The House of the ScorpionResearch Project

"Science fiction allows you to approach a lot of social issues you can't get to directly. If you wrote a book about how cloning is horrible, it would read like a sermon and no one would pay attention to it." –Nancy Farmer

While Nancy Farmer’s The House of the Scorpion definitely did not “read like a sermon,” it did prompt us to consider many relevant social issues. Woven into the exciting plot of the novel are some of the “hottest” and possibly most controversial scientific and political topics of our time, all of which relate back to the larger questions the novel poses: What does it mean to be human? What is our responsibility as a society? What is the value of life?

Essential Question: Which issue in Nancy Farmer’s The House of the Scorpionhas made you 1) question the truth and consequences of the issue in our own society AND 2) ponderthe possible impact this issue may have your generation’s future and the future of your descendents?
Goal of Research:
1.First, select at least 3 real life social, economic, scientific, or technological issues related to one of the novel's prominent themes that make you think about current or future real life implications.
2.Highlight the three topics that most interest you.
3.Have your parents sign the bottom of this sheet for homework TONIGHT.
4.By utilizing the research process and RELIABLE INTERNET SOURCES, explore how this issue
  1. has the power to improve conditions in our world AND
  2. may have the capacity to cause harm or negative consequences.
5.Draw your own conclusions after exploring the facts associated with the topic.
6.Connect what you learn to important ideas and themes within The House of the Scorpion.
7.Create a multimedia presentation to showcase your research and to use a presentation tool.
  1. Animoto
  2. Prezi
  3. Smore
8.Give proper credit to all sources by citing them in MLA format within an EasyBib project.
  1. At least three sources must be used in this project.
  2. Sweet Search is a search engine highly recommended for this project.
  3. At least one of the three required sources must be from the Cobb Digital Library.
  4. Username: Student ID #
  5. Password: read

Possible Research Topics for The House of the ScorpionResearch Project

Biomedical Ethics (also called Bioethics)

  • Cloning
  • Reproductive cloning
  • Therapeutic cloning
  • Organ donation / organ transplantation
  • Animals & Science
  • Terminal care (aged care)
  • Substance abuse
  • Genetic engineering (GMOs)

Human Rights

  • Child labor
  • Slavery today (human trafficking)
  • Forced marriage
  • Right to die (physician-assisted suicide)
  • Poverty

Environmental Issues

  • Global resources
  • Endangered oceans
  • Garbage and recycling
  • Energy alternatives

Government/Law Issues

  • Immigration system
  • Communism/Socialism
  • Social Justice
  • Corruption in law enforcement
  • War on drugs

Use/Abuse of New Technology

  • Surveillance and tracking technology (cameras, GPS, tracking chips in cell phones, cell/phone “taps” or “bugging”, etc.)
  • Proliferation of weapons (proliferation = growth, rapid spread)

The topics above are extremely BROAD. You must ask a “big essential question” to narrow your research, then use that question as a springboard to fully explore at least 3 connected areas.

Big EQ: ______

Important background details

Real life examples

Connected area from list ______