Mind the Gap: Ethics vs. Logic

The main goals of this Upper Intermediate ESL lesson plan are to:

• – Learn, understand, and apply relevant English vocabulary to the moral workplace situations.
• – Discuss ethical scenarios.  For example, the student can discuss issues like the “ trolley problem”  in addition to exploring how morals can affect decision making.
• – Make connections between moral decision-making and reality. For example, students will be looking at workplace situations where doing the “right thing” could potentially create issues. 
• – Develop meaningful English-based conversation skills through critical thinking and lesson content.

Warm-up

Students discuss moral dilemmas found in current and  modern society.

Video

Students watch a video called “Would you sacrifice one person to save five?” Afterwards, students will discuss the video content using provided phrases and framing.

Reading

Next, students dive into three short reading passages related to moral and ethical decision-making:

“9 Moral Dilemmas That Will Break Your Brain”

“6 Critical – And Urgent – Ethics Issues With AI”

“What a real-life ‘trolley problem’ reveals about morality”

Each reading passage comes with its own exercises to practice content discussion and vocabulary application. 

These exercises are designed to build vocabulary, boost reading skills, and spark meaningful conversations about moral and ethical decision-making.

Discussion

To wrap up the lesson, students will apply what they have learned and practiced by analyzing an “Ethics vs. Logic” scenario . This will help assess the student’s ability to independently apply and analyze today’s vocabulary and sentence framing.