Students will determine the presence of DNA in their food by extracting it from a strawberry. Then, students will compare and contrast GMOs and organic foods in order to evaluate the nutrition, safety, economic, geographic, and environmental impacts of these agricultural production practices.
Students identify fruits that grow on a tree, bush, or vine, classify fruits as pome, drupe, berry, melon, or citrus, perform an experiment about the browning of fruit, and dry plums to make prunes.
Students will learn the concept of enzymatic browning and methods for decreasing enzymatic oxidation by observing three types of fruit. Students will also understand the relationship between oxidation and antioxidants and the role fruits play in health and nutrition.
Students explore peach production in various regions of the United States, describe how peaches are produced and processed from farm to table, and explain how internal and external structures of peaches support survival and growth.
Students explore tart cherry production in the United States and explain why producers and consumers are needed in the cherry industry.
Students explore how genes affect important traits such as growth, reproduction, disease resistance, and behavior and discover the responsibilities of an animal geneticist.
Students investigate the physical change that occurs as milk is turned into butter.
Students work in teams to play a game in which they answer true/false questions about swine and then research and develop questions of their own.
Students examine fruit and vegetable preparation and storage.
Students explore food prices and how they have changed over time as they perform mathematical computations, analyze data charts, and compare and contrast statistical information.
Students identify basic animal behaviors, hypothesize what causes them, and discover the responsibilities of an animal physiologist.
Students preserve peppers to create their own probiotic food, observe properties of preserved foods and states of matter changes that occur, and discover the health benefits of probiotics.