LESSON #3

GMOs: Mostly Good or Mostly Bad?

LESSON
OBJECTIVE
POINT TO
PONDER
ESSENTIAL
QUESTION
CONTENT
Outline the content
you will teach in
this lesson.

I. DEFINE OBJECTIVES AND CONTENT

Students will examine the impact(s) of genetically modified
organisms as they develop their own perspectives on the pros
and cons.
Genetically modified organisms are both helpful and harmful.
Is the presence of GMOs in the food supply system more
beneficial or detrimental? How has your perspective changed?
Impact of GMOs:
Over 80% of all GMOs grown worldwide are engineered for
herbicide tolerance. As a result, use of toxic herbicides like
Roundup has increased 15 times since GMOs were introduced.
GMO crops are also responsible for the emergence of super
weeds and super bugs: which can only be killed with ever more
toxic poisons like 2,4-D (a major ingredient in Agent Orange).
GMOs are a direct extension of chemical agriculture, and are
developed and sold by the worlds biggest chemical companies.
The long-term impacts of GMOs are unknown, and once released
into the environment these novel organisms cannot be recalled.
GMOs are novel life forms, biotechnology companies have been
able to obtain patents with which to restrict their use. As a result,
the companies that make GMOs now have the power to sue
farmers whose fields are contaminated with GMOs, even when it
is the result of inevitable drift from neighboring fields. GMOs
therefore pose a serious threat to farmer sovereignty and to the
national food security of any country where they are grown,
including the United States.

1. GMOs importance to current agricultural

sustainability:
More food: These plants can help farmers boost their yield by
making crops that can live through a drought or the cold and resist
disease. Backers say GM products will help us feed the extra 2
billion people that will fill the planet by 2050. Not using these tools
would push us back 40 to 50 years in food production, says Kent
Bradford, PhD, distinguished professor of plant sciences and

Who Puts Fruit in My Smoothies & Why Is There Corn in My Hair?

Laura Chesnut and Brenda Saunders-Moultrie
director of the Seed Biotechnology Center at the University of
California, Davis.
Less stress on the environment: Supporters say using
science to make the changes is better for the planet than older
farming methods. Crops built to resist pests lower farmers need
for toxic chemical pesticides, Goldstein says. They also require
less soil to be tilled, reduce
Better products: Scientists can create crops that contain
vital nutrients. Swiss researchers created a strain of golden rice
with high amounts of beta-carotene. Monsanto produced
soybeans with lots of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Other
crops, like papaya and cassava, can be made to withstand
disease. Naturally occurring molds (if we dont prevent them by
creating GM crops) present huge health hazards, Bradford says.
Why reject a technology that has the potential to benefit so many
people worldwide?
a. Meet the needs of the present without compromising the
needs of the future
b. Responsibility of all (farmers, laborers, policymakers,
researchers, retailers, and consumers)
Role of GMOs in the future
a. Increased toxicity
b. Decreased nutritional value
c. Antibiotic resistance

What will students

UNDERSTAND as
a result of this
lesson? How does
this connect to the
Essential
Question?

II. PRE-PLANNING
The students will understand the importance of GMOs to current
sustainability and the positive/negative role of GMOs in the future.

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Who Puts Fruit in My Smoothies & Why Is There Corn in My Hair?

Laura Chesnut and Brenda Saunders-Moultrie
What will students
be able to DO as a
result of this
lesson?

The students will develop and support their argument for or

against the use of genetically modified organisms.

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Who Puts Fruit in My Smoothies & Why Is There Corn in My Hair?

Laura Chesnut and Brenda Saunders-Moultrie

HOOK
Describe how you
will grab students
attention at the
beginning of the
lesson.
BE CREATIVE.
INSTRUCTION
Explain Step-bystep what you will
do in this lesson.
Be explicit about
ties to Points to
Ponder, Essential
Question, and
Perspectives
here. Include ALL
support and
teaching materials
with your unit.

III. PLANNING
TIME: 10 minutes
Written on the board: You are invited to discuss GMOs on a local
morning news program. What will be your talking points? Work with
a partner to come up with a brief list.

TIME:
- (5 minutes) As a group, we will view and discuss Second
Barcode, a very short video advocating labels for GMO foods,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8ia8Kq_DwE
- (20 minutes) Students will use laptop computers to follow TED-Ed
lesson entitled Kids' Right to Know About That GMO,
http://ed.ted.com/on/9EkwCU5S.
Students will make and defend a claim based on evidence about
genetically modified organisms that reflects scientific knowledge
and student generated evidence.

Harvest of Fear
Use the Harvest of Fear website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/
to answer the following questions:
1. What is a genetically modified organism?
2. Give examples of genetically modified organisms found in our
food.
3. While searching the Harvest of Fear website list the pros and
cons of genetically modified organisms found in our food.
PROS

ASSESSMENT

TIME:30 minutes

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CONS

Who Puts Fruit in My Smoothies & Why Is There Corn in My Hair?

Laura Chesnut and Brenda Saunders-Moultrie
(Performance
Task) What will
the students DO
to demonstrate
that they have
mastered the
content? Be
specific and
include actual
assessment with
unit materials.

Students will develop and support their argument for use of

genetically modified organisms or complete the Web Activity.
The Research Question:
Is the use of Genetically Modified corn beneficial to feed our world
or are they a disaster waiting to happen?
Your Claim:
Your Evidence:
Your Justification of the Evidence:

DOES THE ASSESSMENT ALLOW YOU TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THE

STUDENTS HAVE MET YOUR STATED LESSON OBJECTIVE? YES OR NO
ASSESSMENT AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
Insert ALL materials here including Assessments and Instructional Materials.
Explicitly LIST any additional files for this lesson. Be sure that ALL materials have been
submitted for this lesson.
Fill out the following table stating your claim and indicate the evidence you have
collected to justify your claim
The Research Question:
Is the use of Genetically Modified corn beneficial to feed our world or are they a
disaster waiting to happen?

Your Claim:

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Who Puts Fruit in My Smoothies & Why Is There Corn in My Hair?

Laura Chesnut and Brenda Saunders-Moultrie
Your Evidence:

Your Justification of the

Evidence:

List the arguments of the others and develop your counter argument to them and record
your response in the Rebuttal Column
I support Genetically Modified Corn

I am against Genetically Modified

Corn

Argument #1

Rebuttal

Rebuttal

Argument #1

Argument #2

Rebuttal

Rebuttal

Argument #2

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Who Puts Fruit in My Smoothies & Why Is There Corn in My Hair?

Laura Chesnut and Brenda Saunders-Moultrie

Web Activity: Genetically Modified Foods

1. Begin by going to the website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/.
2. Click on the Should We Grow GM Crops button, read and follow the directions.
3. You should have gone through six arguments regarding the use of genetic foods.
After reading these arguments, how do you feel about the use of genetically modified
foods. After completion of the in-class web activity at home type up a short response
(2-3 paragraphs) on your feelings of the use of genetically modified foods.
4. When you get to the last argument click on read all twelve arguments and answer
the following questions under each argument.
a. What if you knew that detractors fear that GM foods might pose health risks
for certain people?
1. Why would people with allergies be concerned about GM foods?
2. How can genetically modified foods affect certain bacteria in humans?
b. What if you knew that proponents assert that GM foods will promise many
health benefits?
1. What are some health specific reasons that GM foods could leave traditional crops in
the dust?
2. What is golden rice and why is it important to developing countries?
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Who Puts Fruit in My Smoothies & Why Is There Corn in My Hair?

Laura Chesnut and Brenda Saunders-Moultrie

3. What are pharmaceutical foods?

c. What if you knew that many feel GM crop technology will hurt small farmers?
1. Why do GM foods give an advantage to larger companies?
2. How could poor farmers become affected by the use of GM foods in richer
countries?
3. What are some problems with relying on monocultures of food?
d. What if you knew that GM patrons insist that farmers will reap great benefits
from biotechnology?
1. List some reasons why insect repellent crops would help out farmers in the
long run.
2. How would natural herbicides in plants help farmers in the long run?

3. What are some other features that could be bred into plants using
biotechnology?
e. What if you knew that opponents fear that GM crops could harm the
environment?
1. What did the 1999 Nature article show regarding the Monarch butterfly?
2. What do critics of the 1999 Nature article say regarding this study?

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Who Puts Fruit in My Smoothies & Why Is There Corn in My Hair?

Laura Chesnut and Brenda Saunders-Moultrie
3. Why are people worried that there will be new superbugs or superplants? How
could this happen?
f. What if you knew that advocates maintain that GM technology will help the
environment?
1. What are 4 problems of spraying pesticides on plants?
2. What did the EPA find in 1999 in regards to spraying pesticides on cotton
plants?
3. List two ways to stop cross-pollination of plants.
4. What are buffer zones and how would they be used on GM plants?
g. What if you knew that many people feel genetically modifying organisms goes
against Nature?
1. What gene did scientists place into strawberries? What was this gene
designed to do?
2. Why do vegetarians and those practicing religion be against GM foods?
h. What if you knew that scientists submit that genetically modifying plants is
completely natural?
1. What species have we modified from a mustard plant?
2. What has been done to fruits and vegetables such as grapes and potatoes?
3. What are some advantages of gene technology over long term plant
breeding?

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Who Puts Fruit in My Smoothies & Why Is There Corn in My Hair?

Laura Chesnut and Brenda Saunders-Moultrie

i. What if you knew that many critics inveigh against biotech companies for being
profit-driven, with little concern for potential risks to people or nature?
1. In a rush to promote bioengineered foods what do people feel that firms
underestimate?
2. What is the Orwellian theory of farming development?
j. What if you knew that companies that fashion GM seeds maintain that GM
crops hold the greatest hope for adequately feeding our rapidly expanding world
population?
1. Why is innovation important in the biotech world?
2. What will be some results of innovation in the biotech world?
3. Why does GM farming have greater promise than general farming?
k. What if you knew that many critics assert that GM foods suffer from
dangerously poor oversight and regulation?
1. In 1998 what percentage of world grown GM foods came from the United
States?
2. What three government bodies oversee GM foods?
3. Why do people complain about the FDA overseeing GM foods?
4. What type of labels are needed in the United States according to the FDA?
l. What if you knew that GM seed companies maintain that GM crops are the most
thoroughly tested and highly regulated food plants out there?
1. Why do bio-tech firms say that GM foods are thoroughly tested?

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Who Puts Fruit in My Smoothies & Why Is There Corn in My Hair?

Laura Chesnut and Brenda Saunders-Moultrie

2. How do scientists test for toxicity of proteins in GM foods?

3. List and explain two types of allergenic foods described in this section.
4. What three agencies overlook GM foods and what is the responsibility of
each?

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