Edible GMOs?
Teacher Demo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGqQV6ObFCQ
THE SET-UP/DEMO
- Choosing the chips: You will need to find two types of chips to use in this project: one that contains GMOs and one that does not. The two brands listed below should be available at most major grocery stores. Be careful to select very
- Frito-Lay Chip (Tostitos): If you go to the Frito-Lay website, click ‘Help’ and then ‘Ask Kelly’, then type ‘biotech’ into their question box. You will be given a very vague explanation that they cannot guarantee that their products are free of genetically modified ingredients. http://www.fritolay.com
- Garden of Eatin’: If you go to the Garden of Eatin’ website and click the ‘About Garden of Eatin’’ tab, you will be taken to a page clearly stating that they do not use genetically modified ingredients: http://www.gardenofeatin.com/index.php
- You can have the students call the 1-800 number for each company and they can ask the customer service department themselves. You might call ahead to just see what they have to say. The numbers should be on the chip bags.
Overview: The main goal of this activity is to introduce to
students to ‘thinking like social
scientists.’ This activity provides
students, in a typical science classroom, the opportunity to investigate,
through hands-on and mind-on activities, some of the social and cultural issues
surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
This project is
set up as an investigation: The student
council has asked your class to choose which type of chips to sell in the
school store to raise money for a school party.
The students will have to choose between two types of chips – one type
that does not contain GMOs, and one that does (or may) contain GMOs.
This
lab assumes that students have a basic understanding of genetics, traditional
plant breeding, and genetic engineering.
Subject: Biology, Life Science, Botany, Living Environment
Audience: High
School (Also adaptable for Middle School)
Time required: 3-4 periods (flexible)
Background
Students are often unaware of how science is a part of our
lives, outside of the classroom or laboratory.
This activity allows students to ‘see’ science in a new way by having
them discover, discuss, and debate the social, cultural and economic issues
surrounding GMOs.
Most students like corn chips, but very few of them know anything
about them other than how they taste (a few might be aware of caloric or fat
content). As GMOs become commonplace in
our food system, it becomes necessary to develop the skills to both understand
the technology and interpret the possible risks.
This curriculum is set up as a 3-4 day lesson. This will allow the students time to
investigate the resources, process the information, and finally compile and
present their ultimate findings to the class.
You should adapt it as you see fit.
Learning Objectives
- To
understand how “science” reaches outside of the classroom and/or a
laboratory and impacts our daily lives.
- To
learn how to evaluate a scientific debate by: discovering evidence,
formulating a well-educated opinion, and explaining and discussing an
issue with peers.
- To
explore some of the basic components of the modern food system from farm
to mouth.
National Science Education Standards
Science as Inquiry
- Understanding
of scientific concepts.
- An
appreciation of "how we know" what we know in science.
- Understanding
of the nature of science.
- Skills
necessary to become independent inquirers about the natural world.
- The
dispositions to use the skills, abilities, and attitudes associated with
science.
Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
- Personal
and community health
- Population
growth
- Natural
resources
- Environmental
quality
- Natural
and human-induced hazards
- Science
and technology in local, national, and global challenges
History and Nature of Science Standards
- Science
as a human endeavor
- Nature
of scientific knowledge
- Historical
perspectives
Assessment Strategy
This curriculum is predicated on the belief that science is
a process. Students should be evaluated on their level
of participation throughout the investigation, as well as a final 2-3 page
reaction paper.
There is a homework assignment each night that appears
deceptively simple. For example,
searching the internet for quality articles
and information is often time-consuming and sometimes difficult. Students should be encouraged to ask the
school’s research librarians for assistance.
A demonstration might also be useful.
Since each day’s activities are dependent on completion of
homework assignments and student participation, it should be made clear to students
that their assessment will be based on level
of participation rather than on the production of the ‘right’ answer. Students may feel frustrated by the
activities in the curriculum, especially if they are unfamiliar with
formulating research-based opinions about a controversial topic.
Additional assessment strategies are listed below each day’s
activities.
Teaching tips
This curriculum requires the teacher to be an active
participant in the classroom’s activities.
Many of the activities require a strong, clear verbal explanation in
addition to the written instruction. The
teacher should have a basic understanding of the debate surrounding genetically
modified organisms prior to beginning the lab – there are references listed
within the teaching guide that will enable you to become quite well-versed in
the details.
Homework assignments should be explained so that questions
can be asked and clarifications made.
Again, since many science students will not be comfortable with this
type of activity, a discussion of homework might be useful to make sure they
feel comfortable and know what they are supposed to do.
à
The Teacher’s Guide is an annotated version of the student handout. From this point on, the information for
teachers will be located inside boxes below each section. The student handout includes everything you
see below except those boxes.
The set-up
Your class has been asked by the Student Council to choose the
chips that will be sold in the school store to raise money for a big dance
party.
After searching around for the best corn chips on the
market, they have narrowed the choice down to two different brands. The Student Council noticed that one of the
bags of chips contains a label that says: ‘Made with NO GMO ingredients’.
They looked into genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and
found out there is quite a debate about whether they are bad for you, good for
you, bad for the environment, good for the environment, or nothing particularly
special.
Your class will decide which chips to sell after a careful examination
of some of the social, cultural and environmental issues surrounding GMOs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGqQV6ObFCQ
THE SET-UP/DEMO
- Choosing the chips: You will need to find two types of chips to use in this project: one that contains GMOs and one that does not. The two brands listed below should be available at most major grocery stores. Be careful to select very
similar products for the taste-test (I recommend plain with salt since they might be able to instantly recognize the flavor of a Dorito. If you do chose a flavored chip, you might make sure the tastes are not drastically different so that ‘taste’ does not instantly trump all other issues.)
- Frito-Lay Chip (Tostitos): If you go to the Frito-Lay website, click ‘Help’ and then ‘Ask Kelly’, then type ‘biotech’ into their question box. You will be given a very vague explanation that they cannot guarantee that their products are free of genetically modified ingredients. http://www.fritolay.com
- Garden of Eatin’: If you go to the Garden of Eatin’ website and click the ‘About Garden of Eatin’’ tab, you will be taken to a page clearly stating that they do not use genetically modified ingredients: http://www.gardenofeatin.com/index.php
- You can have the students call the 1-800 number for each company and they can ask the customer service department themselves. You might call ahead to just see what they have to say. The numbers should be on the chip bags.
Background
Learning Objectives
National Science Education Standards
Assessment Strategy
Teaching tips
The set-up
Background
Almost everyone in
this room has consumed a genetically modified organism – but what do we
actually know about GMOs?
Much of the corn grown in this country is genetically
modified (GM) corn – some estimate that over 60% of corn crops are GM
corn! Americans eat a lot of corn – just
think about how many products contain some sort of corn (corn starch, corn
syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn kernels).
The chips the Student Council wants to sell are corn chips.
à
Does anyone have a soda or juice with them?
Look at the ingredient label – any corn products?
In a nutshell, a GMO is an organism whose genome has been altered
by human intervention. This means that
the plant could not have been bred with another plant to include the gene. The specific gene has been inserted by one of
two methods – both performed in a laboratory by human beings with the aid of
machines. (See attached handout for a brief explanation of the technologies and a
link to two animations.) Scientists
have experimented with many types of genes, some from animals, some from other
types of plants. Currently, there are no
GM foods in the grocery store that contain animal genes. Many products on the supermarket shelves do
contain some form of GM corn, soy, or canola.
GMOs are often touted as ‘superfoods’ by the supporters of
the technology. They claim, for example,
that GM technology can produce foods that will provide much needed nutrients to
malnourished populations. Some critics
of GMOs have called them ‘Frankenfoods’ – referring to the monster that Dr.
Frankenstein created in his laboratory.
They worry that the social, cultural, environmental, and economic
impacts of GM crops have not been adequately explored. They might agree that the technology used to
produce the crops is innovative and cutting edge, but they are arguing that the
‘science’ isn’t just in the laboratory – they see the technology of biotech
affecting the foods we eat, the environment around us, the lives of farmers,
and the costs of living.
To learn more, check
out these websites:
Cornell Cooperative Extension Genetically Modified Organisms
Harvest of Fear – Nova/Frontline Special Report
Newshour with Jim Lehrer special for students
A very brief look at how corn gets from the farmer to you:
First, farmers have to grow the corn. Traditionally, farmers saved seeds from one
year to the next. Recently, farmers have
begun buying GM seeds from corporations such as Monsanto and Archer Daniels
Midland. Next, the corn must be
harvested and processed so it can be sold to food processing companies. Once the corn has been combined with other
ingredients (they are all listed on the package label), it is distributed to
stores so it can be sold to consumers.
Consumers purchase the chips, eat them, and the body begins the
digestion process. The nutritional
content of foods is also listed on the food label: you can see how many
calories there are, how much fat, how much sodium (salt), etc.
Teaching Tip: MORE
INFORMATION ON GMOs
There is a list of helpful websites and articles at the end
of the Teacher’s Guide
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Materials
-
pen
-
note paper
-
computer with internet access
-
additional materials that might be needed are poster
board, markers, tape/glue, scissors
-
corn chips
Teaching Tips:
Additional Materials
Teaching Tips: ADDITIONAL MATERIALS
continued:
There is an overwhelming amount
of information on the internet, so you might have some guidelines for what
you will accept as reliable and valid.
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Procedures Overview
Day 1 – Introduction to the GMO debate
Day 2 – Investigating the social, cultural and economic
issues surrounding GMOs.
Day 3 – Formulate a group stance on GMOs and prepare
presentation to class
Day 4 – Pick the Chips
Teaching Tip: FLEXIBLE
CURRICULUM
This schedule should be adapted to meet your classroom
needs. A longer research project could
be developed with students writing longer papers on particular aspects.
A shorter curriculum could cut the video and just use the
internet and library research to develop opinions.
Teaching Tip:
VOTING
It might be interesting to see how/if opinions change
throughout this exercise. One way of
measuring this is to have the students fill out surveys before the lesson
begins, half-way through, and then once they are finished. There is a template for a ballot at the end
of the lesson. Suggested voting times
are marked throughout the lesson.
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Day 1 – Introduction to the GMO debate
Teaching Tip: VOTE
#1
Before even introducing the topic, have the students
complete the first ballot. Make sure
to keep the ballots confidential and anonymous so that students feel
comfortable being honest about their level of knowledge.
This sets up a great discussion question – Would they have
felt differently answering the questions if their names were on the
ballots. Why or Why not?
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1.
Watch video
– Harvest of Fear (A PBS Nova/Frontline Special Report)
-
For more information: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/
2.
Which chips
are which?
-
How do you know there are GMOs in the chips? Take a close look at the bags to see if you
can figure out which chips contain the GMOs.
How else might you find out?
Teaching Tip: DAY 1 ACTIVITIES
Video: Harvest of Fear
is actually a well-balanced report of GMOs, despite its name. It is two hours long, so you will have to
choose which part to show.
Chips: The Garden of
Eatin’ chips state on the package that they do not contain GMOs. The Frito-Lay brand is a bit more difficult
to figure out. They do not say that
they DO contain GMOs, but they cannot guarantee that they do not. You can either tell the students this
information, or have them look up the brands on the internet (websites listed
above) or call the companies.
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Homework:
-
Read the articles on GMOs passed out in class
-
Find 2 additional articles on GMOs
-
For each article:
o Highlight
or underline important/key points
o Circle
words you do not know
o Make
a glossary of words (at least 3)
o List
2 questions you have
Teaching Tip: DAY 1
HOMEWORK
Homework: The homework assignment
is to encourage the students to think critically about the information they are
going to be presented with, and then, in turn, presenting to each other. Some of the articles listed at the end of
the curriculum are appropriate to hand out for this assignment.
You will need to explain how the students can find the two
additional articles since they may not have done this type of science
homework before.
Assessment strategy: You can make
this a more formal activity by requiring the students to turn in their
highlighted articles with their notes for a grade.
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Day 2 – Investigating the social, cultural and economic issues
surrounding GMOs.
1.
Work with a
groups to formulate an attitude, as a group, towards GMOs
Teaching Tip: WORKING IN GROUPS
You should split the
students into groups any way that works for your class. There should be at least 3 students in a
group, but too many students might inhibit good conversation.
The ‘sides’: There are a plethora of position on GMOs –
but for a basic introduction to them you might have students take either Pro
or Con positions. Remember that there
are many variations within each perspective and also plenty of overlapping,
these “opinions” are to be used as teaching tools, rather than as
commitments. For the sake of the
exercise, you might want about half the class to be working on finding
pro-GMO articles, and half finding con-GMO articles. Some students might resist being assigned a
particular perspective, but it is always a good skill-building exercise to
learn how the ‘other side’ thinks.
They will formulate
opinions from a particular perspective and then present their well-researched
findings to the class. This way, the
whole class will hear a variety of perspectives – between the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ and also within each stance.
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2.
Present one of
the articles you brought in with you to your group:
-
What is the tone of the article?
-
What is the author suggesting about GMOs?
-
What is the article trying to explain?
-
What is the controversy surrounding GMOs?
-
Who are the members of each ‘side’?
3.
List the
evidence you have, as a group, to support your position on GMOs.
à
Goal: By the end of the day, you should have an idea of the debate, in general,
surrounding GMOs. You should also have
evidence to support the group’s position on GMOs.
Homework
-
Do more research into the group’s perspective on GMOs.
-
Who are the main players? Look them up on the web.
-
Search for, and read, 2-3 articles on GMOs from
newspapers, magazines, or websites. Make
sure you bring in articles that will help you support your group’s viewpoint.
Teaching Tip: Day 2
HOMEWORK
There are websites listed at the end of the curriculum
that you can refer the students to.
Monsanto and ADM lead the field in biotechnological developments and
are strong proponents of the technology.
Food First and Greenpeace (websites listed at end of curriculum)
present critical views of GM.
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Day 3 – Formulate a group stance on GMOs and prepare presentation to
class
Teaching Tip: VOTE
#2
Have students fill out the ballot again.
You might rearrange the questions, or reword them slightly
so that they ‘feel’ as if they are doing something new, rather than
redundant.
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1.
Use the
additional research to solidify the group’s perspective.
2.
Make posters,
handouts, info sheets, etc. to convey your position.
Teaching Tip: DAY 3 ACTIVITIES
Posters/Handouts:
Making posters and handouts to document their argument is not only fun, but
it can be a time for the students to really process the information. It is often quite difficult to explain a
recently learned concept to other students.
The time spent making a poster can also be the time they need for a
bit of mental relaxation.
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Homework
-
Find and read at least 2 articles on a perspective different from the group’s perspective.
-
For each article:
o Highlight
or underline important/key points
o Circle
words you do not know
o Make
a glossary of words (at least 3)
o List
2 questions you have
-
Write down 3 questions to ask the other groups.
-
Finish preparing for your group’s presentation.
Day 4 – Pick the Chips
1.
Group
presentations – Each group should present their well-researched position on
GMOs
2.
You should
also put in a vote for which chips you think should be sold at the school
store.
3.
Explain your
vote and make sure to tell the class the issues you found most important and
compelling.
4.
Tally the
votes – is there a clear winner?
Discuss.
Teaching Tip: DAY 4
ACTIVITES
You should have your class present and discuss in the way that
feels most comfortable for them. There
may be some anxiety, since they have not had much experience defending their
role as the ‘expert’. Below are a few
suggestions for presentations:
As a class:
Have each team present their conclusions to the class, then have a class
discussion about how to choose the right chips. This might be a fun time to have a blind
taste-test. You can then discuss which
is more important – the scientific debate, or the taste issue. Can they even tell the difference in chips? What else might they look at when doing
this type of evaluation? Calories,
cost, fat, small business/big business?
In teams: If
you had 5 teams of 4 students, split them into 4 teams of 5 students (one
person from each previous team in a new team). Then have them discuss as a small group
which chips to sell. Tally the votes
of the class.
Teaching Tip: DAY 4 ACTIVITES continued
Blind votes:
Have the students turn in the group votes, but also allow them to turn in a
personal vote. When having the final
discussion, encourage them to discuss both their group decision and their
personal decision – being careful to differentiate between the two.
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Homework
-
Write a 2-3 page reaction paper about your experiences
doing “social” science.
o Overall,
what do you feel should be the most important aspect to consider when choosing
which chips the school store should sell?
Why?
o How
did you like thinking about some of the social and cultural issues surrounding
the GMO debate? Please explain.
o Did
your opinion about GMOs change from the beginning of the lab to the end?
o What
do you think influenced you most? (It
may have changed your mind, but it also may have made your decision firmer.)
Teaching Tips: DAY
4 HOMEWORK
Reaction paper: The reaction paper
will be a final assessment of the student’s participation in the
project. You can bring in a
professional journal such as Science or Nature to show them examples of
scientific writing. The reaction paper
is to illuminate the processes that those published scientists went through
to produce their results.
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Teaching Tip: VOTE
#3
Have the students vote one final time the day
after the groups present to the class. This time you might also ask if their votes
changed from the previous vote…you can then compare this to the number of
votes that actually did change.
You can continue the discussion about the relationship
between knowledge and opinions. Did
learning more influence their opinions?
Why is it difficult to admit that you do not know everything?
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Some helpful links to
websites and articles
General info on GMOs
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Ohio State University FAQ on GMOs
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Cornell Cooperative Extension
Genetically Modified Organisms
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Harvest of Fear – Nova/Frontline Special Report. Includes curriculum
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Newshour with Jim Lehrer special for students
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“Genetically Modified Foods: Are They a Risk to
Human/Animal Health?” – Lesson plan from Action BioScience
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The American Biology
Teacher, Aug 2002, 64(6) pg. 433
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“Has your food been genetically modified?” by Diana L.
Brandner
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The American Biology
Teacher, Mar 2003, 65(3), pg. 180
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“Genetically modified (GM) foods and Teaching critical
thinking” by Vanessa S. Flores and Allan J. Tobin
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Time, May 5,
2002, 159(20)
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“Next on the menu” by Carole Buia
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National Geographic, 2002, 201(5), pg. 34 |
“Food: How altered?” by Jennifer Ackerman
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Discover, March 2001, 22(3), p.36
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“Don't
eat again until you
read this” by Jeff Wheelwright
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The Main “Players”
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Monsanto
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Archer
Daniels Midland
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Food
First
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Greenpeace
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Voting Ballot
Vote #1
How do you feel
about Genetically Modified Organisms?
_____ I think they
are safe
_____ I think they
are harmful
_____ I have mixed
feelings about them
_____ I have no
idea what they are
How much do you know
about Genetically Modified Organism?
_____ A LOT
_____ A little
_____ I have heard of them, but don’t really know much
about them
_____ Never even
heard of them
Are there are foods
that contain ingredients that have been Genetically Modified?
_____ Yes
_____ No
_____ Maybe
_____ Don’t know
Are you:
_____ male
_____ female
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