Colorado Agriscience Curriculum
Section:
Plant & Soil
Unit:
Plant Science Technology
Lesson Title: Lesson 1: Intro to Biotechnology
Colorado Agricultural Education Standards:
AS 11/12.4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of physiological processes in
agriculturally important plants
HRT 11/12.2 The learner will understand and describe the anatomy of horticulture plants.
Colorado Science Standards:
SCI 3.1
Students know and understand the characteristics of living things, the diversity of life,
and how living things interact with each other and with the environment.
SCI 3.3.5
Using examples to explain the relationship of structure and function in organisms.
SCI 5.2
Analyzing how the introduction of a new technology has affected or could affect
human activity.
SCI 5.4
Explaining the use of technology in an occupation.
Student Learning Objectives (Enablers)
As a result of this lesson, the student will be able to: …
1. Define Biotechnology, DNA, and other related terms.
2. Discuss Improvement by genetics (Gregor Johann Mendel).
3. Discuss historic applications of biotechnology.
Time: Instruction time for this lesson: 50 minutes.
Resources:
Agriscience Fundamentals and Applications Third Edition
Unit 8, Lesson 1: Intro to Biotechnology
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Tools, Equipment, and Supplies
Bread
Yogurt
Cheese
Paper
pencil or pen
Encyclopedias
Agriscience magazine
Overhead projector
Index Cards and Markers
PSS PST 1 Assess – One per student
Key Terms. The following terms are presented in this lesson and appear in bold italics:
bio
clone
recombinant DNA
improvement by selection
genetic engineering
technology
selective breeding
nucleic acid
gene mapping
genetics
bases
ice-minus
heredity
Adenine
X-Gal
genes
Guanine
Bovine somatotropin (BST)
generation
Cytosine
Porcine somatotropin
progeny
Thymine
(PST)
Deoxyribonucleic Acid
mapping
insulin
DNA
gene splicing
Interest Approach
Serve a small serving of bread, yogurt, or cheese to class members. We will use the snacks for an
interest approach as we get further into the lesson. You will ask the students to make a list on their
paper or on the board of what these foods have in common. Answers could be; grown on the farm,
two are dairy products, food, etc.
We are going to start a lesson on biotechnology today. It would be important to know what a
definition of biotechnology is. Can anyone tell me what “BIO” means?
Lead the students into understanding bio means live or living.
So if we put the word “technology” with bio which means life or living we have “biotechnology”.
Now give me some suggestions for a definition of “biotechnology”.
Write definition(s) on the board as student come up with ideas.
Those are all great ideas! I appreciate your creative thinking! Let’s see if the dictionary
complements your thoughts. This would be a great thing to capture in your notes.
Display Power Point Slide 2
Unit 8, Lesson 1: Intro to Biotechnology
2
Biotechnology is any technique that uses living organisms or substances from those organisms to
make or modify a product, to improve plants or animals, or to develop microorganisms for specific
uses.
Now direct the students back to the snacks provided at the beginning of class.
Now let’s direct our attention back to the snacks we sampled at the beginning of class.
We can now add biotechnology as a common thread to all of these snacks.
When I say “go” I want a volunteer to tell me how this is possible. “Go”.
Help the students if they need it by explaining to the class that each of these foods is a product of
biotechnology because living organisms act on the food to preserve or enhance it.
Summary of Content and Teaching Strategies
Objective 1. Define Biotechnology, DNA, and other related terms.
Now that we know what biotechnology is, to truly understand it we must become familiar with a few
terms related to the topic such as;
Display PowerPoint slides 3 & 4 and discuss each term while students capture the information in
their notes.
Genetics – the biology of heredity
Heredity – the transmission of characteristics from an organism to its offspring through genes in
reproductive cells.
Genes – components of cells which determine the individual characteristics of living things
Generation – refers to the offspring of common parents
Progeny – offspring of a parent(s)
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) – coded information in a cell that determines what that cell and its
successive cells will be become.
Clone – exact duplicate of something
Genetic engineering – movement of genetic information in the form of genes from one cell to
another.
Mapping / Gene Mapping – identifying and recording the location of a specific gene on a
Unit 8, Lesson 1: Intro to Biotechnology
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chromosome.
Gene Splicing / Recombinant DNA Technology – process of removing and inserting genes into
DNA.
Use a $10,000 Pyramid E-Moment to have the students review the terms involved in Bio Technology.
Students need to form groups of three and write one of the terms on each index card with the
markers. They then will assign roles: Teleprompter (Will hold cards), Clue giver (Will see cards
held by teleprompter) and the Contestant (Who will face the clue giver). After they have assigned
roles, the clue giver will try to get the contestant to say the term based on hints provided. Switch
roles after a few minutes to allow all students to experience each role.
You may be asked to identify more terms in the assessment. However, these are the terms you will
need to know in order to getting a working knowledge of biotechnology.
Objective 2. Discuss Improvement by genetics (Gregor Johann Mendel)
Humans have improved on nature’s support of plant and animal growth since they discovered that
the loosening of soil and planting of seeds could result in new plants. An Austrian monk named
Gregor Johann Mendel is credited with discovering the effect of genetics on plant characteristics.
When I say “genetics” I would like a volunteer to give me the definition of genetics that was given
previously in the class? “Genetics.”
Wait for students to review notes and volunteer to recite the definition given earlier in the lesson.
Thank you for that precise definition of genetics. When I say “Austrian monk” please tell me who
was credited with the discovering of the effects of genetics? Response should be Gregor Mendel
Display PowerPoint slide 5 - Picture of Mendel
Mendel experimented with garden peas. He observed there was definitely a pattern in the way
different characteristics were passed down from one generation to another. When I say “generation”
please give me the definition of generation discussed earlier in this lesson. “Generation”.
Accept responses until you get the full definition.
In 1866, Mendel published a scientific paper reporting the results of his experiments. He had
discovered that certain characteristics occurred in pairs, for example, short and tall in pea plants.
Further he observed that one of those characteristics seemed to be dominant overt the other.
Today, biologists credit his work as being the foundation for the scientific study of heredity.
Unit 8, Lesson 1: Intro to Biotechnology
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Have the student use and Eye Witness News Moment with one student interviewing Mendel about his
discovery.
Objective 3. Discuss historic applications of biotechnology
Living organisms have been used for centuries to alter and improve the quality and types of food for
humans and animals. Examples include:
Display PowerPoint Slides 6 & 7




Yeast – make bread rise
Bacteria – ferment sauerkraut produce cheese(s) other dairy products
Microorganisms – transform fruit and grains into alcoholic beverages
Silage - green grasses and grains have been stored in air-tight spaces and containers,
such as silos, where bacteria convert sugars and starches in acids. These acids
provide a desirable taste and protect the feed from spoilage by other microorganisms
So as you can see Biotechnology is not a new thing. It has been around for years. Only due to such
things as cloning has it been pushed to the news headlines in recent times.
Review/Summary.
Use a Show-What-You Know E-Moment to review the key terms and information in the lesson. Then
close the lesson with…
Biotechnology is rapidly gaining the public’s confidence and has become an important part of our
daily lives. Many of its potential benefits have already been realized and most believe that we have
only scratched the surface. With proper safeguards, we can look confidently to a bright future in this
emerging field. Tomorrow we will take a look deeper into how biotechnology works!
Application
See continuation of this lesson U8L2
Evaluation.
See continuation of this lesson U8L2
Unit 8, Lesson 1: Intro to Biotechnology
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