Gene Corn Project
Author(s)
Michael Rust
Bethany Vice
Subject(s)
Environmental Science
Grade Level
11
Duration
5 class periods
Rationale (How this relates to engineering)
Genetically modified foods involve the development of new food products that have been altered to achieve desired traits and characteristics. This work has been primarily driven by genetic engineers who have applied the methods and techniques of that were developed primarily in the field of biology. The use of basic engineering principles has led to the implementation of these techniques to solve problems, thus an understanding of the biology, techniques, and engineering design approach is necessary to understand this discipline. Additionally, genetically engineered foods raise interesting ethical questions in both their use and non-use, thus informed choices can only be made with a firm understanding of the benefits and detractions of these products.
Summary
Students learn about the use of genetic engineering in food production by designing a genetically engineered food product. The students are grouped in pairs; with each group its own genetic engineering company. Using information on the benefits and detractions of the modified genes, the students design their product and develop a marketing campaign to sell their product to the rest of the class.
The teaching philosophy for this lesson is team-based engineering design. Students learn by taking ownership of the information so they can design an effective product and also so they can critically evaluate the designs of other students.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
1. Identify genetic foods that are in current use.
2. Describe the benefits and detractions involved with genetically modified foods.
3. Implement engineering design principles in the development of a genetically engineered food product.
4. Communicate product design to critical audience.
5. Critically evaluate a biotechnology product
Implementation of Engineering design principles:
Identify product need Gene info worksheet
Research available options Gene info worksheet
Identify pros and cons of design options Design worksheet
Choose best design Design worksheet
Communicate design choice to broader audience Marketing campaign
Critically evaluate other engineering designs to
identify the appropriate solution
Standards
Life Science
Benchmark F, Indicator #11 – Investigate issues of environmental quality at local, regional, national and global levels such as population growth, resource use, population distribution, over-consumption, the capacity of technology to solve problems, poverty, the role of economics, politics and different ways humans view the earth.
Benchmark G, Indicator #12 – Describe advances in life sciences that have important, long-lasting effects on science and society (e.g. biotechnology)
Technology
Benchmark A, #2 – implementation of technologies involve the weighing of trade-offs between predicted positive and negative effects on the environment.
Background Knowledge
The students had been studying the factors that are leading to food shortages around the world, including population growth. The week before this lesson, the teacher continued this discussion to show possible methods of producing foods that are bigger or more resistant to pests or climate changes, such as cross-breeding different strains of rice. Thus the students began this lesson with an understanding of food shortage and possible methods of solving the problem.
Materials Required
Attached worksheets (design worksheet, gene info worksheet, evaluation of marketing campaigns worksheet). The worksheets are combined into a packet so that each student has one of every worksheet.
Activities
An introduction is given to get the students thinking about genetically engineered food products and the underlying biology behind it. The students are shown products and they are to guess which ones are genetically modified (see powerpoint slides). The only products that were not genetically modified were the green pepper and the soy milk.
Then students divide into groups of 2 (they select their partner), each group is a separate genetic engineering food company. Each company is to design a corn product that can be genetically altered for desired effects. There are 5 different genes that can be altered to produce new effects (grow-hi, grow-fast, pest-free, super vitamin, ultra-sweet).
Each company can select 2 of the genes to alter; their choice comes from a description of the benefits and detractions that are associated with each genetic change. After selecting their design, each company creates a marketing campaign to sell their product. The students will give a presentation using their ad campaign, which can be based on a PowerPoint presentation or flyers/posters.
During the presentations, the rest of the students in the class critically assess the product from the perspective of specific roles they have been assigned (EPA, organic agricultural farmers, etc.). Since the presenters are only talking about the positive aspects of their design, the teacher will briefly call attention to the downsides of the design after each presentation. Using an evaluation form, each student thus selects what he or she thinks is the best solution and the results are presented to the class to show whether there was a clear winner or whether many solutions were popular.
Schedule / Topic / Activities / Time allottedDay 1 / Introduction / Pre-test / 10 min
Price is right / 10 min
Genetics basics / 20 min
Intro to activity / 10 min
Day 2 / Gene Design Activity / Select genes, complete design worksheet / 15 min
Rough draft of marketing campaign / 30 min
Day 3 / Gene Design Activity cont’d / Final draft of marketing campaign / 45 min
Day 4 / Presentations / Presentations of marketing campaign. / 55 min (2 min per group)
Evaluation of other students’ presentations
Day 5 / Assessment / Post test / 30 min
Student feedback / 10 min
Assessment of Student Learning
Objective / MethodIdentify genetic foods in current use. / Post-test
Identify and describe the benefits and detractions involved with genetically modified foods. / Design worksheet, post-test
Implement engineering design principles in the development of a genetically engineered food product. / Design worksheet, gene info worksheet, presentation of marketing campaign
Communicate product design to critical audience. / Presentation of marketing campaign
Critically evaluate a biotechnology product / Evaluation form
Assessment of the Activity
Student feedback forms
Resources
Guide to Biotechnology
http://www.bio.org/speeches/pubs/er/
Current biotech food products
http://www.bio.org/speeches/pubs/er/agri_products.asp
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml
Design Worksheet
Name ______Bell ______
Partner ______
Directions
Below is the genome for the corn product you wish to develop. Genetic engineers have developed modifications for 5 genes, as shown below. Based on the information you have been provided on the Information About Modified Genes Worksheet, select two modified genes that you wish to incorporate into your product. List the pros and cons for the modified genes you have selected. Name your product.
Selection 1
Gene Name:
Pros:
Cons:
Selection 2
Gene Name:
Pros:
Cons:
Product Name ______
Information About Modified Genes
Grow-hi
Genetic engineers at ABC Corp. have altered a gene that results in corn that grows 50% higher than organically grown corn. Thus each corn stalk that is grown contains much more corn than regular corn, allowing growth of more corn per square mile, which will help reduce the food shortage around the world. It has been observed that the higher growing corn uses more nutrients from the soil, causing the land to become infertile quickly. To avoid this, some farmers have been buying more land and rotating their crops on a yearly basis, although this requires them to own more land than they normally have. The alternative to crop rotation is a 50% increase in the use of chemical fertilizers, which increases their production costs and requires increased commercial production of fertilizers.
Grow-fast
Genetic engineers at ABC Corp. have altered a gene that results in corn that grows to maturity in two months less time than organically grown corn. Thus the corn is available to be harvested in a much shorter time than regular corn, reducing the likelihood that the crop will be lost to weather extremes of flooding or draught, which will help reduce the food shortage around the world. It has been observed that the faster growing plants are less tolerant of fluctuations in water availability, requiring the farmers to increase and carefully regulate the amount of water that reaches the plants on a daily basis. This has resulted in increased costs related to irrigation.
Pest-Free
Genetic engineers at ABC Corp. have altered a gene that results in corn that has far greater resistance to pest organisms than organically grown corn. Thus there is an increase in the amount of corn available due to a reduction in the amount lost to pest damage, which will help reduce the food shortage around the world. It has been observed that, due to a drop in the population of the pest organisms, there is also a drop in the populations of several species of birds that are dependent on the pest organisms for food. The Environmental Protection Agency is concerned that one species may face extinction.
Super-Vitamin
Genetic engineers at ABC Corp. have altered a gene that results in corn that has a greatly increased vitamin content compared to organically grown corn. Thus the same amount of corn results in an increased level of nutrition available per serving, which will help reduce the incidence of malnutrition around the world. It has been observed that the vitamin enriched corn uses more nutrients from the soil, causing the land to become infertile quickly. To avoid this, some farmers have been buying more land and rotating their crops on a yearly basis, although this requires them to own more land than they normally have. The alternative to crop rotation is a 50% increase in the use of chemical fertilizers, which increases their production costs and requires increased commercial production of fertilizers.
Ultra-Sweet
Genetic engineers at ABC Corp. have altered a gene that that has a greatly increased sugar content compared to organically grown corn. Thus the enhanced corn has a much sweeter taste than regular corn. This has no impact on food availability around the world, but initial market research shows that consumers prefer the sweeter tasting corn over organically grown corn. This consumer preference could cause ultra-sweet corn to dominate the market and lead to a monoculture which could be highly susceptible to diseases and climate changes.
Name ______Bell _____ Grade _____
Project Directions and Grading Criteria
PointsEarned / Possible
Points / Project Component / Criteria / Instructions
5 / Completion of Design Worksheet / Day 1, 15 minute deadline
Shared responsibility. / See attached document
5 / Rough draft of marketing campaign / Day 1, 30 minute deadline
Shared responsibility. / See below.
5 / Final draft of marketing campaign / Day 2, 45 minute deadline. Power point, flyer, or poster.
Prepared prompt cards.
Shared responsibility. / See below.
35 / Presentation of
marketing campaign / Day 3, 2-minute presentation.
Shared responsibility. / See below.
15 / Assessment of presentations / Day 3, Assess each presentation, based on assigned persona.
Individual responsibility. / See attached document.
35 / Post test / Day 4, Respond to written test questions.
Individual responsibility.
Marketing Campaign Directions
Based on your genetic modification selections on the Design Worksheet, create a marketing campaign to sell your product. Remember, you want to convince others that your genetically modified corn is the best, so that people will buy it. Your presentation must meet the following requirements:
¨ Must use PowerPoint presentation, or a poster display large enough to be read by the class, or a flyer to distribute to the class.
¨ Must have a product name that reflects the modifications.
¨ Must describe the genes you modified and why you modified them.
¨ Must identify the advantages of your modifications.
¨ Must describe why people should buy your product.
¨ Must give a 2-minute presentation, each group member speaking for 1 minute.
Marketing Campaign Rubric
31-35 pts. / 28-30 pts. / 21-27 pts. / 1-20 pts. / 0 pts.No technical errors. Accomplishes level 3 and enhances communication in some significant way. / Clear and easy to understand, with very few minor errors. / Understandable, but clarity is missing in places. Technical errors may exist but do not prevent audience from understanding message. / Unclear; technical errors serious distract audience from understanding message. / Missing, or contains no evidence related to task.
Name ______Bell _____ Grade _____
Evaluation of Marketing Campaigns – by EPA representative.
Directions
You represent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is responsible for protecting human health and the environment. Keep this mission in mind when evaluating each genetically engineered product. Use the following scale to rate each presentation. You can use the modified genes information sheet to evaluate the negative effects.
Positive effects
5 4 3 2 1
Highly beneficial Some benefits No benefits
Negative effects
5 4 3 2 1
No effect Tolerable effects Devastating effects
Product Name / Modified genes / Positive effects rating / Negative effects rating / Total ratingBased on the above data, I recommend the product ______for purchasing .
Assessment Rubric
14-15 pts. / 12-13 pts. / 9-11 pts. / 1-8 pts. / 0 pts.Clearly and consistently makes assessment based on assigned role. / Clearly but not consistently makes assessment based on assigned role. / Completes assessment, but may not be consistent with assigned role. / Incomplete assessment of presentations. / Missing, or contains no evidence related to task.
Name ______Bell _____ Grade _____
Evaluation of Marketing Campaigns – by organic farmer.
Directions
You are an organic farmer who grows corn products. Since you don’t use any genetically modified products, your corn will stay the same while others change properties such as growth rate, thus your product will struggle to compete. Keep this identity in mind when evaluating each genetically engineered product. Use the following scale to rate each presentation. You can use the modified genes information sheet to evaluate the negative effects.