1. Grades 10

2. Overview The world has now been referred to as a global village. The need for information flow is vital especially in the area of science. Information and Communication Technology [ICT] has become very important in the global village. There is need to provide current information on food, water, health and resources. Public understanding of science and technology is now a sine qua non for national development.

3. Purpose Unless policy makers understand the modern day scientists, the gap between theory and practice, especially the implementation aspects will get wider. The purpose of this lesson is to show how scientific information can be accessed and communicated to non-scientists.

4. Objectives Students will be able to:

i. Examine different kinds of scientific information
ii. Discuss how best useful information should be communicated
iii. Access some scientific information
iv. Disseminate some scientific information to their colleagues.

5. Resources/materials

• Magazines and Newspapers where current scientific issues are discussed.

6. Activities and Procedures Some vital issues are commonly discussed in many parts of Africa and in the world in general. The concept of what is meant by a global village should be discussed with the students. The following issues should guide the discussions:

• Health
• Water
• Food
• The Environment

All of these are important for the development of a country. The teacher should recall the various lessons in which these issues were introduced.

With the modern approach to information dissemination, both teachers and students would have to learn how to access and use information provided in the media. The teacher and students can no longer limit information to what is found in textbooks. The electronic media has become a strong force in information storage and dissemination. Some teachers may find that some of their students are ahead of them in the use of modern information gadgets. Learning as we teach should be a useful principle to adopt by the teacher.

The students should be encouraged to share the information they may have collected using the modern electronic media. Students in some communities are already familiar with the internet facilities. Such students should be encouraged to share the information obtained not only among themselves but also with the local farmers, and their parents.

Public understanding of science and technology should be something to be pursued by students, teachers and the scientists in the community. We must all embrace the spirit of the ICT-Information and Communication Technology. The Science we teach and learn in school should be treated as our Life Science. No nation can really develop without fully embracing Science and Technology.

7. Tying it all together The spirit of ICT should be allowed to circulate freely among students and the community.

8. Assessment This lesson is supposed to be Science for Life. It should therefore be seen as a unifying lesson. Integrated Science, the science taught at the Junior Secondary classes embraces all aspects of science. Assessment therefore should be continuous.

9. Author(s) S. T.Bajah [email protected]

10. References Croft, G et al. (2000). Step Ahead 'O' Level Integrated Science. Harare: Longman Zimbabwe (Pvt.) Ltd.

Bethell, George et al. (1999). Science in Zimbabwe A practical approach Harare: John Murray Ltd. in association with Academic Books (Pvt) Ltd. Harare