Year 8 GATE Program

This week saw the commencement of Gifted and Talented Enrichment (GATE) classes. The curriculum is founded on the development of effective thinking skills that are transferable across subjects and contexts. This week, the Year 8 students explored an ethical dilemma based upon the following scenario:

You are the captain of an interstellar cargo transport headed to port when you receive two distress calls. The first is from a labour ship providing services to their community; its passengers are running out of oxygen. The other is from a luxury space cruiser which has lost a thruster, sending them careening into a dangerous asteroid storm.

With only enough time to save one ship, which should you choose?

Students worked collaboratively to develop as many questions they could think of in response to watching an animated scenario. They then had the chance to view others’ questions and categorise them into one, two and three star questions. For example, a one star question was “What work did the labourers do?”, while a three star question was “Is it more ethical to sacrifice 20 people to save 30?”, and “Who has the right to decide who lives and dies?”  The students certainly left the class with more questions than answers, which is the essence of becoming a curious, collaborative learner and an independent thinker.

Sharee Verdon

GATE Coordinator