, 2003 - Bildschirm 28 Sketch und Humor ... von Loriot Internationes- Emil und die Detektive. Dir. Robert A. Stemmle, 1954 - Vitus. Dir. Fredi M. Murer, 2009

Visual Materials: [CR4a]- Plauen, E.O. Vater und Sohn. Hamburg: Ravensburger Buchverlag, 1996.- So ein Dackel. Stuttgart: Ernst Klett Verlag, 1972.- Variety of calendar pages with photos and art work- Online sources of art

CR2c:Instructional materials include a variety of authentic literary texts.

CR1: The teacher uses German almost exclusively in class and encourages students to do likewise

CR2a:Instructional materials include a variety of authentic audio and video recordings.

CR6: The course incorporates interdisciplinary topics and explicitly addresses all six course themes: Global Challenges, Science and Technology, Contemporary Life, Personal and Public Identities, Families and Communities, and Beauty and Aesthetics.

CR2b: Instructional materials include a variety of authentic non-literary texts such as newspaper and magazine articles.

CR4a: The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their ability in Interpretive Communication to understand and synthesize information from a variety of authentic audio, visual and audio-visual materials.

Focus on Communicative Modes

All class activities, assignments and assessments are focused on the communicative modes.

Interpretive Communication Students engage in written and spoken interpretation of authentic German materials on a daily basis. They understand and synthesize information from written literary or non-literary texts, charts and graphs, audio texts, or audio-visual materials. The focus is on recognizing the background of the author, the audience and the intent of the message, and on an appropriate response. [CR4]

Interpersonal CommunicationStudents engage in daily spoken, interactive communication with partners, in groups, or with the teacher. On a regular basis, they also interact in various written forms like letters or e-mails as partners or as a group. The focus is on exchanging opinions, feelings, values and experiences, and on collaboration to fulfill assigned tasks. [CR3]

Presentational CommunicationStudents prepare and present information in spoken and written form on a regular basis. The focus is on conveying facts, opinions, ideas and concepts to various audiences using narrative and expository writing and oral presentations. [CR5]

Assessments

Interpretive Communication is assessed using multiple choice questions and percentages. Interpersonal and Presentational Communication is evaluated according to the AP Rubrics.Other assessments are 10 grammar review tests from “Kaleidoskop” and regular vocabulary quizzes from Langenscheidt Basic Vocabulary, the AP Preparation book and other materials.

Focus on Products, Practices, Perspectives, Comparisons, and Real Life Situations

Students are involved in activities where they acknowledge and reflect on tangible and intangible items created by American and German culture. They plan and execute a typically German meal, discuss table customs, and reflect on why those traditions have so much meaning for the Germans. Students compare common proverbs and idioms of the German and the English language, and then reflect on why they carry meaning in one culture and why not necessarily in the other. [CR7] Throughout the year, students are engaged in real-life social customs related to birthdays, holidays, deaths, sickness, weddings, invitations, job interviews etc. They write, speak and/or record messages appropriate for those situations. All students are required to come to a school district wide “Kaffeeklatsch” four times a year, and they are encouraged and get extra credit for attending the immersion “Deutsches Wochenende”, the competition “Deutscher Tag”, the “Oktoberfest” of the Triad German Club, German film nights and other German events in town and school.[CR9] Students are also required to read outside of the classroom and report on that regularly.

CR3:The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their proficiency in written Interpersonal Communication in a variety of situations in the Intermediate to Pre-Advanced range

CR4: The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their ability in Interpretive Communication to understand and synthesize information from a variety of authentic audio, visual, audio-visual, written and print resources.

CR5: The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their proficiency in spoken and written Presentational Communication in the Intermediate to Pre-Advanced range.

CR7: The course provides opportunity for students to demonstrate an understanding of the products, practices and perspectives of the target language.

CR9: The course prepares students to use the German language in real-life settings.

First Quarter

1. Einheit: Familie und Gemeinschaft

Essential Questions: 1. What constitutes a family?2. How do individuals and their actions affect their families and

communities?3. How are family structures and perceptions of non-traditional

relationships different in German speaking countries?4. Should government support families?

Competency Goals: 1. Students will talk about their family, the values that keep an ideal family functioning well, and issues that threaten to destroy it.

2. Students will talk about how their and any individual’s actions affects the community they live in. 3. Students will research and discuss traditional and non-traditional family structures and their perception in the US and Germany.4. Students research and discuss how German laws support families.

Language Control: 1. Present tense, imperatives, modal auxiliaries, “lassen”, future tense(Kaleidoskop, Kap.1-3) 2. Simple past, present perfect, past perfect, infinitives without “zu”

3. Verb position, word order, independent and dependent clauses, conjunctions, infinitives with “zu”

Vocabulary: 1. The Human Being (Langenscheidt 1)2. Man and Society (Langenscheidt 4)3. “Biographie” from Preparing for AP4. Kaleidoskop 4

Resources: - Kaleidoskop: Thema 4 “Familie“ and video “Vaterschaftsurlaub”- Preparing for AP: Biographie- Vater und Sohn- www.lindenstrasse.de- www.bpb.de/wissen/32UOZK,0,0,Familie_und_Kinder.html - www.spiesser.de

Activities and Assignments

Interpersonal Spoken

Interpersonal Written

Interpretive Audio Visual Audio-visual

Interpretive Written Print

Presentational Spoken

Presentational Written

Students in pairs of two interview each other face-to- face on their family and on what they think constitutes an ideal family.

Students immediately after reading “Ich muss für meinen Sohn nachsitzen” recreate the dialogs between the father and the son before and after the Sprechstunde, and the father and the teacher during the Sprechstunde.

Students speak about the pros and cons of a “Vaterschaftsurlaub” in an unrehearsed, spontaneous conversation.[CR6e]

Students write an e-mail to a youth counselor about a family problem asking for advice. And they are writing an answer letter back.

Students write a letter from Eddie apologizing to the teacher depicted in “Nachsitzen”, and a refridgerator note making it right with his dad. They also may write a letter from the father to the teacher arguing different discipline measures.

Students listen and answer the selections under “Biographie” from “Preparing for the AP German Language Exam”.

Students watch the Kaleidoskop video “Vaterschaftsurlaub” and discuss the arguments for and against it voiced in the video.

Students view pictures of “Vater und Sohn”, and explain the type of relationship expressed, and why it is humorous to us viewers.

Students read and answer the selections under “Biographie” from “Preparing for the AP German Language Exam”.

Students read Erich Fried’s love poem “Dich” and after translating it in class write a personal response to it.

2 students each prepare a poster or Power Point presentation about a family in Germany known to one of them through an exchange program. They report on the family’s values and traditions and how it functions on a daily basis and why. They pretend that they are speaking to concerned parents of possible future exchange students. [CR7]

Students research and prepare mini-presentations on German laws supporting families and their impact on family life. They pretend to convince legislators to do more for American families.[CR7]

After researching the topic, some students write presentations on the rights and common perceptions related to same-sex couples in Germany and the US. They perceive their audience to be a group in school or town supporting gay rights.

Other students research and write a comparison of common features pertaining to family values in fairy tales and modern super- hero comics. They imagine speaking to a group of parents who don’t like the violence in today’s comics. [CR8]

CR6e: The course explicitly addresses the Families and Communities theme.

CR8: The course provides opportunities for the students to make comparisons between and within languages and cultures.

CR7: The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate an understanding of the products, practices and perspectives of the target cultures.

Second Quarter

2. Einheit: Alltag

Essential Questions: 1. How do societies and individuals define quality of life?2. How is contemporary life influenced by cultural products, practices and

perspectives?3. What are the challenges of contemporary life?

Competency Goals: 1. Students will talk about what they consider vital for a successful life in terms of free time and career or job.

2. Students will identify conditions that impact their lives in good and bad ways.

3. Students will discuss today’s problems of debt, discontent, unemployment and poverty, and talk about their possible career choices.

Language Control: 1. Nominative, accusative, “es gibt”(Kaleidoskop, Kap.4-5) 2. Dative

Vocabulary: 1. Actions and Activities (Langenscheidt 2)2. Every Day Life (Langenscheidt 5)3. “Modernes Leben“, ”Einkaufen“, “Schule“ from Preparing for AP 4. Kaleidoskop 1, 6

Resources: - Kaleidoskop: Thema 1 ”Freizeit“ and video “Blade Night in Berlin ”Thema 6 ”Welt der Arbeit“ and video “Ferienjobs ”

- Preparing for AP: Modernes Leben, Einkaufen, Schule- So ein Dackel- http://home.meinestadt.de/deutschland/freizeit - www.derweg.org/deutschland/bildungswesen/index.html- http://www.arbeitsagentur.de/

Activities and Assignments

Interpersonal Spoken

Interpersonal Written

Interpretive Audio Visual Audio-visual

Interpretive Written Print

Presentational Spoken

Presentational Written

Students in groups of 2 interview eachother on what they consider essential for a good life. They also discuss what future plans they have to reach their goal of a quality life. [CR6c]

Students write a letter to a German friend about what they do in their free time to relieve stress, find real joy, and regain their balance. They also ask the friend about what helps him to stay happy and successful in life.

Students listen and answer the selections under “Modernes Leben”, “Einkaufen”, and “Schule” from “Preparing for the AP German Language Exam”.

Students watch the Kaleidoskop video “Blade Night in Berlin” and “Ferienjobs” and reflect on how and why these videos would be different in the US.

Students view pictures of “So ein Dackel”, and explain why the situations make us smile.

Students read and answer the selections under “Modernes Leben”, “Einkaufen”, and “Schule” from “Preparing for the AP German Language Exam”.

After the students read Bert Brecht’s “Vergnügungen” they describe (and may illustrate) what image each line triggers in their mind.

Students choose a German city and research what they could and would do there on a vacation. They prepare a Power Point or other visuals, and speak in front of the class as a tourist agent from that city.[CR7]

Students write an essay about something that needs to be improved in American life and what solutions they see. Possible topics: education, unemployment. personal debt,disappearing jobs, housing crisis, poverty, homelessness, crime.Students should take in consideration what they learned in class or what they researched about the German dual system of education and the German welfare system.The essay is a pretend contribution as “Correspondent of the Week” of a local newspaper.[CR8]

CR6c: The course explicitly addresses the Contemporary Life theme.

CR8: The course provides opportunities for the students to make comparisons between and within languages and cultures.

CR7: The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate an understanding of the products, practices and perspectives of the target cultures.

3. Einheit: Schönheit und Ästhetik

Essential Questions: 1. How are perceptions of beauty and creativity established?2. How do ideals of beauty and aesthetics influence daily life?3. How do the arts both challenge and reflect cultural perspectives?

Competency Goals: 1. Students will talk about the role of the arts in their lives and reflect on how their perception was founded and grew over the years.

2. Students will discuss their concepts of beauty and compare them with beauty concepts of different cultures, times and in literature.3. Students will discuss art’s dual role of mirroring society as well

as critically and progressively moving it forward.

Language Control: 1. Two-way prepositions (Kaleidoskop, Kap.6) 2. Time expressions with dative

3. Da- and Wo-compounds4. Genitive

Vocabulary: 1. Language and Speech Intentions (Langenscheidt 3)2. The Arts and Fields of Interest (Langenscheidt 7)3. “Anekdoten” from Preparing for AP4. AP Curriculum Module “Schönheit und Ästhetik”5. Kaleidoskop 5

Resources: - Kaleidoskop: Thema 5 “Musik” and video “Clara Schumann: Ein Porträt zum 100. Todestag“- AP German Language Curriculum Module “Schönheit und Ästhetik“- Own collection of pictures and photos from art and nature calendars- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus - http://www.kunstmuseum-stuttgart.de/ - http://www.pinakothek.de/pinakothek-der-moderne

Activities and Assignments

Interpersonal Spoken

Interpersonal Written

Interpretive Audio Visual Audio-visual

Interpretive Written Print

Presentational Spoken

Presentational Written

Students ask each other in groups of four what role the arts play in their lives and how it came to their perception and consumption of art.

Students interview a partner about which woman and which man they find most beautiful. (Everyone needs to bring pictures.) It could be a historic figure or a person still living. During the conversation they also need to explain what exactly they think makes them beautiful. [CR6f]

Students write a letter to an older German speaking person asking for a few things that were considered beautiful when they were young. If there is no person that speaks German, they write a letter in English to an older English speaking person but write the same letter also in German.

Students listen and answer the selections under “Anekdoten” from “Preparing for the AP German Language Exam”.

Students watch the Kaleidoskop video “Clara Schumann: Ein Porträt zum 100. Geburtstag“and summarize what factors prohibited her from achieving her potential.

Students interpret pictures, photos and cartoons.

Students listen and answer the exercises provided in the AP module “Schönheit und Ästhetik”.

Students read and answer the selections under “Anekdoten”from “Preparing for the AP German Language Exam”.

Students complete the reading comprehension exercises provided in the AP module “Schönheit und Ästhetik”.

Students research popular German songs and present one that reflected the culture of the time and one that criticized and challenged German society to move forward. They pretend to speak in front of a Music Appreciation course. [CR8]

Students prepare presentations suggested in the AP module “Schönheit und Ästhetik”.

Students write a persuasive essay to a friend who wants to buy a certain product that is extremely fashionable but also very expensive. Students need to convince the friend that the product is not worth the money just because it is the latest rage, and suggest an alternative item or no purchase at all.

CR6f: The course explicitly addresses the Beauty and Aesthetics theme.

CR8: The course provides opportunities for the students to make comparisons between and within languages and cultures.

Third Quarter

4. Einheit: Persönliche und Öffentliche Identität

Essential Questions: 1. How are aspects of identity expressed in various situations?2. How do language and culture influence identity?3. How does one’s identity develop over time?

Competency Goals: 1. Students will talk about integration of minorities and the elderly.2. Students will recognize and discuss stereotypes.

3. Students will talk about their self image. Language Control: 1. Preceded and unpreceded adjectives, adjectives as nouns(Kaleidoskop, Kap.7-8) 2. Participles as adjectives, Comparison of adjectives and adverbs

3. Subjunctive II, würde-construction4. Conditional, “als ob” and “als wenn” construction

Vocabulary: 1. Business and Administration (Langenscheidt 6)2. Public Life (Langenscheidt 9)3. „Gesellschaft“ from Preparing for AP4. Im Land der Schokolade und Bananen5. Kaleidoskop 7,8,9

Resources: - Kaleidoskop: Thema 7 “Multikulturelle Gesellschaft” and videos “Integration an Schulen”, “Weil ich ’n Türke bin“

Thema 8 “Jung und Alt“ and video “Alt sind nur die anderen“

Thema 9 “Stereotypen“ and videos “Typisch deutsch, typisch türkisch“, “Ich bin stolz ein Deutscher zu sein“

- Preparing for AP: Gesellschaft- Karin Gündisch: Im Land der Schokolade und Bananen- Material on the EU: Europa. Das Wissensmagazin für Jugendliche (bpb)

Europarecht im Alltag (Europäische Kommission)- www.europa.eu - www.bpb.de - http://siebenbuergen.de - http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siebenb%C3%BCrger_Sachsen

Activities and Assignments

Interpersonal Spoken

Interpersonal Written

Interpretive Audio Visual Audio-visual

Interpretive Written Print

Presentational Spoken

Presentational Written

Either students interview a partner about his/her experiences with or as a minority student in school and a minority citizen in the US. Or students interview a partner about his/her experiences with an elderly citizen. [CR6d]

Students either write a formal letter of apology to a minority student/citizen that was wronged, or they write a formal letter of apology to an elderly citizen that was unfairly treated.

Students watch the Kaleidoskop videos “Integration an Schulen”, “Weil ich ‘n Türke bin”, “Alt sind nur die anderen”, “Typisch deutsch, typisch türkisch”, “Ich bin stolz ein Deutscher zu sein”, and summarize the main issues.

Students listen and answer the selections under “Gesellschaft”from “Preparing for the AP German Language Exam”.

Students read and answer the selections under “Gesellschaft”from “Preparing for the AP German Language Exam”.

Students read and answer various types of questions related to Gündisch’s book “Im Land der Schokolade und Bananen”.

Students read the material from the EU and summarize what it means to be a European citizen.

Students either create and perform skits dealing with identity issues of minority citizens in Germany, or with issues of generational conflicts.

Students take on the roles of 2 family members of Gündisch’s book and play a scene of their choice that brings out the family’s difficulties to integrate into the German society. [CR7] [CR8]

Students research the topic and write an essay about the stereotypes exhibited by Americans about Germans and Germany. The essay needs to include a reflection on what type of people are prone to stereotypes and some suggestions on how stereotypical beliefs can be avoided or overcome. They imagine speaking in front of their school’s International Club.[CR7] [CR8]

Students imagine writing for a youth magazine about their self image and reflect on some important steps in their development.

5. Einheit: Globalisierung

CR6d: The course explicitly addresses the Personal and Public Identities theme.

CR7: The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate an understanding of the products, practices and perspectives of the target cultures.

CR8: The course provides opportunities for the students to make comparisons between and within languages and cultures.

Essential Questions: 1. What environmental issues pose challenges to societies throughout the world?

2. What are the origins of environmental problems?3. What are possible solutions to environmental challenges?

Competency Goals: 1. Students will talk about environmental issues in the US, the EU and the world.

2. Students will discuss a variety of different environmental problems and their origins depending on their individual interests. 3. Students will discuss solutions to the challenges they chose to research.

Language Control: 1. Reflexive pronouns and verbs(Kaleidoskop, Kap.9) 2. Relative pronouns and clauses

3. Extended modifiers4. Objective and subjective use of modals

Vocabulary: 1. Environment (Langenscheidt 9)2. Travel and Traffic (Langenscheidt 11)3. Countries and People (Langenscheidt 12)4. Kaleidoskop 105. “Umwelt” from Preparing for AP

Resources: - Kaleidoskop: Thema 10 “Umwelt“ and videos “Der deutsche Wald“ and “Ein Umweltprojekt“

- AP Curriculum Module “Teaching Umwelt Across Instructional Levels- Materials from the EU on Umwelt- http://www.helles-koepfchen.de/artikel/2963.html- http://www.helles-koepfchen.de/artikel/2291.html- http://www.helles-koepfchen.de/artikel/2836.html- http://www.bund.net/- http://www.bmu.de/- http://www.bmu-kids.de/

Activities and Assignments

Interpersonal Spoken

Interpersonal Written

Interpretive Audio

Interpretive Written

Presentational Spoken

Presentational Written

CR6a: The course explicitly addresses the Global Challenges theme.

Visual Audio-visual

Print

Students in groups of 2 share what they and their families presently do to help our environment. They summarize the information, and then one student of each group reports their findings to the class. One student is listing all environmentally friendly habits. [CR6a]

Students actively pursue current information about environmental issues in the US, Europe and the world and write an informal email every 2 to 3 days in German about what they have learned, read or done concerning the environment. The emails are written until the unit is concluded, and they must include questions and answers going back and forth between the partners.

Students listen and answer the selections under “Umwelt” from “Preparing for the AP German Language Exam”.

Students view the Kaleidoskopvideos “Der deutsche Wald” and “Ein Umweltprojekt“ and summarize the main statements.

Students interpret collected photos of climate related disasters.

Students read and answer the selections under “Umwelt”from “Preparing for the AP German Language Exam”.

Students choose a topic of their choice related to environmental problems. Then with that topic in mind, they individually or in pairs read through materials from Kaleidoskop, the EU and the Internet. [CR7]

Each student prepares a presentation (Power Point or poster or other visuals) on a different topic related to the environment. This is meant as a session of integration of knowledge for the class. The presentations should teach some facts and figures and offer some explanation of the origin of the problem.

Students pretend writing a “Letter to the editor” of a local newspapermaking the public aware of at least one thing that, if changed, could help improve our environment. The letter should include a suggestion on how the change could be achieved.

Fourth Quarter

CR7: The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate an understanding of the products, practices and perspectives of the target cultures

6. Einheit: Naturwissenschaft und Technologie

Essential Questions: 1. How do developments in science and technology affect our lives?2. What factors have driven innovation and discovery in the fields of science and technology?3. What role do ethics play in scientific advancement?

Competency Goals: 1. Students will talk about products that have been invented within the last 20 years and how they have changed our lives.

2. Students will talk about some driving forces in science and technology.3. Students will discuss ethical conflicts arising from the need to secure

funding and make innovation profitable.

Language Control: 1. Passive voice, alternatives to passive voice(Kaleidoskop, Kap.10) 2. Subjunctive I, indirect discourse

Vocabulary: 1. Technology and Materials (Langenscheidt 10)2. General Concepts: Time, Space, Quantity and Measure, Order and Reference, Ways and Methods, Comparisons, Forms, Cause and Effect, Condition and Change (Langenscheidt 13-17,

19-21)3. Kaleidoskop 24. „Gesundheit“, “Tiere“ from Preparing for AP

Resources: - Kaleidoskop: Thema 2 “Kommunikation” and video “Internet-Cafés“ - Preparing for AP: Gesundheit, Tiere

- Impressum: Wie aus Ideen Weltmeister werden. Initiative „Partner für Innovation“

- http://www.bundesregierung.de/http://www.bundesregierung.de/Webs/Breg/DE/Magazine/Schekker/schekker-das-jugendmagazin.html

Activities and Assignments

Interpersonal Spoken

Interpersonal Written

Interpretive Audio

Interpretive Written

Presentational Spoken

Presentational Written

CR6b: The course explicitly addresses the Science and Technology theme.

Visual Audio-visual

Print

2 students each conduct interviews with each other on what cell phone they use, what functions their phone can perform, and what they are using on a regular basis.They share with each other what their first cell phone was and compare it to the one they have now. They also discuss how their daily lives have changed and talk about some problems they faced with the phone, for instance price, over-use, forbidden use in school etc.[CR6b]

Students write an official letter of complaint to a cell phone company or a service provider.

Students design and write picture postcard to a real or virtual friend in Germany.

Students listen and answer the selections under “Gesundheit” and “Tiere”from “Preparing for the AP German Language Exam”.

Students view the Kaleidoskopvideo “Internet- Cafés“ and discuss to what extent they are already out-dated and by what other forms of communication they are replaced.

Students reflect on whether they find certain illustrations of the Impressum brochure effective as advertisement and why.

Students read and answer the selections under “Gesundheit” and “Tiere”from “Preparing for the AP German Language Exam”.

Students read the Kaleidoskop section about Jeanette and her cellphone and summarize the pros and cons mentioned in the text.

Students choose several articles from “Wie aus Ideen Weltmeister werden” and summarize the main points.[CR7]

Students either research a problematic aspect of food science and health (sugar, salt, hormones, preservatives, additives, antibiotics, irradiation etc.) and prepare a speech to convince politicians or the food industry to establish higher standards; or they research a recent invention and prepare a presentation they would make to an investment committee from a bank or the government in order to get support for bringing that invention to market.

Students write the first page – or introduction – of a science fiction novel dealing with an assumed future problem in the field of science or technology. They need to introduce the characters, the time, the place and the major circumstances.

CR7: The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate an understanding of the products, practices and perspectives of the target cultures.