Student Name:

The Big Question:

Considering both points of view, does one sides argument outweigh the others?

Debate Preparation: You will participate in a collaborative

discussion, or debate. On Tuesday, March 1, each student must come to the
discussion prepared with written responses to each of the four questions
below.

Use your Benefits & Concerns research

notes (Google doc) & SQWORL resources http://sqworl.com/vbe0ea to
help guide you.

Include CITATIONS (quoted text from

articles, websites, etc.) as evidence of your claims.

Use the argumentative sentence stems &

transitions (last page) to create strong claims.

Be prepared to argue both sides (Pro or

Con) of Genetically Modified Foods.
Color-Coding: Use the following color-codes for the argument writing
essentials:
Claims (a statement that can be argued and proven with
evidence)
Citations (quoted evidence from another source)
Statistics (facts with numbers based on data collection)
Commenting: Identify in your own writing when you appeal to each
persuasive technique. Instead of color-coding, use the COMMENT button.
Ethos (Credibility, Reputation, Citing from a university
study, etc.)
Logos (Using Logic, Facts, Statistics, Reason, etc.)

etc.)

Pathos (Appealing to Emotions, Imagination, Feelings, Fear,

Answer each question in a detailed paragraph(s) using the directions on page 1:

1.
Considering both points of view (Benefits & Concerns of GMOs), how
does each sides argument outweigh the others?
If I were arguing for the benefits side of GMOs, the first claim that I would have is that GMOs can
help solve world hunger. Normal corn takes from 60-100 days to fully grow in normal conditions.
Genetically modified corn takes less time and is resistant to herbicide. Since the corn is resistant to
herbicide this means that we will have less corn casualties from the herbicides. If less food dies than
we will have more food for people that cant buy or afford food. Since the corn also grows faster we
will have more food for more people and solve hunger. Another reason why GMOs can solve hunger
is because the seeds are able to grow in certain climates.An Argentine farmer stands by his field of
transgenic soy, designed for resistance to drought and salinity (Genetically Modified Organisms: TO
EAT OR NOT TO EAT?). If more food survives droughts than we will have more food for more people
and world hunger will end.
The second reason why GMOs have benefits is that certain countries dont have enough vitamin A
in their food. The lack of Vitamin A can cause people to be blind in places like africa where they lack
these types of foods. Fortunately there is a new genetically modified food that has extra Vitamin A in
it. This food is called golden rice. When people it rice in africa it is usually regular rice. Imagine if you
are ten years old and you know that you cant get enough Vitamin A in all the meals that you eat. You
know that you will go blind and you will never be able to see again. Then you hear a new type of rice
that will give you the right amount of vitamins to keep your eyesight.
If I were arguing for concerns side of GMOs, the first claim that I would have is the danger of
allergies. Many children and adults are allergic to certain things. Some common allergies that people
have is peanuts, pollen, or dust. About 90% of food allergies are caused by tree nuts. In the U.S.,

approximately three million people report allergies to peanuts and tree nuts (Google: how many
people in the world). This means that if a company does not label if a food has any sort of peanut
gene in it, than the consumer will have their peanut reaction and that company will be sued. This is
why GMOs are bad for people to eat because they never if they are eating a GMO or if they are not.

2.
If you were the President of the United States with a struggling
economy, high obesity, and overpopulation, would you encourage more GMO production or
restrict it?
If I were president I would encourage all GMO products because they can do many things
that will help the U.S. For example golden rice has way more vitamin A in it than regular rice.
If more people eat golden rice instead of regular rice then less people in the world will go
blind do to the lack of vitamin a.More than two-thirds (68.8 percent) of adults are

considered to be overweight or obese (number of obese in america). Also GMO have the

possibility of being healthier than normal food. If people eat more GMO than they will not be
as fat any more. Economy is a big problem in the U.S. and if we dont do something now than it
will not be a bright future for the U.S. GMO cost way less than normally grown foods like
carrots or potatoes. So if we start to buy less expensive foods then U.S. will be better in the
future.

3.
Considering GMO foods you have researched, which do you believe is
most beneficial (helpful) to a civilization and why?
The most beneficial genetically modified food in my opinion is golden rice. Golden
rice is the most beneficial because it can save lives. Imagine knowing that you cant
enough vitamins in your food and you know that you will die. How scared would you be
knowing that there is no chance of survival. ...2 million deaths caused by vitamin-A deficiency
in third world countries each year (5 good reasons to support GMOs). The food golden rice has
way more vitamin A than natural food sold in stores. This food can allow your life to be
saved if you eat this. That means that this food has the chance to save over 12 million
people.
4.
civilization and why?

Which GMO foods do you believe is most detrimental (harmful) to a

The most harmful GMO in my opinion is the sweet corn that is resistant to insects. This
is the most harmful GMO because if wind blows the insect resistant stuff off of the corn
and onto some flowers next to the corn field. Everyday butterflies go onto these
flowers. If this happened then all of the butterflies will die. Some of these butterflies
are nocturnal so there will not be enough food for the bats a night. This means that the
bats will die off and if that happens then there will not be enough food for the hawks.
This is why sweet corn is the most harmful GMO because it has the chance to make
butterflies, bats, and hawks go extinct. The country is one of the worldwide corn leaders with
96,000,000 acres (39,000,000 ha) of land reserved for corn production(Corn production in the United
States). As you can see there is a lot of corn in the United States. So if this situation
happened to all of the genetically modified corn than that would be very bad for the
U.S.