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Benchmark
III
(2006-2007)
(Benchmark_III.PDF or Benchmark_III.doc)
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The
purpose of Benchmark III is to help you draw some conclusions of
your own on whether space programs are a positive advance. You
will, through your own research, come to a supported opinion.
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Your
final task is to use the knowledge you have gained thus far in
Benchmark I and in Benchmark II. You will try to determine the
kinds of issues and/or problems that might arise in the development
of space, and how these problems might be contained, controlled,
or ameliorated. This task focuses on the identification and analysis
of scenarios for the future.
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You will describe
these scenarios within the context of the four domains: scientific/environmental,
political/geopolitical,
economic, and social/cultural.
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Make
sure you carefully reference all materials you use in your text
and in a
bibliography.
Objective
1 - Building on the Ideas of Previous Imagination:
Use the imagination and creativity of your class to develop ideas of
space and space activities
Suggested
Activities:
1. Research movies that use space as a theme, such
as Star Trek, Star Wars, Starman, Apollo 13, Deep Impact, etc.
Preview such a movie
and write a review of it.
2. Using the four domains, analyze
the possible causes of the plot shown in the movie.
3. Use segments
of, or the entire video and relate this to the concepts you have
learned so far in this year’s CIF.
4. Write an outline
for a sequel to the story presented in your movie.
5. Create
a solution to the problems illuminated in your movie.
Objective
2 – Scenarios for the Future
Given various scenarios, you will use the knowledge you
have gained working on Benchmarks I and II to predict reactions to
the events in the scenario.
Suggested
Activities
1. Consider the following: A nation
that up to now has not been known to be pursuing a space
program has suddenly announced that
it has successfully orbited a “military vehicle.” Prepare
a response that might be given by a) a nation of your choice,
b) the United Nations, c) a non-governmental organization that
monitors
agreements.
2. A country has just renounced what has been believed
to be a sophisticated space program. Prepare a response that
might be given by a) a nation
of your choice, b) the United Nations, c) a non-governmental
organization that monitors agreements.
3. Use the knowledge
you have learned so far in researching this year’s topic
to address and compare two of these areas of the world.
• China
• Europe
• India
• Japan
• Russia
• US
• Or other
Build a space-use scenario for the areas you have
chosen (above) and show how the following factors will be affected
by
the chosen countries’ space programs:
• economic growth
• political stability
• social stability
• accountability
• evolving technologies
4. Again, using the areas of the world that you
chose in #3, address space programs through one of the following perspectives:
• Security
• Environment
• Economics
• Exploration
Objective
3 – Incidents
Using the knowledge you have gained, be able to discuss unforeseen
incidents that might occur as the result of space Programs.
Suggested Activities:
1. Prepare a scenario of the consequences of a space
object crashing in a populated area?
2. Explain the effects of an
accident at launch of a nuclear powered
space object.
3. Create your own space-related incident scenario:
give the background; describe the incident; detail the effects
of the
incident; detail
the reactions to the incident; explain how the incident would
be resolved. Use and refer to all the objectives above.
This
benchmark is available as either a PDF or Word file.
About Benchmarks
Benchmark One
Benchmark Two
http://www.criticalissuesforum.org/bmk07_3.html
updated 08 December 2006
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