The Tikkun Project
About this unit
Students choose and research a product, process, or material, then create a Research Informed Negotiated Action (RINA) project — adapted from Dr. J. Lawrence Bencze's STEPWISE framework (OISE, University of Toronto) — aimed at maintaining an important benefit of its use while minimizing the potential harms it can cause. Informed by the text Bal Tashchit (Sefer HaChinuch 529, "do not destroy"), students build criteria for judging benefit and harm, test those criteria against multiple perspectives and against time itself, and ground their thinking in the actual science of a substance's harms (pure substances, mixtures, and bioaccumulation) before researching, building, and implementing a real action plan with the guidance of community experts and organizations including Environmental Defense, the David Suzuki Foundation, and Jane Goodall Canada.
critical challenge
Students research a substance, material, or product and create a Research Informed Negotiated Action (RINA) project aimed at maintaining an important benefit of its use while minimizing the potential harms it can cause.
critical challenge Criteria
- • The action/initiative is based on evidence from student research
• The hypothesis is reasonable
• The impact can be measured and reported after implementation
Unit Goals
Curriculum Connections
- What are the most powerful criteria we can use to determine what the potential benefits or harms of a product are?
Students use primary and secondary research to build an expansive list of potential harms and benefits of a product, process, or material, then choose the criteria that most effectively define an important harm or benefit.
How might we improve a product, process, or material to maximize its potential benefits and minimize its potential harms?
Students use their understanding of a product's benefits and harms to propose and evaluate potential improvements — including, where relevant, scientifically grounded remediation strategies.
When do the potential harms of a product, process, or material outweigh its benefits?
Students consider multiple perspectives and sources of evidence to decide whether or not a product, process, or material should be used in a given circumstance.