Example for High School & Middle School   FUTURE SCENE:  NEUROTECHNOLOGY                                                      In 2028 the BrainGate Neural Interface Systems created by Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems changed the future of neuroscience. The FDA finally approved the first brain-machine interface (BMI) implant.  With the use of nanotechnology, a chip the size of the head of a pin can easily be surgically placed in different areas of the brain depending on the function of the implant.  Cochlear implants placed in the auditory nerve allow deaf people to hear.  Implants in the visual cortex of the brain have literally opened up the world for the blind.  Implants in the motor cortex have allowed amputees to have complete control over artificial limbs.  The control is so precise that movement of these limbs can hardly be distinguished from the natural limbs.  Other implants have been used to alleviate the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, ALS, epilepsy, and other neurological diseases.  These implants have also been used to improve the lives of paralyzed patients allowing them through the use of a specialized computer to communicate and control motion activities.  This use of the BMI implants has tremendously improved the daily lives of patients with severe spinal-cord injuries.             Now, in 2038, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the central research and development organization for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), is interested in the military applications of BMI. One project that they are considering is the wiring of fighter pilots directly to their planes.  Pilots could control the planes with the actions of their thoughts.  This could increase the speed of maneuverability of the plane.  It could even be possible that the pilot could control the plane from the ground removing the pilot from the dangers of air combat.  They are also testing the downloading of memory implants that would enhance skills or even allow the person to perform skills that have not been learned directly.  This would decrease the amount of time that a soldier would have to spend in training.  The Army is testing a BMI that can receive the latest intelligence information so that the soldier would have immediate access to the location of enemy personnel and weaponry.  According to the Army, this would reduce casualties and also allow the commanding officer direct contact with every soldier.  By 2040 the U.S. Military will require everyone enlisting in the service to be fitted with a BMI.              This unilateral decision by the military has been presented to the government for approval.  The President has convened a special committee consisting of military representatives, neuroscientists, psychologists, and ethicists to examine the possible consequences of this action.  Your problem solving team has been asked to join this committee.  As a member of this committee, you are asked to brainstorm the possible problems that may occur, choose the underlying problem, and brainstorm solutions to this underlying problem.  Then create criteria to select the best solution and develop an action plan based on this solution.

Example of Elementary School FUTURE SCENE:  CHILD LABOR                                                                                           Sally was so excited.  She could hardly wait to start school today.   Her 5th grade class was starting a new project. Today’s class was focusing on the countries of Central America .  Sally remembered her teacher talking about the landforms of the country yesterday.  The physical geography of the country has changed over the last 20 years.  Global warming has caused the melting of the ice sheets in the Artic and Antarctica .  The resulting rise in the ocean levels has caused flooding.  In Central America , Panama and Costa Rica are now under water.              Today in class Sally and her classmates will be participating in a virtual tour of Central America .  The classroom’s holoportal which is tied to the GPS satellite will allow the students to experience the people and culture in real time.  Sally and the other students were very excited as the teacher gathered them together to begin the tour.  They would be focusing today on Nicaragua .                As the teacher activated the holoportal, the students listened as the teacher explained that they were going to study the economics of the country.  She began to talk about how the Nicaragua of 2038 was very different from the country 30 years ago.  Many people were forced to leave the flooded areas of the south and move into the crowded cities of the northern countries.  Many people were forced to leave their fertile farmland to seek jobs in the cities.  Many had to take work in factories in order to support their families.  As the students walked through a large open-air market, they saw many stalls selling clothes that looked like some of the clothing that they wore.  The teacher explained that the factory that made the clothes was in the city.  The students wanted to visit the factory.  With a slight adjustment to the holoportal, the students were standing in the middle of the factory floor.             As the students looked around in amazement, they saw children as young as six-years-old running around the factory picking up finished clothing or dropping off pieces of cloth for the adults at the sewing machines.  Soon the students were shouting questions at the teacher.  “Why weren’t the children in school?  Why didn’t the factory use robots like the industry in the U.S. ?”  The teacher tried to calm the students and suggested they return to their classroom to continue the discussion.  In the classroom the teacher explained because so many families were forced to leave their homes in the south due to flooding that the workforce in the country was increased by many thousands.  Owners of the factories could hire people to work in the factories much cheaper than the cost of converting the factories to robot workers.  Because the adults were paid a very low wage, sometimes as little as $1.00 a day, many children had to work just to help buy food to feed the family.             Sally and her classmates were very upset.  They could not imagine working all day instead of going to school.  One of the students started checking the manufacturing tags inside the top of some of the students’ clothing.  Others saw what she was doing and began to check also.  Over half of the students were wearing clothes made in Nicaragua .  The teacher understood that the students were very concerned.  She decided to ask the students to address theirs concerns as a problem solving team.  As members of that team use your brainstorming skills to create problem statements, choose an underlying problem, brainstorm solutions to that problem.  Create criteria to evaluate the solutions and use that solution to create an action plan.

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