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=GMOs and Biodiversity = An activity adapted from "Control: Far Afield" @ []

**Objectives**: Students will: The questions below have links to assist you with your research. You may create a new page in your student research pages. You may collaborate with one other student to complete the research. You have one library period to do this so use your time wisely.
 * Seek out and synthesize information necessary for a debate on this topic: In our quest to control plants, are we relying too much on pesticides and genetically modified plant varieties?
 * Discuss the pros and cons of preserving crops either through gene banks (repositories of the genetic material of plants and animals) or Vavilov Centers (places that preserve the habitats of food sources).

Be prepared to discuss your results with the rest of the class.

**__Research Questions:__**

 * 1) Define "Monoculture". What are four advantages of monoculture? What are some disadvantages of monocultures? Watch the clip and respond. Create a table to organise your answer
 * 2) Why do monocultures require large inputs of weed killers and pesticides?
 * 3) What are some of the effects on the environment from increasing pesticide use? What is the impact on pest control from our increasing use in crops of insecticide-encoding genes from the soil bacterium //[|Bacillus thuringiensis?]//
 * 4) What is genetic engineering and why is it controversial? Scan a few of the articles and summarize your findings.
 * 5) What are the costs and benefits of genetically engineered crops? Use a table to answer this.
 * 6) What role does [|biodiversity] play in protecting food crops?
 * 7) How long and in what ways we have been manipulating plants. Why do humans manipulate plants and what are the effects of some of those manipulations Would human civilization exist without human manipulation of plants and animals?
 * 8) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Are there alternatives to the way we practice crop agriculture in North America? Scan the first two paragraphs then scroll down to "short term issues, medium term issues and long term issues" for information.
 * 9) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Create a table that compares gene banks with Vavilov centers. Who is Nikolai Vavilov?

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If you use resources other than the ones I have provided, please cite them in your paper.