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Lesson 6

We will explore the topic of genetic engineering in food and its global role in agriculture. We will view and analyze a video by Pamela Ronald, a plant geneticist, who discusses how the genetic altering of seeds and crops can improve and advance sustainable agriculture. We will evaluate how the author organizes the evidence presented and practice identifying supporting claims in a text.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I consider or change my ideas or perspective based on new, credible information and experiences from Ronald’s talk on genetic engineering?

  • Can I analyze how Ronald’s perspective influences her position, purpose, and ideas about engineering our food?

Texts

Core

  • Digital Access
    • “The Case for Engineering Our Food,” Pamela Ronald, TED Talk, 2015

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

We will have a brief class discussion about the concept of genetic engineering and the process of altering a plant’s genes.

In the next activity, you will be watching the video "The Case for Engineering Our Food" with Pamela Ronald. As a plant geneticist, Ronald studies how the genes of various plants make them more resistant to environmental stress and disease. As a class, discuss the following questions:

  1. What do you know about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the controversies about their use?

  2. Thinking back to the different elements of the food system map, what might be some of the beneficial economic, societal, environmental, and farming impacts of using genetically modified seeds and plants to produce food?

  3. What might be some benefits of making a plant more resistant to environmental stress and disease? What are some of the potential negative impacts?

  4. Based on what you have learned so far about the challenges of growing food to feed a rapidly increasing global population, how do you anticipate genetically engineered foods being used in the food system?

Activity 2: View – Write

We will watch “The Case For Engineering Our Food,” which discusses how genetically modified plants are used, and how they can assist with issues of global Food production.

Listen to a brief introduction of Pamela Ronald, who is a plant pathologist and geneticist whose TED Talk you will be viewing. Discuss what you predict her perspective might be, whether you think she might have a bias on her topic of genetic food engineering (the use of GMOs), and what her credibility in her field might be.

Watch the Pamela Ronald talk given at the 2015 TED conference. As you watch the video, use the Video Note-Taking Tool to identify and write down text-based evidence, which may include key details, quotations, or examples that tell you something about the issue.

As you watch the video, think about the following guiding questions:

  1. What are the different types of genetic modifications in plants?

  2. What are two examples that Ronald gives of foods that have been genetically modified to be more resistant to environmental stress and disease?

  3. Ronald gives an example of a process for genetically modifying food that can be used to reduce malnutrition. What are some of the roadblocks to using this method that Ronald describes?

  4. How might technological advances in genetically modified organisms (GMOs) be used to feed an increasing global population?

Activity 3: Discuss

As a class, we will discuss some of the major topics and issues presented in the video.

Step 1

Using your observations and the notes you made while watching the video, participate in a class discussion. As a class, review your responses to the guiding questions you answered before watching the video. Discuss the additional questions below:

  1. What is Ronald’s perspective on food production, and how does it influence her position on the genetic engineering of seeds?

  2. To what extent does Ronald address counterarguments in her talk? How does she portray the perspective of those who might not advocate for the use of genetically modified food?

  3. What do you need to know more about in order to better understand Ronald’s position?

Step 2

Following the class discussion, delineate Ronald’s argument using a Delineating Arguments Tool.Use what you have learned from discussions to identify the issue, perspective, and position that Ronald addresses. Summarize two claims that she makes in the argument and one counterclaim. Note evidence from the notes you recorded on the Video Note-Taking Tool that supports her claims.

Step 3

As a class, using your Delineating Arguments Tools to guide your discussion, summarize Ronald’s argument, and then discuss how what you have learned about the speaker’s perspective, bias, and credibility might influence whether you agree with the argument.

Activity 4: Write

Based on evidence that we found in Ronald’s TED Talk, we will craft a short evidence-based claim on one of the main issues of gmos.

From your notes and the class discussion, form an evidence-based claim that responds to the following question:

  1. How can GMO technology be used to feed an increasing global population?

To develop your claim, use the Forming Evidence-Based Claims Tool to further analyze the text. Be sure to do the following:

  • Record and cite any key evidence from the video.

  • Analyze how the evidence connects to the question or prompt.

  • Explain what you understand or observe from the evidence.

Based on this analysis, form your claim by making connections among the key pieces of evidence you wrote down. Your claim should represent your observations and understanding of Pamela Ronald’s ideas about how GMO technology can help feed an increasing global population.