By Vanessa Bullwinkle

Project Learning Tree’s Exploring Environmental Issues: Focus on Risk module provides formal secondary educators with a series of classroom activities to help students learn the rationale for and the mechanics of risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication. The module’s hands-on activities provide students with a framework through which they can apply inquiry learning, scientific processes, and higher order thinking skills to environmental issues. Once students learn the basics of risk, they are then able to apply their knowledge and skills to environmental issues, public policy issues, and personal decisions.

A new Biotechnology Supplement has been created as a complementary resource for PLT’s Focus on Risk module. This supplement increases students’ awareness, understanding, skills, and motivation to objectively explore this multi-faceted (and sometimes controversial) topic. The titles of the new classroom activities and case studies are: Biotechnology and You, Bioremediation, Biotechnology and Human Health, and Forest Biotechnology. 

Each of the four activities in the Biotechnology Supplement, plus their associated student pages, PowerPoint presentations, and links to other Biotechnology online resources, are available for free at PLT’s new Online Community for Educators, http://connnect.plt.org.  Each activity has an emphasis on a lab component, but don’t be deterred, these lab exercises serve as engaging enrichments but are not required to complete PLT’s Biotechnology activities.  If you have the opportunity to include them in your teaching, you’ll find PLT’s laboratory exercises are inexpensive and easy to implement.  For some tips, read this issue’s Educator Tips article “Showing Off Biotechnology in the Classroom.”

Here’s an overview of each activity:

Activity 1: Biotechnology and You
Humans have been genetically modifying organisms for thousands of years.  So why does there seem to be such controversy over genetically engineered organisms in today’s world?  The answers to that question are varied and complex.  In this activity:

(a) Students will explore the distinction between artificial selection and genetic engineering.  Students will then model the process of artificial selection using a simulation involving beans of varying sizes.

(b) Students will explore the ways some scientists are genetically manipulating organisms (genetic engineering) to modify agricultural crops.  Students will then mimic the process by transforming a plasmid with two novel genes: one for pest resistance and one for fluorescence.

(c) Students will evaluate the risks and benefits associated with genetic engineering that affect what we eat and wear.  They will explore several of the scientific, economic, environmental, and ethical considerations that must be addressed when assessing genetically engineered organisms.  They also evaluate information from different sources to learn to perceive, identify, and evaluate bias in information sources.

Activity 2: Bioremediation
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.  Plants, bacteria, and even fungi can benefit from metabolizing the concentrated nutrients present in some types of waste generated by human activities.  Bioremediation is the breakdown of certain contaminants by living organisms to help restore ecosystems to desired natural conditions.  In this activity:

(a) Students will learn how living organisms have been used to process materials or to produce specific products or results.

(b) Students will explore how modern bioengineering techniques have been used to mimic natural processes for cleanup of sewage, oil spills, and other environmental toxins.

Included in this activity, students research Superfund sites in the United States, and conduct lab experiments to grow bacterial strains on various media.

Activity 3: Biotechnology and Human Health
Biotechnology plays a role in human health.  Examples include using biotechnology to diagnose disease, prevent disease, and treat disease.  In this activity:

(a) Students will model the transmission of an infectious disease.  They will observe how biotechnology can be used to diagnose disease.

(b) Students will learn about different types of vaccines, research the vaccines they have received, and discuss some of the benefits and risks of vaccinations.

(c) Students will explore how genetically engineered plants can be used to produce a new class of edible vaccines.  They will design their own edible vaccine, organizing the information they are given to create a presentation that effectively synthesizes and delivers that information.

(d) Students will explore the development, use, risks, and benefits of different types of transgenic plants.  They will then be challenged to present the risks and benefits associated with a particular type of agricultural engineering in a PowerPoint presentation.

Activity 4: Forest Biotechnology
Traditional methods of artificial selection and modern methods of bioengineering have been used in attempts to improve the quality of forest products worldwide.  In this activity:

(a) Students will learn how botanists and forest scientists have manipulated trees, and will create an informative brochure to present a tree improvement technique.
(b) Students will research the history of the American chestnut, and discover the widespread effects of its fungal blight.
(c) Students will learn how to extract DNA from plant tissue and simulate possible restoration methods for the American chestnut.
(d) Students will debate the merits of different forest management practices, given today’s traditional and biotechnical options.

To get access to PLT’s Biotechnology activities, join PLT’s free, online professional learning community at http://connect.plt.org, and begin your own discussions about integrating biotechnology into your classroom.