Organ Transplants and Donation | Scientific Debate Set | Middle / High School

Studying organ transplants and donation in middle and high school science helps students connect biology and human body systems with real world medical decisions, ethics, and public health. A structured debate resource on organ transplants and donation gives learners a safe, organized way to explore questions about consent, waiting lists, living donors, matching, and future medical technologies while staying grounded in accurate science.

With clear general debate guidelines and a suggested schedule, subject specific debate questions, one page primers that support students at different readiness levels, a key vocabulary sheet, key evidence cards with short facts and sources, debate roles explained, sentence starters and topic specific sentence starters, graphic organizer templates, and a reflection sheet for after the debate, this organ donation debate pack turns a sensitive topic into thoughtful, student friendly learning. It builds scientific literacy, empathy, and critical thinking, while giving teachers a complete resource that fits smoothly into any middle school or high school unit on human biology or health science.

This organ transplants & donation debate set provides the perfect supportive and fully comprehensive resource set that can help your students learn all about organ transplants & donation through the method of debate. If you have never run a debate for your students before, there is MORE than enough material to help you learn how to do so. You will be able to guide your students through debate on organ transplants & donation and provide as much or as little material as they might need, this resource delivers everything you could possibly need for a clear and effective debate to enhance student learning.

THIS ORGAN TRANSPLANTS & DONATION DEBATE SET CAN BE USED IN SO MANY WAYS:

• To extend students
• To increase scientific literacy and scientific argumentation (science related speechcraft + logical reasoning) in your class
• A entry point to a unit on this topic
• Great as a lesson filler when class goes too fast
• An exit point to a unit on this topic - for effective review
• Use a sub-topic to focus on a specific part of the unit you are covering

WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THIS ORGAN TRANSPLANTS & DONATION DEBATE SET:

• 1 Set of 15 page Google Slides, Powerpoint & PDF format of materials which contains:
  • General debate guidelines + suggested schedule
  • 15 proposed subject specific debate questions (on Donation systems & consent, Fairness & who gets organs, Living donation & risk, Technology & the future, Responsibility & global justice)
  • 3 one page primers (neutral in tone) on Organ shortage, waiting lists & fairness, Opt-in vs opt-out organ donation and New technologies: xenotransplantation & future options.
  • 1 page general neutral tone primer on this broader topic
  • Key vocabulary with student friendly definitions
  • A set of 12 short evidence cards for potential student use (1 fact + source)
  • Explanation of debate roles
  • Sentence starters for effective debate language + Sentence starters specifically on this subject.
  • 3 graphic organizers (T-chart (for vs. against), Stakeholders (benefits / risks) & Claim-Evidence-Reasoning template
  • 1 page reflection sheet for after the debate
• The 3 graphic organizers in Google Doc & Microsoft Word format with fillable text books for digital use (T-chart (for vs. against), Stakeholders (benefits / risks) & Claim-Evidence-Reasoning template. These Doc versions are images with editable text boxes overlayed on top and this is the most effective way to keep things sleek and well-designed.
• 12 slide evidence cards for printing in Google Slides, Powerpoint, PDF format
• A 24 point rubric for assessment and to support marking and feedback on this activity