How does biotechnology affect our dinner plate?

English (NOTE: this unit does not align with grade-level driving question)

Math 2021-22

Science

In this quarter, students finished up the previous project and began the next project. In the previous project, students explored the complex web of relationships within ecosystems to better understand their sustainability. For the final product, students analyzed a set of indicator data cards to determine the effectiveness of a fishery-management strategy on the sustainability of the Avril Gulf tuna fishery. Then they suggested actions humans can take to help sustain ecosystems for the future. The final product is a letter to the Avril Gulf Wildlife Protection Agency (AGWPA) that recommends the continued use of either a marine reserve or aquaculture.

9/10th Student Recommendations

Student Recommendations

9/10th Microscope Investigations

Microscope Investigations: Phytoplankton and Zooplankton

The final project of the year is related to how biotechnology affects our dinner plate. Students started out with an introduction to Super Cattle, emphasizing the Belgian Blue. Then they dove into the microscopic scales for what makes Blue "Super". Some of the topics they learned about were:

Mitosis
Cell Differentiation
Chromosomal Super Coiling

9/10th Entry Event

Entry Event and Initial Models for the microscopic scales that make up organisms

9/10th Mitosis

Students modeling the process of Mitosis

9/10th Cell differentiation

Cell differentiation models

9/10th Chromosomal Super Coiling

Students modeling the super coiling process that creates chromosomes

English (NOTE: this unit does not align with grade-level driving question)

Shakespeare: From Page to Stage. In this unit, students learned about poetic form and structure, and were introduced to the most famous playwright in history: William Shakespeare. Students were exposed to different types of poetry, and they learned how to analyze a text effectively. The students also read (and watched) Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and completed a scene analysis paper on a scene of their choice.

CLICK HERE FOR STUDENT EXAMPLES

History

In History, we tackled the question of Greed and if it is a good thing or bad thing. Students worked to understand the era of history known as the Industrial Era of America and came to understand these prominent figures during this time that rose to wealth and status. Furthermore, students worked with groups to research and determine if the positive or negative aspects of Greed during this age made it Justified or not. Students took what they learned about greed and applied it to a modern day issue of income inequality and gathered research on a factor of income inequality (e.g., Racial, Regional, Gender and/or Socioeconomic)

Income Inequality based on Socioeconomic Class.

Income inequality based on Gender.

Math 2021-22

The project for this unit is about similarity. We used technology to show dilations. Look at some of these examples.

Math I (8th/9th Graders)

In Integrated Math 1, we work with a variety of different functions. In Q3, we started working with Exponential Growth and Decay. We learned a variety of different examples exponential growth/decay, such as bacterial growth, compound interest, and car depreciation. In order to provide context to how biotechnology can affect our dinner plate, we first looked to understand the pattern of human population growth.

As a class, we researched historic world population data and created a spreadsheet. We then used the data to reverse engineer an exponential growth equation to represent the growth of the human population. After the equation was built, we then extrapolated population data for 2040, 2060, 2080, and 2100. Seeing the enormous population numbers predicted in the future (extending into the 10 billions), we then had a class discussion about food supply. This allowed students to add context to discussions they’d had in other classes about how biotech can affect our dinner plate, and how it will be necessary to innovatively increase food supply to meet growing demand.

"I think that if the population keeps increasing at this rate, then we won't be able to sustain this many people. To keep this many people fed, we would have to be able to make enough food and not take up too much space. We could use things like hydroponics and/or vertical farming to achieve this."

"To keep so many people fed we will need to switch to a plant based diet because the land needed to grow animals and to grow food to keep those animals fed is almost half the US, and 90% of the energy is dispersed when eating things so 90% of the plants energy is gone when a cow eats it then 90% more is gone when we eat it, but the land needed to grow enough plants to keep people fed is so much smaller."

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