Food Choices Grade 8: Module 2: Unit 2: Lesson 1
Lesson 1: Introduction to Research Project:
How Do GMOs Influence Our Access to
Healthy Food?
Food Choices
Grade 8: Module 2: Unit 2: Lesson 1
Lesson Overview
Lesson Summary
In this lesson, students are introduced to their group research project and
read their first source on GMOs.
CCS Standards
Focus Standards
These are the standards the instruction addresses.
RI.8.1, W.8.7, W.8.8
Supporting Standards
These are the standards that are incidental—no direct instruction in this
lesson, but practice of these standards occurs as a result of addressing the
focus standards.
RI.8.4, RI.8.8, RI.8.10, SL.8.1, L.8.4
Daily Learning Targets
I can cite evidence that supports the influence GMOs have on our access
to healthy food. (RI.8.1, W.8.8)
Ongoing Assessment
Opening A: Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 1 (W.8.7)
Work Time B: Access to Healthy Food Research: GMOs note-catcher
(RI.8.1, W.8.7, W.8.8)
Agenda
1. Opening
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Food Choices Grade 8: Module 2: Unit 2: Lesson 1
A. Engage the Learner – W.8.7 (5 minutes)
2. Work Time
A. Introduce GMO Research Project (10 minutes)
B. Read “To GMO or NOT to GMO?” and Track Access to Healthy Food –
W.8.8 (25 minutes)
3. Closing and Assessment
A. Whole-Class Share – W.8.7 (5 minutes)
4. Homework
A. Independent Research Reading: Students read for at least 20 minutes
in their independent research reading text. Then they select a prompt
and write a response in their independent reading journal.
Guidance and Supports
Teaching Notes
Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson
W.8.7 – Opening A: Students determine Michael Pollan’s research
question from The Omnivore’s Dilemma.
RI.8.1 – Work Time B: Students cite evidence from “To GMO or NOT to
GMO?” in a note-catcher as they track how the text supports the
influence GMOs have on our access to healthy food.
W.8.8 – Work Time B: Students quote or paraphrase data from the text as
they gather information about GMOs. Students also follow a standard
format for their source citations.
W.8.7 – Closing and Assessment A: Students attempt to answer the
additional related focus questions about GMOs using evidence from the
text in this lesson.
Opportunities to Extend Learning
Students may find other articles about GMOs, using their note-catchers
to quote and paraphrase evidence that supports how GMOs increase and
decrease our access to healthy food.
Students may write an objective summary about the influence GMOs
have on our access to healthy food as explained in the article and record
their evidence in their note-catchers.
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Food Choices Grade 8: Module 2: Unit 2: Lesson 1
An optional Mini Language Dive, intended for use after students read the
article in Work Time B, is available in the Lesson Plan section of this
lesson. ▲
Students may begin to conduct internet research about GMOs using the
additional related focus questions from Closing and Assessment A and
generate additional related focus questions to share with the class.
Students with advanced research skills may find actual academic
journals in which scientists describe the data they collected on GMOs
and the impact on our health and environment. Students may analyze
this data, collect the most relevant information, and share their findings
with the class.
How It Builds on Previous Work
In the previous unit, students read The Omnivore’s Dilemma and learned
about where our food comes from and the role of farmers and
agribusinesses in food production. In this lesson, students explore GMOs
and their influence on our access to healthy food.
Support All Students
Note there is a differentiated version of the Access to Healthy Food
Research: GMO note-catcher used in Work Time A in the Lesson Plan
section of this lesson. ▲
In Work Time B, students review how to quote and paraphrase
information from a text and cite their sources. However, students may
have mastered these research skills and need more support in one of the
other mini lessons in the Research Mini Lessons (for teacher reference)
guide. Use a different mini lesson as students read the text to support
the development of their research skills, if necessary.
To support ELLs, this lesson builds upon work that students did in Unit 1
to build knowledge about food choices. This lesson introduces the
research project that students will carry out over the course of the unit
and includes in-class reading about the topic, a graphic organizer for
collecting information, and tasks and tools that support students in
working with sources. The article students read contains visual aids and
formatting that can help ELLs navigate the text.
ELLs may find it challenging to generate research questions and internet
search terms and to select evidence from sources that is relevant to the
research question and topic. Additionally, ELLs may need support in
understanding the difference between paraphrasing and summarizing
when citing evidence from sources. As students begin work with
analyzing information about the topic, build in time for discussion in
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Food Choices Grade 8: Module 2: Unit 2: Lesson 1
home-language groups. This will help students to navigate the cognitive
demands of the task prior to carrying out linguistic processing in
English.
Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 8.I.B.6 and 8.I.B.8.
Assessment Guidance
Review students’ Access to Healthy Food Research: GMOs note-catchers
to ensure they understand how to gather evidence from the text that
answers the central research question. Circulate to monitor common
issues to identify which research mini lessons would benefit students in
the next lesson.
Down the Road
In the next lesson, students will work in pairs to research GMOs and
continue to track how it influences our access to healthy food. Students
will gather relevant information from internet sources that answers the
research question, quoting and paraphrasing information accurately and
citing their sources.
Materials and Preparation
In Advance
Prepare and ensure there is a copy of Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 1
at each student’s workspace.
Read “To GMO or NOT to GMO?” and review the Access to Healthy Food
Research: GMOs note-catcher (example for teacher reference) in
advance to see what students are working toward in this lesson.
Carefully read through the Research Mini Lessons (for teacher
reference) in advance to see what research skills are being taught in this
lesson and to assess which skills students will need to develop in the next
lessons.
Post the learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see Materials
list).
Technology and Multimedia
Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout previous
modules to create anchor charts to share with families; to record
students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with
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Food Choices Grade 8: Module 2: Unit 2: Lesson 1
students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and
annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.
Vocabulary
N/A
Required Texts
The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Materials from Previous Lessons
Teacher
N/A
Student
N/A
New Materials
Teacher
Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 1 (answers for teacher reference)
Access to Healthy Food Research: GMOs note-catcher (example for
teacher reference)
5-Minute Mini Language Dive Guide: “To GMO or NOT to GMO?”▲
(optional)
Research Mini Lessons (for teacher reference)
Additional Focus Questions: GMOs anchor chart (example for teacher
reference)
Additional Focus Questions: GMOs anchor chart (one for display)
English Language Learners: Teaching Notes for Unit 2 (for teacher
reference)
Unit 2 Homework Resources (for Families) (for teacher reference)
Student
Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 1 (one per student)
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Food Choices Grade 8: Module 2: Unit 2: Lesson 1
Access to Healthy Food Research: GMOs note-catcher (one per student
and one for display)
Access to Healthy Food Research: GMOs note-catcher▲ (optional)
Researcher’s Toolbox (one per student and one for display)
“To GMO or NOT to GMO?” (one per student and one for display)
5-Minute Mini Language Dive Note-Catcher: “To GMO or NOT to
GMO?”▲ (optional)
Unit 2 Homework Resources (for Families) (one per student)
Classroom Materials
Vocabulary logs (one per student; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 2,
Opening A)
Independent reading journals (one per student; begun in Module 1, Unit
1, Lesson 6, Work Time B)
Lesson Plan
Opening
A. Engage the Learner – W.8.7 (5 minutes)
Repeated routine: As students arrive, invite them to complete Entrance
Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 1. Refer to the Entrance Ticket: Unit 2,
Lesson 1 (answers for teacher reference).
Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as the previous lessons to
review learning targets and the purpose of the lesson, reminding
students of any learning targets that are similar or the same as previous
lessons.
Work Time
A. Introduce GMO Research Project (10 minutes)
Remind students that in Unit 1, they read The Omnivore’s Dilemma and
analyzed topics about where our food comes from. One of the topics that
was mentioned in the text was GMOs and the conflicting perspectives on
their use. Explain that, in order to more fully understand GMOs and how
they increase and decrease our access to healthy food, students will
conduct research over the next few lessons to further explore the topic.
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Food Choices Grade 8: Module 2: Unit 2: Lesson 1
Remind students that research is the exploration, investigation, and
analysis of a topic. Like Michael Pollan’s research on the “omnivore’s
dilemma,” students will act as detectives on a mission to find information
about GMOs and to better understand the topic. Pollan’s original
research question was: “Where does our food come from and what
exactly are we eating?” The purpose of his gathering information about
industrial farming, pesticides, and other topics was to answer his central
research question.
Display the following central research question, and tell students that
they will conduct research to answer this question:
“How do GMOs influence our access to healthy food?”
Explain that students will read a text about GMOs in this lesson and
practice gathering relevant information from the text that addresses
their central research question. They will use the Access to Healthy
Food Research: GMOs note - catcher in the next lessons as they work
with a partner to conduct internet research.
Distribute and display the Access to Healthy Food Research: GMOs note-
catcher. For ELLs and students who require additional support, the
Access to Healthy Food Research: GMO note - catcher ▲ can be used
to help guide students’ thinking with prefilled information. Orient
students to the note-catcher. Model how to begin completing the note-
catcher by writing the central research question— “How do GMOs
influence our access to healthy food?”—in the space provided.
Explain that when writers research a question, they may have to refine
their questions to narrow or broaden their focus and that the influence of
GMOs on our access to healthy food is a broad topic that requires a
narrower focus in order to conduct research. Point out that the central
research question has been refined, so students will answer the question
by identifying how GMOs increase our access to healthy food in the first
chart in their note-catcher, and how GMOs decrease our access to
healthy food in the second chart.
Focus students’ attention on the additional related focus questions at the
top of the note-catcher, and read them aloud. Explain that researchers
often have to generate additional related focus questions to guide their
research and gather information from sources that are relevant to their
topic. Tell students that as they conduct research, they will generate
their own additional related focus questions, but they will use these four
questions to begin their research.
Also, point out the section below where they will record their search
terms. Tell students that in the next lesson, they will conduct internet
research and use the search terms to guide their research, as well as
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Food Choices Grade 8: Module 2: Unit 2: Lesson 1
assess the credibility of sources, but for now they will leave these
sections blank.
Draw students’ attention to the first chart, “GMOs Increase Our Access
to Healthy Food.” Read the headings of each cell. Tell students that they
will record their research findings on how GMOs increase our access to
healthy food in this chart. They will gather relevant evidence, explain
how the evidence shows that GMOs increase our access to healthy food,
cite their sources, and assess the credibility of each source. Have
students locate the second chart, “GMOs Decrease Our Access to
Healthy Food,” and briefly review the cell headings. Point out that the
evidence students find may support the increasing or decreasing of our
access to healthy food, and remind students to record their evidence in
the correct chart in their note-catcher.
Display and distribute the Researcher’s Toolbox. Explain that this
handout will help them conduct research on their topic and that it serves
as a “how to” guide to gathering information and citing evidence and
sources. Tell students that they will go through each of these research
skills in the upcoming lessons, and some skills may be more familiar than
others.
Ask a volunteer to read aloud the “Quote Accurately” section. Remind
students that they quoted evidence from texts in Module 1, and they will
continue to follow this format as they read the following text in this
lesson.
Work Time
B. Read “To GMO or NOT to GMO?” and Track Access to Healthy Food
– W.8.8 (25 minutes)
Review the learning target relevant to the work to be completed in this
section of the lesson:
“I can cite evidence that supports the influence GMOs have on our
access to healthy food.”
Distribute and display “ To GMO or NOT to GMO?”
Read aloud the full article, and instruct students to follow along. Stop as
needed to check for general comprehension, and ensure that all students
have a basic understanding of the article.
Remind students of their central research question— “How do GMOs
influence our access to healthy food?”—and that they are looking for
information on how GMOs increase or decrease access to healthy food.
Use the following mini lesson from “Gather Information: Paraphrase and
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Food Choices Grade 8: Module 2: Unit 2: Lesson 1
Quote” in the Research Mini Lessons (for teacher reference) to guide
students in understanding how to quote and paraphrase information in a
text.
Model skimming and scanning the first two paragraphs of the source for
information. Ask:
Is there a single sentence in that section of text that helps to address the
central research question? (“GMO crops may produce more food for
human consumption. Jaffe says, ‘GE crops are not the primary solution to
food security in developing countries—but they could be helpful.’”)
Invite students to refer to “Quote Accurately” on the Researcher’s
Toolbox handout, and model recording the quote on the displayed Access
to Healthy Food Research: GMOs note-catcher in the evidence section
under “GMOs Increase Our Access to Healthy Food.”
Draw students’ attention to the next two paragraphs. Invite students to
turn to a partner and use the information in these two paragraphs to
orally respond to the research question in their own words. Select a
couple of students to share with the whole group. Explain that this is
paraphrasing the information, and model recording a paraphrase [
Although GMOs make crops resistant to pests, they can also harm
other species that are not pests.] on the displayed note-catcher in the
evidence section under “GMOs Decrease Our Access to Healthy Food.”
Instruct students to work in pairs to finish searching for relevant
information in the rest of the text that addresses the research question
and record their evidence in the Access to Healthy Food Research: GMOs
note-catcher. Circulate as students gather their evidence, and support
students who may struggle with identifying evidence that answers the
research question. Refer to the Access to Healthy Food Research:
GMOs note-catcher (example for teacher reference).
Focus students on the “Answer and Evidence (quote accurately or
paraphrase)” section of their note-catcher. Use the model quote and
model paraphrase to show students how to write a brief answer that
explains why their evidence supports how GMOs increase or decrease
our access to healthy food.
Focus students on the quote they recorded in the evidence section under
“GMOs Increase Our Access to Healthy Food.”
Think-Pair-Share:
“Based on this quoted evidence, how do GMOs increase our access to
healthy food?” (Responses will vary, but may include: GMOs increase our
access to healthy food because they can produce a lot more food and
help prevent starvation.)
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Food Choices Grade 8: Module 2: Unit 2: Lesson 1
As students share, record responses on the first chart of the Access to
Healthy Food Research: GMOs note-catcher. Refer to the Access to
Healthy Food Research: GMOs note-catcher (example for teacher
reference) for possible answers.
Focus students on the paraphrase they recorded in the evidence section
under “GMOs Decrease Our Access to Healthy Food.”
“Based on this paraphrased evidence, how do GMOs decrease our access
to healthy food?” (Responses will vary, but may include: modifying crops
can decrease our access to other foods that are harmed by GMOs.)
As students share, record responses on the second chart of the Access to
Healthy Food Research: GMOs note-catcher. Refer to the Access to
Healthy Food Research: GMOs note-catcher (example for teacher
reference) for possible answers.
Refer to the displayed Researcher’s Toolbox handout, and focus students’
attention on their copies.
Focus students on “Cite Sources.”
Use the following mini lesson from “Gather Information: Cite Sources” in
the Research Mini Lessons (for teacher reference) to guide students
through citing sources:
Model using the source-citing format outlined in the “Cite Sources”
section of the Researcher’s Toolbox handout. Instruct students on the
necessity of citing sources for each of their quotes and paraphrases to
avoid plagiarism, which is the use of someone else’s work without
permission.
Draw students’ attention to the citation at the bottom of “To GMO or
NOT to GMO?” Point out that there are two authors for this text, so the
first author’s name is written as “Erdosh, George” and the second
author’s name is written after as “Amidon Lusted, Marcia.” Then the title
of the text, “To GMO or NOT to GMO?” follows; the publication, Odyssey
Magazine, is written next; the date of publication, “1 Feb. 2014” follows;
and the page numbers of the article, “pp. 15–19,” are last.
Explain to students that the additional information at the end of the
attribution on this article is because this entire article has been printed
for distribution to schools and students. Students don’t need to seek the
permission of people to cite their work in their papers because they
aren’t printing the entire article, only quotes and other evidence.
Refer to the displayed Access to Healthy Food Research: GMOs note-
catcher, and model how to record the citation in the third column of each
row of evidence for this text in both charts on the note-catcher. Have
students follow along, recording the citation in their note-catchers.
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Food Choices Grade 8: Module 2: Unit 2: Lesson 1
Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the
relevant learning target.
For Lighter Support
In Work Time B, highlight or underline key phrases in individual copies
of the informational text in advance of the in-class reading. If time is
limited, focus on highlighting vocabulary connected to the central ideas
of the text to aid students in understanding the most essential ideas (e.g.,
GMOs, gene, trait, resistance).
In Work Time B, invite students to participate in a Mini Language Dive
with a sentence from the article in small groups to deepen their
understanding of evidence from the text that supports an analysis of
GMOs’ influence on access to healthy food. The sentence also helps
students to address L.8.1a, as it contains both an infinitive and a gerund.
To extend work with the sentence in the Mini Language Dive, invite
students to consider the structure of the sentence. This sentence is
written in passive voice; the verb’s object (A new kind of tomato) appears
at the beginning of the sentence rather than after the verb, to emphasize
the result of genetically modifying crops. Additionally, the subject of the
sentence has been omitted, which is common in passive-voice
constructions. Challenge students to rewrite the sentence in active voice
using subject-verb-object word order (Scientists have bred a new kind of
tomato to resist rotting and give it a longer shelf life.), and invite them to
notice the differences between the two sentences and the different
effects created by each one (in passive voice, the object is emphasized; in
active voice, the emphasis is on the subject).
For Heavier Support
Invite students who need heavier support to use the Access to Healthy
Food Research: GMOs note-catcher▲. This resource features prefilled
information about sources to guide students’ thinking when considering
and gathering evidence to respond to the research question.
To extend work with the sentence in the Mini Language Dive, invite
students to consider the structure of the sentence. This sentence is
written in passive voice; the verb’s object (A new kind of tomato) appears
at the beginning of the sentence, rather than after the verb, to
emphasize the result of genetically modifying crops. Additionally, the
subject of the sentence has been omitted, which is common in passive-
voice constructions. Display the sentence in active voice (Scientists have
bred a new kind of tomato to resist rotting and give it a longer shelf
life.), and invite them to notice the differences between the two
sentences and the different effects created by each one (in passive voice,
the object is emphasized; in active voice, the emphasis is on the subject).
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Food Choices Grade 8: Module 2: Unit 2: Lesson 1
Closing and Assessment
A. Whole-Class Share – W.8.7 (5 minutes)
Explain that now that students have read a research text about GMOs,
they will attempt to answer the additional related focus questions that
were introduced in Work Time A.
Display the Additional Focus Questions: GMOs anchor chart. Read
aloud each of the questions. Remind students that they are using these
questions to guide their research of the topic and that they will generate
their own additional related focus questions in the next lesson.
Think-Pair-Share:
“After reading this article, what answers can we come up with to answer
the additional related focused questions about GMOs?” (Answers will
vary but may include: Modifying crops prevents potential damage, which
increases the amount of food that is harvested for people to eat;
Although GMOs make crops resistant to pests, they can also harm other
species that are not pests; There is not enough information about how
GMOs affect the human body and they may cause food allergies and even
cancer; Certain farming practices utilizing GMO crops are
unsustainable.)
Refer students to the evidence they recorded in their note-catchers. As
students share, capture their responses on the Additional Focus
Questions: GMOs anchor chart. Refer to the Additional Focus
Questions: GMOs anchor chart (example for teacher reference).
Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the
relevant learning target.
Homework
A. Independent Research Reading
Students read for at least 20 minutes in their independent research
reading text. Then they select a prompt and write a response in their
independent reading journal.
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