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Handout
ProCon

Obamacare

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Former President Barack Obama reformed the United States' health care system with Obamacare, but is the new legislation good for America? Scholars read a historical timeline about the passage of health care reform laws and compare United...
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Handout
ProCon

Net Neutrality

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Should net neutrality be restored? Scholars prepare for a class debate on the topic using the included website. After reading a brief introduction to the issue, they review the main pros and cons in an attempt to arrive at an informed...
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Handout
ProCon

Minimum Wage

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
The first ever minimum wage in America was set at 25 cents per hour in 1938 and has been steadily, if slowly, increasing ever since. Using the provided website, pupils decide if the United States should further increase the federal...
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Handout
ProCon

Milk

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Milk: It does a body good ... or does it? Using the provided website, scholars sort through information to answer the question. They review a chart demonstrating lactose intolerance by ethnicity and region, and they also compare the...
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Handout
ProCon

National Anthem Protests

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the National Anthem in 2016 as a form of protest. Were his actions appropriate? Using the provided website, pupils attempt to decide for themselves by reading the main...
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Handout
ProCon

Israeli - Palestinian Conflict

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Many people think the best solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a two-state solution. After reviewing the available resources, scholars determine whether they agree with that approach. They analyze graphs and charts about...
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Handout
ProCon

Is Homework Beneficial?

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Does homework improve student achievement, or does it increase stress? Scholars use the included debate topics website to prepare for a class discussion or debate about whether homework is advantageous. After reading a brief background...
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Handout
ProCon

Gun Control

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
According to some estimates, there are more guns than people in the United States. Learners decide if America should enact more gun control laws. They analyze information about gun deaths in the United States by year, read about the...
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Handout
ProCon

Gold Standard

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
If all the mined gold in the world was melted across a football field, it would rise 5.4 feet. That's just one interesting fact pupils learn when using the debate topics website to determine if the United States should return to a gold...
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Handout
ProCon

Illegal Immigration

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Should immigrants who illegally reside in the United States be eligible for citizenship? With information about undocumented immigrant population estimates, sanctuary cities, and unaccompanied immigrant children, pupils consider the pros...
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Handout
ProCon

Gay Marriage

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
The first legal gay marriage in the United States occurred in Massachusetts in 2004. Since then, countless others have tied the knot. Scholars decide whether gay marriage should be legal by reading a history of the issue, analyzing the...
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Handout
ProCon

Fighting in Hockey

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
At best, fighting in hockey makes the sport more entertaining; at worst, fighting could lead to death. Pupils read background information about the prevalence of fighting in hockey since the 1917 formation of the National Hockey League....
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Handout
ProCon

Electoral College

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
The Electoral College's role in elections is sometimes confusing and controversial. Pupils use a debate topics website to research the pros and cons of the practice to debate whether the United States should still use the Electoral...
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Handout
ProCon

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Should physician-assisted suicide be legal? Using a debate topics website, pupils prepare to discuss the morality and legality of euthanasia. Scholars discover historical case studies involving assisted suicide, explore state-by-state...
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Handout
ProCon

Drug Use in Sports

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
The ancient Greeks used performance enhancing drugs, such as opium juice, when they participated in the original Olympic Games. Pupils research a website with debate topics to decide if athletes' use of such drugs in modern sports is...
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Handout
ProCon

Drone Strikes Overseas

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Should the United States continue the practice of using drone strikes abroad? Readers explore the top pro and con arguments in preparation for a debate or discussion about the topic. They read about the history of drone strikes, view a...
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Handout
ProCon

Drinking Age

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Eighteen is the age of adulthood in the United States, but 21 is the legal drinking age. Pupils use the provided website to determine whether the age to legally purchase and consume alcohol should be lowered. They weigh the pros and...
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Handout
ProCon

Death Penalty

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Should the United States continue the practice of capital punishment? Scholars set out to answer the question in preparation for a class debate or discussion about the death penalty. They watch videos, analyze charts about death penalty...
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Handout
ProCon

Daylight Savings Time

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
An entomologist named Geroge Vernon Hudson is credited with proposing Daylight Saving Time (DST) so he could better study his insects. Using the informative website, scholars read a brief introduction to the topic and then explore the...
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Handout
ProCon

Cuba Embargo

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
President John F. Kennedy bought 1,200 Cuban cigars the night before he enacted the Cuban trade embargo in 1962. Should the United States maintain the embargo? Using the website, pupils explore the topic to prepare for a class debate or...