Sharks Bio-Lab - Grade 9 Science, Language Arts & Social Studies Project

Purpose of the Project:

Researchers at Sharks Bio-Lab are constantly working to modify organisms for the "better" and they are looking for new ideas to present to their board of directors for funding. Past endeavors have included attempts to improve strains of wheat that are resistant to blight, having sheep produce important proteins for humans in their milk, bacterial produce hormones to help people, plants produce fruit that are resistant to freezing and splitting, and many more!

In Research Teams, students will be tasked with coming up with a new genetically modified organism that would benefit either humans, the organism itself or both. Students compile their research into a concise, research-style poster that is presented at our Research Fair where their ideas are evaluated by experts in various fields of research. They are also mentored throughout by teachers in science, language arts and social studies in addition to researchers from the University of Alberta.

Project Process:

Truth be told, of all of the projects I get to be a part of, I think this one is closest to my heart. It was born out of a desire to help bring life to the Biological Diversity unit for Science 9 and how it has grown with the inclusion of Language Arts and Social Studies is quite amazing to me! My passion is Microbiology and Biotechnology - another reason this project makes me so happy!

We start this project by getting students thinking about genetic modification and natural selection. How has diversity changed both naturally and synthetically over time? Students start to brainstorm potential ideas for new GMOs and complete Group Selection Input Forms so we can start matching up students with similar interests before we really kick off the project.

I am so lucky that Dan Riskin, PhD in Evolutionary Biology and host of Discovery Canada's Daily Planet has been so supportive of this project since its inception. To kick off the project our students get to have a Skype call with him for an hour. He tells them a little bit about his background in science and then opens it up for questions! To avoid those uncomfortable silence periods, we prepare the kids by having them brainstorm different questions they might ask and then choose a selection of questions and assign student spokespeople. There is always time at the end for the students to ask other questions they come up with as well. This is always a huge hit! Dan is so knowledgeable and engaging, the kids come away excited to get started!

Once groups have been made and modifications approved, students begin their research into their organisms and think about how they could potentially make their modification work. Soon after this process has begun, we bring in researchers from the University of Alberta who meet with student groups one-on-one and they give advice to the students on how to proceed further. This is a wonderful opportunity for the students who always walk away feeling motivated to continue their work - even if they have to completely shift directions after their meetings! We are so grateful for the support of the U of A Outreach who has been so willing to come out and advise our students. Each group gets to meet with two different Mentors, giving them even more perspectives to consider for their continued research.

Throughout this project students are getting scaffolding instruction in science to build their background knowledge so they can better evaluate and assess the information they are reading. In Language Arts they hone their research skills, learning how to determine if a source is reputable, constantly writing and re-writing drafts of their paragraphs for their research posters. We are lucky enough to have an in-house graphic artist who assists our students with their research posters by teaching them how to use In Design and Adobe Illustrator software to create truly professional looking products. Our students work using Google Docs that are shared with all teachers involved and we are able to provide constant feedback to them throughout the process. In Social Studies, students are challenged to consider both legal and ethical implications of creating a new GMO - what is the process for getting this approved in Canada? Is it ethical for this modification to be made?

Finally the big day arrives! There is a lot of preparation for this showcase as it involves many layers of involvement. Students have to complete their posters with enough time for them to be printed (we learned the first year that this takes much more time than we would have imagined!), as well as practice their 'pitch' and presentation. They will be presenting their idea in the hopes that a company could invest in their idea and they know that a new GMO is a minimum $50 million dollar investment so they need to know their stuff! Our Food Studies class even bakes delicious snacks for our guests (another life lesson!). We invite our University of Alberta mentors back to evaluate and adjudicate the final ideas, community members, parents and other district staff are also invited and the students LOVE getting to show off their hard work. The morning is absolutely electric as our students come, dressed in their finest, even amazed themselves at the amount of knowledge they have gained over the course of this project!

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