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Boning
up on biotech
Contributing
writers: Michelle Betz, Jennifer Cutraro, Beth Forbes, Meggie Issler
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High school teachers took a lesson in biotechnology
last summer through a Web-based course that will help them teach
the same lessons to their own students.
“The idea is to give teachers enough background
in the science of biotechnology to enable them to educate others,”
says Kathryn Orvis, Purdue Extension specialist and course coordinator.
Eighteen teachers, including one from Canada,
completed Introduction to Agricultural Biotechnology, which covers
herbicide-tolerant transgenic crops, insect-resistant transgenic
crops, environmental and food safety of transgenic crops, and ethical
and cultural issues in biotechnology.
As part of the course, teachers completed a lesson
plan and case study and then created an online Power Point presentation.
“The goal was to have them create a product they could use
in their own classrooms,” Orvis says.
The course was developed by Purdue Extension
and the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. Information
on the course, including a sample tutorial, is available at www.agriculture.purdue.edu/teachers/hort590.
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