Integrated Unit: Your Two-Week Plan Book

Week 1
What is GMO
food? Intro and
vocab.
Intro video:
http://www.youtube
.com/watch?
v=8z_CqyB1dQo
(Bill Nye on GMOs)
Identification of
new vocabulary
through video.
Discussion of
terms:
GMO, gene, DNA,
modify, organism,
crop, pesticide,
pest, insecticide,
herbicide, -cide (to
kill), bacteria,
fungus, virus, etc.
Discussion of what
we learned from

How does nonGMO food grow?

How does genetic
modification
help?
Review terminology
and video from day
before.
Discuss how a crop
is grown and what
factor affect its
ability to grow and
be healthy.
Relate it to how a
human grows and
stays healthy.
(avoid pests and
disease, get
nutrients, keep
warm, etc.)
Discuss how GMOs
help with keeping

Why is GMO food

made and grown?
Intro to global
hunger.
Discuss: If you
could change food,
what would you
change?
(better taste,
bigger, healthier,
etc.)

Global Hunger
Continued.
Where is there
more hunger and
why? What
causes hunger?

Read intro of book

and part about
food:
If the World Were a
Village: A Book
about the World's
Why would we want People, 2nd Edition
healthier plants?
(CitizenKid) by
(more food)
David Smith
(Also, shown here:
Why would we want http://www.slidesha
more food? (So no
re.net/geepatty/ifone is hungry)
the-world-were-avillage)
Interactive Activity: -intro to unequal
http://media.educat distribution of food
ion.nationalgeograp
hic.com/assets/rich Show map of
media/0/226/projec malnourished by

Global Hunger
Continued. What
causes hunger?
Is there a need
for GMOs to solve
this issue?
Have students
continue to read
through the causes
of hunger. Take
notes on main
ideas in groups.
Have groups share
and discuss.
Talk about some
issues particularly
relevant to Africa
(population growth,
poverty, war, lack
of infrastructure).
Where could GMOs
help in this?

video.

crops healthy.

t/index.html
(what and how
much people eat
around the world)
Have students
write notes and
then share patterns
they see. Talk
about what these
patterns may
suggest. (food isnt
evenly distributed
around the world)

country:
http://www.fao.org/
hunger/en/
What do you
notice? Where?

(more food, less

disease and other
effects from
environment)
Would this solve
the entire issue?
Why or why not?

What causes
hunger?
https://www.wfp.org Have students write
/hunger/causes
their opinions down
with reference to
Have students
causes of hunger
read, go through,
and with reference
and pick out main
to the locations
ideas on one of the where hunger or
topics.
malnourishment is
most prevalent.

Week 2
What is its effect
on the
environment?
How can it
disturb the
movement of
matter between
organisms?
Use example of
Monarch butterfly.
Have students look
up what it eats and
who its predators
are.
Go through where
the matter
(food/energy)
comes from and
where it goes. Have
students create a

Is it safe to
grow? Is it safe
to eat? Research
Day 1
Explain that
students will be
beginning to make
a poster on
Thursday to show
off your thoughts
on whether we
should grow GMOs
or not. You will
need to show
evidence because
these posters will
be used to help you
convince your
peers (and others
in the community if
you would like) to
agree with you.

Is it safe to
grow? Is it safe
to eat? Research
Day 2

Poster work day

Have students (in

their groups) use
what they found to
Students continue
make a poster
research from
using Piktochart
yesterday, taking
(http://piktochart.co
notes on what they m/). Remind them
find for their
of the purpose of
posters.
the assignment and
what they need to
Remind them of the include. Provide
purpose of the
them with the
assignment. They
rubric so they can
should include what monitor their own
theyve learned
progress.
about GMOs in
terms of world
hunger, its effect
on the
environment, and
its safety.

Poster
presentation day
Have each group
come up to present
their posters.
Presentations
should take 5-8
minutes each.
At the end, have
students write YES
or NO to the
question of whether
we should grow
GMOs on a slip of
paper and put it
into a box. Count
how many Yeses
and Nos there are.
Announce to
students what the
majority opinion

food web.
Have students look
up: How does it
benefit the
environment?
Share.
(Good link:
http://www.onegree
nplanet.org/environ
ment/how-thebutterfly-canshape-anecosystem-andwhy-we-need-toprotect-them/
Now have them
look at:
http://www.politifac
t.com/truth-ometer/statements/2
015/feb/17/peterdefazio/are-gmoscausing-monarchbutterflies-becomeextinc/

was.
Have students
explore these
questions on their
own in groups.
Links to look at:
http://environment.
nationalgeographic.
com/environment/g
lobal-warming/foodhow-altered/
http://www.pbs.org/
wgbh/harvest/exist/
arguments.html
http://www.greenfa
cts.org/en/gmo/
They can feel free
to find others
websites to look at
too.

Have students skim

through the article,
while they think
about what a
decline in Monarch
butterflies would do
to the environment
and its possible
connection to
GMOs. Have them
write this down.