Lesson Plan: Perspectives on Canadarm

Lesson Plan

Before Exploring

Write the term "perspective" on the board or chart paper. Discuss with the students how any event can be looked at from different perspectives and ask the students for some examples from public life. Discuss that some people can think an event is positive while others can think it is negative, and a large portion of the population might be uninterested altogether. Encourage students to illustrate the discussion with their own examples.

Outline the Opportunity

Post the following list:

Marketing manager of the company that built Canadarm

Marketing manager of a competitor in the technology industry

Company shareholder of the company that built Canadarm

Company shareholder of a competitor in the technology industry

Executive of the company that built Canadarm

Executive of a competitor in the technology industry

Scientist

Engineer

Astronaut

Politician

Citizen

Anti-poverty activist

Pairs of students will choose from this list to determine the perspective from which they will complete this activity. Students divide the work of browsing all of the material on the topic Canadarm: A Technology Star on the CBC Digital Archives website (clips, printed support material, and additional clips) to gather information based on their selected viewpoint, then share their findings. Using their results, pairs will prepare a report analyzing the impact of the Canadarm project from their viewpoint. Report formats can include a speech, a presentation software report, or an oral presentation with written and visual support.

Revisit and Reflect

Have students deliver their presentations to the class. The audience should make notes on the perspectives shared, noting which are positive, negative, or neutral to the Canadarm project. As a class, discuss the varying viewpoints and what solutions there might be to addressing those that are negative.

Extension

In their journals, students can respond to the following question: Does the high profile nature of a project such as Canadarm affect the way the world views Canada?