Module No.

Module 3: Specific Issues in STS

and Title
Lesson No. and Lesson 1: The Information Age
Title
Learning At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
Outcomes 1. Trace the development of the information age;
2. Earn how technology functions; and
3. Appreciate its influence as people’s lives.
Time Frame 1.5 hour
Introduction The Information Age is considered a historic period in the
21" century. Characterized by the rapid shift from traditional
industry, it is also called computer age, digital and the new media
age. It is marked by a very fast growth in communication and
information technology. This age holds a significant influence as
educators and learners.
The invention of the computer which gave people access to
information with the touch of a button. The internet has tuned
society into homebodies and individuals who do everything from
the comfort of their homes. People do their tasks only such as
shopping, paying bills, working, education, entertainment and
ordering food.
Activity Activity 1: Scroll Back in Time!
Instruction: Before we dive into the wonders of the Information
Age, take a moment to time-travel through tech! In 3-5 sentences,
describe what life might be like if we were stuck in one of the
earlier periods (Pre-Mechanical, Mechanical, Electro-Mechanical).

Note: No Google, no gadgets—how would you learn, talk, or work

back then?

Abstraction Historical Development

The information age also referred to as Computer Ages and
New Media Age is a historic period in the 21st Century
characterized by the rapid shift from traditional industry.
It began around the 1970s and still going on today. This era
brought about a time period in which people could access
information and knowledge easily. As in the field of literature, the
renaissance influenced this age by creating the idea inventions that
led to modern ones.
Information Age also referred to people, information and
societies that chronicle the birth and growth of electronic
information from ancient times to Samuel Morse's invention of the
telegraph in the 1890s through the development of the telephone,
radio, television and computers
(http.//[Link]/az/[Link])
There are four periods of the Information Age, namely
 Pre-Mechanical - 3,000 BC 1450 AD.
 Mechanical-1450-1840
 Electro-Mechanical-1840-1940
 Electronic/Information-1940-present
 4 Abacus -calculating tool of ancient times,
Some pioneers who belonged to these periods were Blaire
Pascal, Alexander Graham Bell, Steven Wozmak, Steven Jobs, Bill
Gates.
Personal computers had become widespread by the end
of the 1980s. They can be connected to local or national networks.
Through a device called the modern, Individual users could list their
computers to a wealth of information using conventional phone
lines.
 The internet was developed during the 1970s. In the early
days, it was used mainly by scientists to communicate with other
scientists. At this time, the internet users problem was speed. The
development of the fiber-optic hastened the rate of sending
message.
In the 1990s, the world wide web was developed mainly
for commercial purposes. New services were created to sell
products. Now, airline tickets, hotel reservations, books and even
cars and houses can be purchased online. Colleges and universities
would post research data on the internet so students could find
valuable information without leaving their homes.
Claude Shannon is regarded as the Father of the
Information Age.
Living in the Information Age
Effects/Impact
Technology is increasingly playing a crucial role in the
success of organizations particularly in school in this Information
Age. The impact of IT has been enormous on various domains
including education. Computers and the information they process
and store have transformed every aspect of the society.
Since we live in the Information Age, IT has become a part
of our everyday lives. There have been tremendous changes in the
ways people live work and play over the past three decades
([Link]/2011/04/most-important-effect-of-
[Link]) IT is composed of computer, networks, mobile
and wireless devices, satellite communications, robotics, videotext,
cable television, electronic mail (e-mail). electronic gadget and
automated office equipment. Technological innovation and
entrepreneurship have been the key players in the changes that we
experience.
Everyday, we use technology in new ways. Computers are
becoming increasingly affordable and they continue to be more
powerful as information processing tools. Some of the advantages
of Information Technology are:
1. Globalization It has brought the world closer together,
led to sharing information more quickly and efficiently
and enabled countries to share ideas and information
with each other.
2. Communication It has made communication cheaper,
quicker and more efficient. The use of the internet
opened face-to-face communication from different parts
of the world.
3. Cost effectiveness it has led to computerization of
business processes and increased productivity that gave
more profits, better pay and working conditions.
4. Creation of new jobs-It has led to the opening up of
opportunity for computer programmers, system
analysts, hardware and software developers and web
designers.
The Information Age has introduced changes in the different
aspects of people's lives, because of the following:
1. emergence of online companies

2. creation of economically and stimulating businesses

3. more mature and educated people
4. reshaping governments with new technologies

Application Activity 2: Post it Like a Pro!

Instructions:
 Topic: Create an infographic that explains the Information Age – its
meaning, characteristics, impact on society, and how it affects
communication, learning, or lifestyle.
Content Must Include:
 A clear title
 Definition of the Information Age
 3–5 key features or facts
 Real-life examples or statistics
 Visual elements (icons, graphs, images)
Format:
 You may use digital tools (e.g., Canva, PowerPoint, Google
Slides) or create it by hand on bond paper/cartolina.
 Keep it visual and concise – minimal text, maximum clarity.
Design Tips:
 Use color and layout effectively.
 Make sure text is readable.
 Be creative but informative.

Lesson No. and Lesson 2: Gene Therapy

Title
Learning At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
Outcomes 1. Define what gene is;
2. Differentiate gene therapy from stem cell therapy
3. Explain the importance of gene therapy in the future;
4. Demonstrate processes of gene therapy; and
5. Show in life ‘situation genes’ importance in education.
Time Frame 1.5 hour
Introduction Genetic risks to health come from a variety of sources
and predicting those risks can be much more complicated than
simply assessing disease inheritance patterns. The majority of
health conditions are not related to a single genetic cause but
result from a combination of inherited and environmental
influences. Our topic will highlight risk factors and provide risk
assessment tools, which can improve healthcare decision-making.
Because chromosomes and genes provide instructions for
our bodies, any changes to these structures have the potential to
cause genetic disease and negatively impact health. We will
discuss the types of genetic diseases, how these diseases are
inherited, and the potential health outcomes.
HEREDITY is the passing on of traits from parents to their
offspring, either through asexual reproduction or sexual
reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic
information of their parents, through heredity, variations between
individuals can accumulate and cause species to evoke by natural
selection. The study of heredity is biology of genetics.
([Link]

Activity Activity 1: Gene-ius in You!

Instruction: Think about your family—what traits do you share?
Maybe your mother’s curly hair or your grandfather’s dimples?
On a ¼ sheet of paper, list 3 traits you think you inherited from
your family.
Then, answer this question:
If you could "edit" one gene to improve yourself or
help others, what would it be and why?

Abstraction Understanding Gene Therapy

The expression of genetic conditions is not always as simple
as the amount of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) present, or the
inheritance patterns of a single gene disorder. There are many
factors that determine how one's genotype (genetic makeup)
correlates to one's phenotype (physical manifestations). Among
these are penetranos, expressivity, mosaicism, and X-inactivation.
Penetrance is a measure of how often a disease genotype
correlates to the disease phenotype. For example, in a completely
penetrant disease, every individual who is genetically positive for
the disease would have clinical manifestations of said disease. In
contrast, for diseases with incomplete penetrance, some individuals
who are genetically positive for that disease may be entirely
asymptomatic
Organisms inherit genetic information in a variety of ways
that result in continuity of structure and function between parents
and offspring. Suppose you as a child have a genetic disease-one
that could be cured by diet or a similarly straightforward therapy.
Wouldn't the parents want the disease diagnosed? Or take another
example, perhaps two people are getting married. Wouldn't it be
beneficial to know what chance their offspring have of inheriting
one or several harmful genetic traits? We are now armed with the
different advance procedures like the PCR, Southern blotting, RFLP
mapping and DNA sequencing. Different laboratories have already
developed the ability to provide a very detailed look at our genetic
materials. Is there a necessity to apply all these techniques to all of
us? What harm might it do to have a complete picture of our
genes? In totality, these procedures do not insert new genetic
material into cells, no changes of any kind are made. We are only
provided with information about what is already there.
Cases of prenatal or perinatal diagnosis of a birth defect or
an enzyme deficiency is one situation where DNA diagnosis could
be of immediate beneficial use. What must be emphasized is that
the information to be garnered by the new technology should be
private and used by choice by the individual whose DNA has been
read. A person's DNA sequence to my mind should be protected by
law from distribution to other parties without the individual's
specific permission. This goes the same with physicians who have
obtained such information, who should also treat it as they do any
privileged material.
The introduction of foreign genes into organisms doesn't
seem to be dangerous. The resulting organisms don't appear to be
better able to reproduce than any others. Attempts to remedy
human disease by somatic gene therapy also don't appear to pose
ethical dilemmas. But the introduction of genes into the human
germ line does. The diagnostic procedures that genetic engineering
allows are very powerful. Before anything else, it will be relatively
easy to correlate the presence of various DNA polymorphisms with
disease and other hereditary characteristics.
Genetic Engineering
Gene therapy involves altering the genes inside your
body's cells in an effort to treat or stop the disease.
([Link]/tests-procedures/gene-therapy/about/pac-2-
384619)
It involves the removal of a desirable gene from a cell,
adding it to the gene structure of a bacterial cell and replacing the
recombinant DNA into the bacterial cell. The bacteria then have the
capability to produce the protein produced by the original animal or
plant cell.
Gene Therapy
Knowledge of genetics is making possible new fields of
health care. An example is the finding of genes that may have
mutations that can cause disease will aid in the development of
preventive measures to fight disease. Substances such as
hormones and enzymes, from genetically engineered organisms
may reduce the cost and the side effects of replacing missing body
chemicals.
The gene therapy has become a commonly used term in
biomedical research. This process involves the splicing of functional
genes into cells that contain defective, nonfunctional genes for a
particular trait. The clinical techniques used to accomplish gene
therapy are still being worked out. However, they involve research
into methods of introducing the functional genes into the person or
organism affected by defective gene. Simply, gene therapy
replaces a faulty gene or adds a new gene in an attempt to cure
disease or improve your body's ability to fight disease.
Diseased People Cured by Fixing Their Genes
Putting genes into plants and domestic laboratory animals is
one thing. What about using genetic engineering to modify
humans, in particular to cure human disease? There are two quite
different procedures that are being debated under this heading.
and they need to be discussed separately. The first procedure is to
insert foreign genetic material into the germ line-into sperm or
eggs-where they could be passed on to succeeding generations.
The second procedure is to use genetic engineering to insert
foreign genes into somatic cells-into any cells except sperm or eggs
and their progenitors-in an effort to correct some genetic defect.
Some questions may arise like: Does the process work? Will
it yield a better quality of life for the treated individual? Were the
patients, parents or guardians given informed consent? Treating
human genetic disease by purposely changing the genes that are
passed on to succeeding generations seems potentially dangerous
and ethically unsound. It is dangerous precisely because of the
problems brought up at the very beginning. There is a great
possibility of some great interaction between the introduced gene
and the remainder of the genome. The consequences of this
ignorance fall onto succeeding generations-on innocent children or
fetuses. On the other hand, if the genetic engineer and the
physician make a mistake in somatic therapy, the person who
suffers is the patient, who should have been appraised of dangers
before the therapy was begun.
The Role of Genes in Heredity
The heredity information is contained or within the genes,
located in the chromosomes of each cell. An inherited trait can be
determined by one or by many genes and a single gene can
influence more than one trait. A human cell contains many
thousands of different genes in the nucleus.
Heredity factors known as genes are thought to exist as
discrete portions (known as loci) of chromosomes. The term
"discrete" refers to the concept that genes are always located at
the same point or (locus) on a chromosome.
It is believed that pairs of homologous chromosomes contain
linear, matching arrangements of genes exerting parallel control
over the same traits. Pairs of genes that exercise such parallel
control over the same traits are known as alleles, which are of two
kinds: dominant and recessive.
Genetic characteristics can be extremely complex and may
require the actions of several separate genes to be expressed in
the adult organism. An example of traits that require more than a
single pair of genes to be expressed are human height and human
color. Other traits may be controlled by a single pair of genes.
 Some of these traits may have extreme phenotypes, such as
albinism (lack of skin pigment) in humans.
Common genetic disorder
 down syndrome
 sickle cell disease
 phenyl ketonuria (PKU)
 hemophilia
Each of our gene codes contains unique protein and each
protein has a separate and distinct function to perform in the cell.
Effects of Genes in Our Environment
Genes are inherited, but their expression can be modified by
interactions with the environment. Genetic traits are determined
largely through the precise information found in the cell's gene
structure. A variety of factors in the environment can actually alter
the effects of a particular gene. Some examples of this effect are as
follows:
Effect of light or chlorophyll production - Although most plants
have the genetic ability to produce chlorophyll, they will do this
only in the presence of light. Without light, these plants produce
only a light-yellow pigment and therefore appear pale and sickly
until they are exposed to sunlight. After a few days of exposure to
sunlight, the chlorophyll production mechanism is enabled and
green color returns.
Effect of temperature on hair color in the Himalayan hare -
in their native arctic environment, Himalayan hares have white
body hair with black hair on their extremities. However, when
raised in warm climates they are entirely white. On further study
scientists shaved off some hair from the hare's back (normally
white) and strapped an ice pack unto the bare skin. This
experimental condition showed the hare's hair grew back black,
including the role of environmental temperature on the production
of hair color in this species.

Application Activity 2: Gene-ius at Work!

Instruction: Explain in your own words the following:
1. Gene Therapy
____________________________________________
_______________________________________________
____________________________.
2. The New Diagnostics
____________________________________________
_______________________________________________
____________________________.
3. The DNA Code
____________________________________________
_______________________________________________
____________________________.

Lesson No. and Lesson 3: Biodiversity and Healthy Society

Title
Learning At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
Outcomes 1. At the end of this lesson, the learner should be able to:
2. define what biodiversity is;
3. explain the impact of biodiversity on human population
growth; and
4. apply how we can protect our environment by knowing the
signs of contamination
Time Frame 1.5 hour
Introduction The different species of our plants and animals and the places they
 live is called biodiversity. All together they give us all our needs in
our life like food, clear drinking water, crisp air, medicines and
provide us our homes. biodiversity is like a safety net.
Activity Activity 1: Bio-What? Let’s Talk Nature!
Instruction:
Look around you—nature is everywhere! On a short bond paper,
draw 3 living things (plants, animals, or even tiny organisms) you
see or know around your home or school.
Then, answer this question:
What do you think would happen if one of them suddenly
disappeared?

Abstraction The Impact of Biodiversity on Human Life

 Humans are one of the Earth’s 1.9 million species.
 Survival depends on interaction between plants and
animals.
 Human technologies have had significant impacts on the
natural world by producing materials that pollute the air,
water and soil.
 Habitat destruction reduces biodiversity.
 Education and environmental awareness on a global level is
essential.

Human Population Growth

Unlike all other species, human population growth has risen
at a very rapid rate over the past centuries. The development of
the medical technology has reduced the incidence of disease in
many parts of the world; modern agriculture has reduced the
incidence of disease and the likelihood of starvation in developed
nations. But this growth has:
 put extreme pressures on the natural world,
 threatening the survival of natural species and habitats,
 famine in less developed areas, and
 resurgence of diseases.
Population and Destruction in our Environment
Technological and industrial processes have led to the
production of chemical and by-products that are harmful (toxic) to
living things. Such toxic chemicals have contributed to our global
environmental pollutions like pesticides and acidic ions.
When they are released into the environment, these pollutants:
 contaminate the water, air and soil,
 make the survival of natural species difficult or impossible,
 when combined with atmospheric water, particularly acidic
ions, it results to acid precipitation (acid rain), which has
acidified lakes and disrupted natural ecosystem.
Destruction of Habitat
Humans have drained, filled, or redirected wetlands,
ponds, stream and other natural water habitats for these same
purposes. Collectively, this is known as habitat destruction.
Over Cropping - the failure to allow soil to recover nutrients and
organic matter content between plantings.
Overgrazing - the practice of allowing large numbers of domestic
animals to graze an area too small to support them.
Exploitation of Animals and Plants
Humans have great desire to process exotic animals and
plants or their products have been enabled by modern
transportation, communication and economic technologies.
This resulted in exploitation for exotic species of primates
such as monkey and cats, also birds such as parrots and other pets.
 Some animals were killed because of their horns, pelts and tusks.

Direct Harvesting
An activity wherein humans have removed plants from the
ecosystem for their economic value without regard for their effect
of its own removal on natural ecosystem. Furthermore, direct
harvesting of forest trees from mountains to provide lumber for
building purposes, and denuded in the process, allowing fragile
soils to be washed away. It preludes the destruction of entire
mountain habitats.
Worldwide, direct harvesting activities for exotic hardwoods
in tropical rain forests has resulted in similar habitat destruction
and loss of biodiversity.
Signs of Environmental Contamination
Many warning signs exist indicate that a dangerous disequilibrium
is being created in our ecosystem. Some researchers suspect that
toxic chemicals by-products, heavy metals, pesticides, hormones,
pharmaceutical and other contaminants are responsible for an
increased frequency in deformation of illnesses, death of natural
populations worldwide. The following are examples:
 Dramatic decline and deformation in frog populations which
have been observed in aquatic ecosystems around the
world.
 Reproductive cycle disruption of birds because of high
concentrations of DDT and other pesticides.
 Deaths and population decline birds, and fish are linked to
contamination from oil spills.
 Deaths and disorientation of marine mammals (whales)
possibly due to coastal pollutant runoff.
 Contaminated water.
Consumption of Energy
Worldwide, industrialization has brought an increased demand
for the use of energy resources. It has brought positive and
negative effects on humans and ecosystems.
Major energy consumers include the US and England, and
China, a former light user.
Fossil for Fuels
Fossil fuels are commonly used as an energy source
industrial processes for the past 200 years, include naturally
occurring materials such as oil, coal, and natural gas.
These fuels are obtained from underground deposits formed
in million years ago by biological and geological processes, and
these fossil fuels are not being replenished.
Acid Precipitation
This results from combining sulfur and nitrogen oxide ions
with atmospheric water to produce sulfuric and nitric acids. When
rain snow and sleet containing these acids fall on aquatic
ecosystems, they can significantly alter the acid/base chemistry.
Any alteration leads to elimination of acid/base sensitive species of
fish and amphibians in the ecosystem.

Application Activity 2: Scrap of Genius!

Create a collage of the impact of biodiversity on various aspects
of human life.
Rubric:
Score Description
Covers 5+ areas clearly, very
Excellent (20) creative, neat, captions are
clear and meaningful.
 Covers 4 areas, organized and
Proficient (16) creative, captions are mostly
clear.
Covers 2–3 areas, lacks
Developing (12) organization or clarity, captions
may be vague.
Covers 1 area or unclear, little
Beginning (8) effort, lacks captions and
neatness.

Lesson No. and Lesson 4: The Nano World

Title
Learning At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
Outcomes 1. At the end of this lesson, the learner should be able to:
2. define nanoscience clearly
3. discuss the contributions of persons to this subject, and
4. appreciate the uses of nano science and nano technology.

Time Frame 1.5 hour

Introduction Nanoworld of science and technology is of great interest to
governments. industries and academia. The prefix "nano" denotes
sizes of the order of one billionth of a meter. "Nanostructure
science and technology is a broad and interdisciplinary area of
research and development activity that has been growing
explosively worldwide in the past few years. It has the potential for
revolutionizing the way in which materials and products are created
and the range and nature of functionalities that can be accessed"
(Siegel, 1999).
The history of nanotechnology traces the development of the
concepts and experimental work falling under the broad category
of nanotechnology. Although nanotechnology is a relatively recent
development in scientific research, the development of its central
concepts happened over a longer period of time. The emergence of
nanotechnology in the 1980s was caused by the convergence of
experimental advances such as the invention of the scanning
tunneling microscope in 1981 and the discovery of fullerenes in
1985, with the elucidation and popularization of a conceptual
framework for the goals of nanotechnology

Activity Activity 1: Small talk: Big Ideas!

Instruction:
We often hear the phrase “It’s the little things that matter”—but
what if really little things could change the world?
On a ¼ sheet of paper, answer the following:
1. Name something very small that makes a big difference
(example: a grain of rice, a drop of medicine, etc.).
2. Guess: What do you think “nanoscience” is all about?
3. Why do you think scientists are so interested in things we
can’t even see with the naked eye?

Abstraction Defining Terms

Nanomaterials exhibit properties entirely constitute
materials of the future. Increased surface area and quantum effects
are the two key factors that separate nanomaterials from bulk
materials (The Royal Society and The Royal Academy of
Engineering, 2004). A substance of size 3 nm has 50% of its atoms
on the surface compared to a substance of size 30 nm with 5% of
its atoms on its surface. As size decreases more quantum effects
begin to manifest in the form of electrical, magnetic and optical
properties.

Nanoscience refers to the scientific study of materials of

nanometer size, i.e., one billionth of a meter (The Royal Society,
1994). It is a combination of developments in solid state chemistry,
synthetic chemistry, molecular biology, solid state physics and
engineering, and scanning tunneling microscopy. According to
Alfred Nordmann (cited in Schummer, 2003), it is a site-oriented
technoscience approach that differs both from classical theory-
driven and problem-driven (p. 2). For example, nanosized indium
melts at much lower temperature than respective bulk metal (Allen,
2002). Copper in extremely thin layers, in the presence of magnetic
field, becomes a poor conductor of electricity (Loder, 2005).

Nanotechnology refers to various technologies to produce

materials of extra high precision and dimensions on the scale of
one-billionth of a meter. (Norio Taniguchi of Tokyo Science
University is credited with coining the term "nanotechnology" in
1974). Nanotechnology "implies the ability to generate and utilize
structures, components, and devices with a size range from about
0.1 nm (atomic and molecular scale) to about 100nm (or larger in
some situations) by control at atomic molecular, and
macromolecular levels" (Roco, 1999) One of the most interesting
aspects of nanotechnology is buliding molecule-by-molecule
materials similar to those produced by biological self-assemlby,
self-organization and self-regulation (Carraher, Jr. 1994).
What is Nano World?
To understand the nano world here are presented important
personages who have contributed to the growth and study of the
Nano World.
Richard Feynman
The retroactive rediscovery of Feynman's "Plenty of Room"
gave nanotechnology a packaged history that provided an early
date of December 1959, plus a connection to the charisma and
genius of Richard Feynman. Feynman's stature as a Nobel laureate
and as an iconic figure in 20th century science surely helped
advocates of nanotechnology and provided a valuable intellectual
link to the past.
Erick Drexler
His paper on the Nanosystems Molecular Machinery,
Manufacturing, and Computation received the Association of
American Publishers award for Best Computer Science Bouk of
1992 Drexler founded the Foresight Institute in 1986 with the
mission of "Preparing for nanotechnology."
Nanotechnology and nanoscience got a boost in the early
1980s with two major developments: the birth of cluster science
and the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM).
These developments led to the discovery of fullerenes in 1985 and
the structural assignment of carbon nanotubes a few years later
The scanning tunneling microscope, an instrument for
imaging surfaces at the atomic level, was developed in 1981 by
Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer at IBM Zurich Research
Laboratory, for which they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics
in 1986. Binnig, Calvin Quate and Christoph Gerber invented the
first atomic force microscope in 1986. The first commercially
available atomic force microscope was introduced in 1989.
IBM researcher Don Eigler was the first to manipulate atoms
using a scanning tunneling microscope in 1989. He used 35 Xenon
 atoms to spell out the IBM logo. He shared the 2010 Kavli Prize in
Nanoscience for this work.
Initial Commercial Applications
The early 2000s saw the beginnings of the use of
nanotechnology in commercial products, although most
applications are limited to the bulk use of passive nanomaterials.
Examples include titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles in
sunscreen, cosmetics and some food products: Silver nanoparticles
in food packaging, clothing, disinfectants and household appliances
such as Silver Nano: carbon nanotubes for stain-resistant textiles:
and cerium oxide as a fuel catalyst. As of March 10, 2011, the
Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies estimated that over 1300
manufacturer-identified nanotech products are publicly available,
with new ones hitting the market at a pace of 3-4 per week.

Application Activity 2: Scoop and Scoop!

Instruction: Prepare a research report on the current uses or
application of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Indicate your
sources at the end of the report.
Closure Congratulations on completing this module! You’re not just a
student of science—you’re a citizen of a rapidly changing
world. Carry your new insights forward. Ask tough questions. Look
beyond the gadget, the lab, or the headline—and always
remember: technology must serve humanity, not the other
way around.