FRANKEWEENIE

1. The need for moral and ethical education

1.1. instance, science was a tool of peace, humanitarianism and social justice; for others that same science is a means of monopolizing crops and profiteering, thus corrupting that science and reinforcing the fear and suspicion that leads to persecution of scientists as a whole.

2. The Key Variable in Science Education

2.1. On one level, we see how the deep, personal love that Victor feels for Sparky is the key variable that determines the success of his experiment. His classmates, on the other hand, have no such love and are primarily motivated by greed and competitiveness. Their experiments, therefore, yield destructive results. Science has always been a kind of safe haven for emotionally aloof or misanthropic intellectuals in that it’s possible to work more with ideas than with people.

3. The importance of science education

3.1. Rzykruski’s situation summarizes a debate which has raged in American public schools for almost one hundred years and throughout world civilizations for hundreds more. Science, with Rzykruski as its spokesman, sees itself as derided and demonized by people who are so afraid of change that they will react vehemently and blindly against anyone who purports to know more than they do.

3.2. Every new technology or scientific development throughout history has been met with suspicion and at times threats of violence by those who don’t understand it. Galileo Galilei was forced by the Catholic Church to denounce his own work for daring to speculate that the sun and planets did not revolve around the Earth

4. Bringing the Love Back Into Science

4.1. Frankenweenie, as a work of art that makes its viewers think, feel and ask questions about science, is itself proof of the power of the arts to contextualize science in a way such that people will be less prone to abuse its power. The message is clear. If science is to truly save our endangered world, the arts and humanities must be a critical component of its education.