Abstract
This paper, with recommendations for teachers and teacher educators, discusses the Jurassic Park science-fiction series with a parallel mention of the Night at the Museum trilogy addressing the educational value of this subgenre of film for bioethics discussion in social studies classes. These film series were selected for analysis because of their long-standing popularity, especially Jurassic Park that has continued as a series for over three decades. As such, this paper posits that representations of anthropology, archaeozoology, and related fields in popular entertainments films can be motivational for students to explore these careers for themselves or at least develop and interest in studying bioethics as an important discussion in social studies and science.
Highlights
Entertainment films have been a way to prompt discussion among the general public and students about various social studies issues (Considine and Baker, 2006; Smithikrai, 2016; Russell and Waters, 2017)
The subgenre of genetic engineering adventure films can be useful for engaging interdisciplinary curricula across social studies and science secondary classrooms
The Jurassic Park series has six films spanning 3 decades. Such popularity and longevity in popular consciousness makes them ideal as a starting point for teachers to use as common foundation for lessons in interdisciplinary bioethics discussions across social studies and science curricula
Summary
Entertainment films have been a way to prompt discussion among the general public and students about various social studies issues (Considine and Baker, 2006; Smithikrai, 2016; Russell and Waters, 2017). The subgenre of genetic engineering adventure can be a useful starting point for bioethics discussions in classrooms (Rich, 2015). One such issue is bioethics, which is addressed by anthropologists, scientists, and psychologists, among others. Films might be the only prompt for some members of the general public to discuss issues with each other and address these issues with policy makers. This paper discusses the Jurassic Park science-fiction series with a comparison commentary on the Night at the Museum trilogy addressing their educational value for teachers and teacher educators to use for bioethics discussion and how to encourage exploration in careers that are represented in these films
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