Activity 1: Claims and Evidence

1. Explain to the students that "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," is a popular phrase that makes a claim. A claim is a strong opinion. Ask the students, "Is there really evidence that apples have health benefits?"
2. Watch the video An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away. Ask the students to consider the claim that is being made in the video and listen for any evidence that is used to back up the claim.
3. After watching the movie, ask the students to answer the following questions in their journal or on a sheet of paper.
   • What claim is being made? (An apple a day does keep the doctor away.)
   • What evidence is used to support each claim? (100-year-old Edna eats an apple a day and is still alive. Ten years of research by Horticulture Australia deduced that eating apples with the skin reduces diabetes, cholesterol, and asthma and regulates metabolism.)
   • Is the evidence strong enough to support the claim? Why or why not?
4. Invite the students to share their answers with the class.

Activity 2: Organic and Conventional Farming

1. Watch the Give it a Minute: Organic & Conventional Farming video.
2. Using the information from the video and the Background Agricultural Connections, discuss the differences between organic and conventionally grown food.
3. Organize the students into small groups. Provide each group with a Pest Management Card. Ask the students to read the information as a group and decide whether or not the management practice is organic, conventional, or both. Draw a large, two-circle Venn diagram on the board with one circle labeled "conventional," one circle labeled "organic," and the overlapped section labeled "both." Ask each group to share their conclusions with the class by placing their card on the Venn diagram. Note that all of the conventional cards should be placed in the circle labeled "conventional," and all other cards should be placed in the overlapped section labeled "both." Lead a discussion about how conventional orchards use many of the same pest management controls as organic growers and, in addition, are permitted to use Restricted Use Pesticides. 
4. Using information from the Evaluating Online Resources article, discuss the importance of evaluating and how to determine the credibility of online content. Handout out two articles, one article from each list, to each group. Explain to the students that the articles were found online and make different claims about organic and conventional food. Ask the students to consider the credibility of the information in the articles.
   
   List 1:
   Organic vs Regular Apples 
   Five Reasons to Eat Organic Apples: Pesticides, Healthy Communities, and You 
   Organic farming is on the rise in the U.S.
   
   List 2:
   Organic Foods: Are they safer? More Nutritious? 
   Organic Shmorganic: Conventional fruits and vegetables are perfectly healthy for kids 
   Should You Go Organic? 
    
5. After reading the articles, have each student answer the following questions in their journals for each of the articles their group read.
   • Who is the author?
   • Is the author a reliable source? Why or why not?
   • What claim is being made?
   • What evidence is used to support the claim?
   • Is the author credible? Why or why not?
   • What does the article make you wonder about?
6. Ask each student to draw their own conclusion about organic and conventionally grown food and write a statement in their journals.