Introducing the Concept of Life Sciences
Part1 - Part
2 - Part3 - Part4
Part 4
By linking agriculture and health, what science-based
nutritional products are conceivable?
The Best of All Possible Produce - Lesson 4
Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
- Become knowledgeable about premises for bioengineered
and cross-bred crops
- Compare and contrast physical characteristics
- Apply information gained from the experiment to a
hypothetical situation
- Think creatively and globally
Background Notes
Were you aware of the impact that breeding and biotechnology
have at your local grocery store or market? The next time
you're in the produce section, take a closer look at the
type of food offered. Foods like the Asian pear (apple-pear),
tangelo and brocciflower are all tasty examples that demonstrate
how certain traits of a plant can be preserved or eliminated
when they are combined with traits from another plant.
Materials
For each lab group:
- One cross-bred fruit or vegetable
- The cross-bred fruit's or vegetable's original parents
- A cutting knife
Strategy
1. Choose a cross-bred fruit or vegetable, and its original parents for this
experiment. Some examples are the tangelo (tangerine and grapefruit), an Asian
pear (apple and pear) or brocciflower (broccoli and cauliflower).
2. Depending on the dynamics of your class, break the students into small groups
or partners. Distribute the cross-bred food and its original parents to each
group.
3. Students create a data table or chart to list their observations on the following
characteristics: skin color, interior color, size, odor, shape, seed size, seed
count, juiciness, and taste.
4. Students examine and record the data for each fruit or vegetable. Using a
knife, the students cut each fruit or vegetable in half to further their investigation.
5. When students have finished, they clean up their area.
Follow-Up Questions
- What would you consider to be the desirable and undesirable traits in each
fruit or vegetable?
Follow-Up Activities for Students
- If you could breed two plants to give you a better tasting fruit or vegetable,
what two plants would you want to cross breed? Why? What would you name it?
Draw a picture of it.
- If you could add two vitamins to your plant to make it more nutritious,
which two vitamins would you add? Why?
- What two characteristics could you put into your plant to allow it to grow
anywhere in the world?
Adapted from materials prepared for the St. Louis Science Center
Additional Resources
American Association of Diabetes Educators
(800) 338-3633
www.aadenet.org
American Diabetes Association
www.diabetes.org
American Diabetes Association / National Center for Nutrition and Dietetics
(312) 899-0040
www.eatright.org
American Heart Association
www.amhrt.org
Calorie Control Council
www.caloriecontrol.org
Institute of Food Technologies
www.ift.org
International Food Information Council
ificinfo.health.org
U.S.D.A. Human Nutrition Information Service
(516) 390-1400
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