Darcy Church
EDU 511
Behaviorist Lesson Plan: Bioengineered Foods?
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.gen.lp_bioengfood/bioeng
ineered-foods/
Overview
In this lesson, students compare the processes of selective breeding and transgenic
manipulation of plants. They consider the pros and cons of growing genetically
modified crops. Then they explore the possible future consequences of genetically
modified organisms. Finally, they analyze public opinion data about the use of
genetically modified foods. As an optional activity, students explore geneticsinspired art and create their own artistic expressions about genetically modified
foods.
Teaching and Learning Objectives
1. Identify at least 5 GMO products (foods containing GMO’s) and 5
crops/plants that have undergone selective breeding.
2. Identify/discuss the differences between transgenic manipulation of plants
and selective breeding.
3. Present a convincing argument in support of each.
4. Identify areas of concern for each (to people, the environment, and other
“wild type” organisms of the same species).
5. Compare the processes of selective breeding and transgenic manipulation of
plants
6. Analyze public opinion about the use and safety of genetically modified
foods
Suggested Time four to five class periods
Mulitmedia Resources/Materials
Booklets of assignments with spaces for answers to questions, activities, and
writing assignments (one for every student)
Classical vs. Transgenic Breeding QuickTime Video
Bt Corn QuickTime Video
Engineer a Crop: Transgenic Manipulation Flash Interactive
Should We Grow GM Crops? HTML Interactive
Guess What's Coming to Dinner? Flash Interactive
Super Salmon QuickTime Video
Viewpoints: Harvest of Fear HTML Document
Harvest of Fear Web site Discussion area(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/talk/)
Genetic Art PDF Document
Copies of the Harvest of Fear Web site Discussion
area(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/talk/)
Copies of seed catalogs that include fruits and vegetables
Before the Lesson
Make copies of all the viewers' comments in the Harvest of Fear Web site
Discussion area. (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/talk/) Then divide the
comments for/against for the students to read individually.
The Lesson
Part I
1. Show the Classical vs. Transgenic Breeding video. Then provide examples of
plants that have been traditionally bred for certain characteristics (e.g., firmer or
sweeter tomatoes, wilt-resistant cucumbers, etc.).
Activity1: Have students look at seed catalogs to identify five plants and the
specific different characteristics for which they have been bred.
Then show the Bt Corn video so students can compare how plants are being
genetically modified by new technologies.
Activity 2: Have students write a few sentences as to whether or not they think
corn should be genetically modified and why.
2. Have students do the Engineer a Crop: Transgenic Manipulation Web
activities, including both "Selective Breeding" and "Transgenic Manipulation."
(Note: In order to go from one activity to the other, students must click on the
"Engineer a Crop" title at the bottom of the page.)
Activity 3: Have students write about some of the similarities and differences
between selective breeding and transgenic manipulation.
3. Ask students to examine the Should We Grow GM Crops? Web activity.
Discuss how they voted and which arguments most influenced their decision.
Activity 4: Have the students write down a 5 important points from each side of
the debate (amount of points will depend on the age of the students/grade).
4. Next, have students explore the Guess What's Coming to Dinner? Web
activity.
Activity 5: Ask students to choose one of the bioengineered products or
organisms described in the site (except the transgenic fish) and write a futuristic
story about its introduction, uses, and positive and negative impacts on society.
Stories can be shared with the class and/or displayed for others to read at the end of
the module.
At this point students need to hand in their work so far for learning checks and
grading.
Part II
5. Show the Super Salmon video.
Activity 6:
What allows transgenic salmon to grow in winter?
What are some possible consequences if transgenic salmon escape from their pens
into the ocean population?
How might transgenic salmon affect the evolution of other salmon populations?
Do you think the FDA should give Aquabounty permission to grow and sell
transgenic salmon? Why or why not?
6. Have students review the Viewpoints: Harvest of Fear document.
Activity 7:
Have the students describe each of the viewpoints introduced
Have the students write about
 What concerns do you have about the issues raised?
 How can all these experts be right?
7. Introduce the discussion section of the Harvest of Fear Web site, which
includes viewers' comments on the entire program.
Activity 8:
Provide each student with two differing viewpoint responses from the public
opinion data. Have them identify the arguments for and against genetic
modification of food. Then have them list the pros and cons in separate columns on
a sheet of paper. Have the students answer the following questions:
Have viewers' comments influenced student’s opinions?
How reliable is this method of sampling public opinion?
What are some ways in which more random data might be collected?
* Optional: Have students review the Genetic Art document. Then ask them to
either make a collage or express in some other medium (painting, photograph,
cartoon, etc.) their response to what they have learned about the genetic
engineering of foods Covering all the activity topics).
At this point students need to hand in their work for learning checks and final
grading.
Activity 1: Have students look at seed catalogs to identify 5 plants and the
specific different characteristics for which they have been bred.
Activity 2: Have students write a few sentences as to whether or not they think
corn should be genetically modified and why.
Activity 3: Have students write about some of the similarities and differences
between selective breeding and transgenic manipulation.
Activity 4: Ask students to choose one of the bioengineered products or
organisms described in the site (except the transgenic fish) and write a futuristic
story about its introduction, uses, and positive and negative impacts on society.
Stories can be shared with the class and/or displayed for others to read at the end of
the module.
Activity 5: Have the students answer the following questions.
What allows transgenic salmon to grow in winter?
What are some possible consequences if transgenic salmon escape from their pens
into the ocean population?
How might transgenic salmon affect the evolution of other salmon populations?
Do you think the FDA should give Aquabounty permission to grow and sell
transgenic salmon? Why or why not?
Activity6:
Have the students describe each of the viewpoints introduced
Have the students answer the following questions:
What concerns do you have about the issues raised?
How can all these experts be right?
Activity 7:
Provide each student with two differing viewpoint responses from the public
opinion data.
Have them identify the arguments for and against genetic modification of food.
Then have them list the pros and cons in separate columns on a sheet of paper.
Have the students answer the following questions:
Have viewers' comments influenced student’s opinions?
How reliable is this method of sampling public opinion?
What are some ways in which more random data might be collected?
LESSON WRAP-UP
The teacher finishes discussion about that subject matter to prepare for the next
lesson.
The test or homework exercise is graded and discussed.
The lesson is reviewed as a final wrap-up.
Last-minute questions are answered. Complete unit assessment or Optional Art
project.
Unit Assessments: points available 150 (averaged over 100 points)
Activities 1-8 = 100 points
Unit test OR the Optional Art project (50 points)
Matching steps to making a GMO 9 points
Persuasive argument 41 points
Points available: 150 (averaged over 100 points)
1. Standards Alignment
10 (Grades: 9-12) Historical Perspectives (10A Displacing the Earth from the
Center of the Universe), (10B Uniting the Heavens and Earth), (10C
Relating Matter & Energy and Time & Space), (10D Extending Time), (10E
Moving the Continents), (10F Understanding Fire), (10G Splitting the
Atom), (10I Discovering Germs), (10H Explaining the Diversity of Life),
(10J Harnessing Power)
1 (Grades: 9-12): The Nature of Science (Scientific Worldview), (Scientific
Inquiry), (The Scientific Enterprise)
3 (Grades: 9-12): The Nature of Technology (3A Technology and Science), (3B
Design and Systems), (3C Issues in Technology),
6 (Grades: 9-12): The Human Organism (6A Human Identity), (6B Human
Development), (6C Basic Functions), (6D Learning), (6E Physical Health)
8 (Grades: 9-12): The designed World (8A Agriculture), (8B Materials and
Manufacturing), (8C Energy Sources and Use), (8D Communication), (8E
Information Processing), (8F Health Technology),
10G/H5: 10 (Grades: 9-12): Radioactivity has many uses other than generating
energy, including in medicine, industry, and scientific research in many
different fields
10I/H1 (Grades: 9-12): Today, the modern technology of high-power imaging and
biotechnology make it possible to investigate how microorganisms spread,
how they cause disease, how the immune system combats them, and even
how they can be manipulated genetically
10J/H3 (Grades: 9-12): Today, changes in technology continue to affect patterns
of work and bring with them economic and social consequences.
1C/H3a (Grades: 9-12): Progress in science and invention depends heavily on
what else is happening in society.
1C/H5b (Grades: 9-12): When applications of research could pose risks to society,
scientists' decisions to participate in that research are based on personal as
well as professional ethics.
3A/H1 (Grades: 9-12): Technological problems and advances often create a
demand for new scientific knowledge, and new technologies make it
possible for scientists to extend their research in new ways or to undertake
entirely new lines of research. The very availability of new technology itself
often sparks scientific advances.
3A/H4 (Grades: 9-12): Engineers use knowledge of science and technology,
together with strategies of design, to solve practical problems. Scientific
knowledge provides a means of estimating what the behavior of things will
be even before they are made. Moreover, science often suggests new kinds
of behavior that had not even been imagined before, and so leads to new
technologies.
3C/H3 (Grades: 9-12 ): In deciding on proposals to introduce new technologies or
curtail existing ones, some key questions arise concerning possible
alternatives, who benefits and who suffers, financial and social costs,
possible risks, resources used (human, material, or energy), and waste
disposal.
3C/H4 (Grades: 9-12 ): The human species has a major impact on other species in
many ways: reducing the amount of the earth's surface available to those
other species, interfering with their food sources, changing the temperature
and chemical composition of their habitats, introducing foreign species into
their ecosystems, and altering organisms directly through selective breeding
and genetic engineering.
3C/H6 (Grades: 9-12): The human ability to influence the course of history comes
from its capacity for generating knowledge and developing new
technologies—and for communicating ideas to others.
3A/H4 (Grades: 9-12): Engineers use knowledge of science and technology,
together with strategies of design, to solve practical problems. Scientific
knowledge provides a means of estimating what the behavior of things will
be even before they are made. Moreover, science often suggests new kinds
of behavior that had not even been imagined before, and so leads to new
technologies.
6B/H4 (Grades: 9-12): The development and use of technologies to sustain,
prolong, or terminate life raise social, moral, ethical, and legal issues.
6C/H5 (Grades: 9-12): Some drugs mimic or block the molecules involved in
communication between cells and therefore affect operations of the brain
and body.
6E/H3a (Grades: 9-12): New medical techniques, efficient health care delivery
systems, improved diet and sanitation, and a fuller understanding of the
nature of health and disease give today's human beings a better chance of
staying healthy than their ancestors had.
8A/H1 (Grades: 9-12): New varieties of farm plants and animals have been
engineered by manipulating their genetic instructions to produce new
characteristics.
8B/H2 (Grades: 9-12): Waste management includes considerations of quantity,
safety, degradability, and cost. It requires social and technological
innovations, because waste-disposal problems are political and economic as
well as technical.
8B/H7 (Grades: 9-12): The development of new materials and the increased use of
existing materials by a growing human population have led to the removal of
resources from the environment much more rapidly than they can be
replaced by natural processes. Disposal of waste materials has also become a
problem. Solving these problems requires systematic efforts involving both
social and technological innovations.
8F/H1 (Grades: 9-12): Owing to the large amount of information that computers
can process, they are playing an increasingly larger role in medicine. They
are used to analyze data and to keep track of and communicate diagnostic
information about individuals and statistical information on the distribution
and spread of various maladies in populations.
8F/H3 (Grades: 9-12): Knowledge of genetics is opening whole new fields of
health care. In diagnosis, mapping of genetic instructions in cells makes it
possible to detect defective genes that may lead to poor health. In treatment,
substances from genetically engineered organisms may reduce the cost and
side effects of replacing missing body chemicals.
8F/H4 (Grades: 9-12): Inoculations use weakened germs (or parts of them) to
stimulate the body's immune system to react. This reaction prepares the body
to fight subsequent invasions by actual germs of that type. Some
inoculations last for life.
8F/H5 (Grades: 9-12): Knowledge of molecular structure and interactions aids in
synthesizing new drugs and predicting their effects.
8F/H7 (Grades: 9-12): Biotechnology has contributed to health improvement in
many ways, but its cost and application have led to a variety of controversial
social and ethical issues.
2. Lesson Objective
A. Compare the processes of selective breeding and transgenic manipulation of
plants
B. Discuss the arguments for and against genetic modification of foods
C. Describe the possible future impact of genetically modified foods
D. Analyze public opinion about the use and safety of genetically modified
foods
3. Materials
A. Classical vs. Transgenic Breeding QuickTime Video
B. Bt Corn QuickTime Video
C. Engineer a Crop: Transgenic Manipulation Flash Interactive
D. Should We Grow GM Crops? HTML Interactive
E. Guess What's Coming to Dinner? Flash Interactive
F. Super Salmon QuickTime Video
G. Viewpoints: Harvest of Fear HTML Document
H. Harvest of Fear Web site Discussion
area(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/talk/)
I. Genetic Art PDF Document
J. Copies of theHarvest of Fear Web site Discussion
area(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/talk/)
A. Optional: Copies of seed catalogs that include fruits and vegetables
4. Lesson Initiation
A. Show the Classical vs. Transgenic Breeding video.
B. Then discuss examples of plants that have been traditionally bred for certain
characteristics (e.g., firmer or sweeter tomatoes, wilt-resistant cucumbers,
etc.) – If time allows, have teams look at seed catalogs to identify two food
plants and the specific different characteristics for which they have been
bred.
C. Then show the Bt Corn video so students can compare how plants are being
genetically modified by new technologies.
5. Lesson Activities
A. In pairs, have students discuss whether or not they think corn should be
genetically modified and why.
B. Have students do the Engineer a Crop: Transgenic Manipulation Web
activities, including both "Selective Breeding" and "Transgenic
Manipulation." Then, as a class, discuss the similarities and differences
between selective breeding and transgenic manipulation.
C. Ask students to examine the Should We Grow GM Crops? Web activity.
Discuss how they voted and which arguments most influenced their
decision.
D. Next, have students explore the Guess What's Coming to Dinner? Web
activity. Ask students to choose one of the bioengineered products or
organisms described in the site (except the transgenic fish) and write a
futuristic story about its introduction, uses, and positive and negative
impacts on society. Stories can be shared with the class and/or displayed for
others to read.
E. Show the Super Salmon video.
F. Ask:
1) What allows transgenic salmon to grow in winter?
2) What are some possible consequences if transgenic salmon escape
from their pens into the ocean population?
3) How might transgenic salmon affect the evolution of other salmon
populations?
4) Do you think the FDA should give Aquabounty permission to grow
and sell transgenic salmon? Why or why not?
G. Have students review the Viewpoints: Harvest of Fear document.
H. Ask them to describe each of the viewpoints introduced. Discuss the
following:
1) What concerns do you have about the issues raised?
2) How can all these experts be right?
I. Introduce the discussion section of the Harvest of Fear Web site, which
includes viewers' comments on the entire program. Tell students you have
divided up the section so that each team can analyze a portion of this public
opinion data. Have each team identify in their batch of comments the
arguments for and against genetic modification of food. Then have them list
the pros and cons in separate columns on a sheet of paper. Next, have each
team report to the class the number of contributors who are for and against
GM foods.
J. Optional: Have students review the Genetic Art document. Then ask them
to either make a collage or express in some other medium (painting,
photograph, cartoon, etc.) their response to what they have learned about the
genetic engineering of foods.
6. Differentiation
A. Videos visual/auditory learners
B. Web activity allows for self-pacing
C. Verbal discussions/questions (open ended)
D. Written documents (reading)
E. Group work (small, combining multiple intelligence kids)
F. Open-ended tasks
G. Genetic Art document
7. Lesson Closure
A. Finally, record the results in a class chart on the board. When finished,
discuss the following:
1) What are the results?
2) How have viewers' comments influenced students' opinions?
3) How reliable is this method of sampling public opinion?
4) What are some ways in which more random data might be collected?
8. Assessment
Design an assessment (e.g., activity guide, question sheet/worksheet, etc.) for the
lesson to determine if your students have mastered your objective(s). Include your
grading rubric for the submitted assignments.
Practice: Crossword puzzle using the vocabulary and definitions from this
exercise.
Define and give an example of each:
GMO
Selective breeding
What makes them different from each other?
Put in order the steps to engineer a crop, and write what happens at each step or
from one step to the next:
1) Bacterium
2) Herbicide
3) Examine plant
4) Gene to transfer
5) Growth medium for bacterium
6) Growth medium for plant cells
7) Plant cells
8) Growth chamber
9) Vector
OR
What are the steps you would need to perform to engineer a crop?
Name five things that you eat that have been modified from selective breeding or
GMO.
Outline 5 reasons to support GMO.
Outline 5 reasons to NOT support GMO’s.