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ESC Science Kit Rental: Genetically Modified Foods Kit (10-12)

This guide is used to apply for a ESC science laboratory kit.

Genetically Modified Foods Background Information

The diversity of our food production has led to many technological innovations. One such innovation has been the creation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). A GMO is any organism created or grown with the DNA of another organism. When engineered plants serve as a food source, they are labeled as genetically modified foods (GMFs).  The change in DNA increases durability, making the plant defensive against pests and weather conditions. GMFs also create a higher crop yield making them economically beneficial for farmers.

Through the mass production of GMFs, our food lends itself to improper testing for safe consumption, as well as causing a change in the ecosystem. In the age of global agriculture and a cultural shift towards higher food-safety standards, GMFs are a controversial yet future focus for our food consumption.

Inquiry

Inquiry is a fundamental building block of teaching and learning that empowers students to follow their sense of wonder into new discoveries and insights about the way the world works. The empowered learner calls upon information and inquiry skills to connect with what he or she knows, asks intriguing questions about what is not known, investigates answers, constructs new understandings, and shares those understandings with others. Students need to use the skills of inquiry to learn.

The Genetically Modified Foods (GMF) unit has been developed using the framework and skills culled from the Stripling Model of Inquiry and the Empire State Information Fluency Continuum. This framework encourages active learning and the formation of new understandings. The GMF pre-activity is based within the Connect and Wonder stages of the Stripling Model. Students will have an opportunity to connect with prior knowledge and gain context. In Wonder, students will now have the language and background knowledge to develop good questions, formulate hypotheses, and make predictions. Your field trip to the Genovesi Environmental Study Center is in the Investigate stage. When you return to your school, the post-activity is based within the Construct, Express, and Reflect stages. Inquiry is cyclical.  It is okay to revisit a stage of the Stripling Model as additional questions are formulated, hypotheses are fine-tuned and students develop their desires to independently explore related topics. 

Stripling, Barbara K. "Inquiry-based Learning." In Curriculum Connections through the Library, edited by Barbara K. Stripling and Sandra Hughes-Hassell, 3-39. Libraries Unlimited, 2003.

 

Differentiation

In the Connect and Wonder stage of the pre-activity, students can write or draw their responses on their graphic organizer. The graphic organizers are also available in Word format allowing teachers to modify the assessments to meet the individual needs of their students. Teachers may differentiate the instructional tasks for students using the various Sunburst Text Set Model options to build an understanding of definition and identification of a genetically modified organism. The post-activity uses the Solar System Text Set Model, to explore and discuss the ethics of genetic modification.

Teaching with Text Sets

Text Sets

Sunburst Model

In the Sunburst Model, the "sun" or center represents the content, theme or genre to be examined. Each of the "rays" in the sunburst represent a particular text. Students are asked to examine one or more texts, "the rays", in relationship to the "sun" text. They gain a larger sense of content knowledge by comparing and contrasting the information presented in each text. 

Solar System Model

In the Solar System Model, the “sun” or center represents the content, theme or genre to be examined. Each of the “planets” in the solar system represents a particular text.  In this model, students are asked to examine three or more texts in relationship to each other.  They gain a larger sense of content knowledge by comparing and contrasting the materials in each of the “planet” texts.

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