How can technology benefit agriculture in society?

Let’s talk genetics! Genetic technologies have the potential to change society in big ways. What benefits do advances in genetics offer? What are the potential pitfalls? This project was all about discussion. Discussion is an essential practice in science. Students used discussions to put together their ideas about science. They also used discussions to decide how science and technology should be used in the world. In this project, students engaged in multiple types of discussions to consider how genetic technologies can and should be used. Students examined advances in genetics as they prepared for and engaged in a Socratic discussion about the application of these technologies. The final product was a Socratic discussion between students using breakout rooms in Google Meets.

Students discussed a variety of topics related to genetic technologies in agriculture throughout the project such as:

• Cloning dolly (successfully cloning a sheep)

• Dog evolution (through artificial selection)

• Roundup-ready (soybeans genetically modified to withstand Roundup)

• GM Salmon (Salmon modified to grow twice as fast)

• Bt corn (corn modified to defend itself from caterpillars, reducing the use of pesticides)

• Golden Rice (rice modified to produce Vitamin A for people in poorer countries)

• GM Mosquitos (mosquitos modified to not be able to reproduce in hopes of reducing mosquito populations which should slow the spread of disease)

• De-Extincting the Wooly Mammoth (discussions behind the possibility of bringing back extinct species to help balance ecosystems)

Below are various students' notes and arguments used during discussions throughout the project.

In History, we worked to connect the history of Codes and values to how businesses and products use values in their products being sold to the public. The students chose topics and created PSA's about businesses or products that represent values that they admire.