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TEL311 Signature Assignment

Classroom Project Proposal

Ryne Miller
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For about two months now, I have been an intern for Cooley Middle School. Cooley

Middle School is a middle school in Gilbert, Arizona that is composed of about 900 students.

The current demographics of the school is currently diagrammed as 68% Caucasian, 18%

Hispanic, 5% African American, and 4% Asian. Gilbert is where I grew up as a child and it’s

always been a great farming town. Because of that, I wasn’t too surprised when I saw Cooley

Middle School was surrounded by cattle ranches. What I first noticed about Cooley Middle

School is the high-quality campus. The campus itself is only 5 years old, yet it is clear that they

do a fantastic job at managing their campus. The teachers I have met so far have all been kind

people, all having their own unique approaches to teaching. Everything about the school seems

top-notch, to the point where I would want my own child attending it.

However, every school has its own problems. Whether that be child misbehavior,

financing, teacher underemployment, each school will come with its own difficulties. From what

I’ve noticed from Cooley so far is that it lacks a lot of problems, but it still does have some. For

example, for how high quality of a school Cooley seems to be, it is still underfinanced. Paper

shortages have always been rampant in Gilbert, even since I was a student at Mesquite High

School. There’s just not enough money directed towards paper for these schools. That’s

problematic because paper is essential to learning. Teachers at Cooley are forced to supply their

own paper for their lessons and that is a burden that should not be placed upon them. The Higley

Unified School District needs to redirect more money towards paper supplies and that’s

obviously easier said than done.

One teacher cannot simply complain to the Higley District for them to make changes. As

a community, we must come together to accommodate wherever we come up short. Teachers

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must band together and constantly pressure the district to fairly accommodate their needs if we

want a well-educated society.

My mentor teacher, Mr. Mcgee, has performed numerous instances of project-based

learning. Just recently, he directed students to create a poster of a constellation, the stars that

compose it, and the history of it. I believe projects like this are great for students. Not only does

it promote underappreciated aspects of learning such as creativity, it gives them different

perspectives that simply taking notes may otherwise not. I am a firm advocate of teaching in a

versatile manner within the classroom. Students learn in different ways and that is why they must

be taught in different ways.

Project-based projects are great within this regard because of how many skills they can

strengthen for a student. They help students develop communication and cooperation skills

which are essential for their growth. However, I feel as if it’s important that projects have

meaning. In order to prepare the youth for the future, it is important for them to discuss topics

that will carry immense influence on society. One of these topics that will impact them

significantly is the use genetically modified organisms.

Genetically modified organisms could be a game-changer for the world as we know it.

The potential of this science is magnificent. However, when meddling with the DNA of our food,

this comes with apparent dangers. Are we sure that this science wouldn’t backfire on ourselves?

The current science shows that GMO’s are not to be feared, but debate in science is always

essential for the safe progression of our civilization.

Because of this, I feel it would be important for my students to discuss. I want to

elaborate the information we currently have on GMO’s just so they are slightly educated on

them. However, I want to show both sides of the argument of GMO’s so I will not make an
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apparent bias in the lesson. I want to know their opinions on GMO’s and whether or not they

think they could benefit our world or harm our world. When it comes to our food, these decisions

affect everyone, which is why people will care the most.

As a teacher, I don’t want to feel as if I’m just sending out workers into society, I want to

feel like I’m making a difference in the world. That’s what I want from my students as well, I

want them to make a difference in the world. That is why it is irresponsible to not discuss

GMO’s when it could be such a world-changing force of good.

GMO’s still lay in a hotbed of controversy at this day and age. The upside of GMO’s is

massive. GMO’s have the potential to plummet poverty rates across the planet. However, critics

of GMO’s claim that GMO’s could carry unintended consequences such as potentially triggering

alternative food allergies, increasing antibiotic resistance, etc. With such a world-altering

discovery such as GMO’s, I want my students to carefully consider its effects, which is why I

will center the project around the question, “Should we as a society utilize GMO’s?”.

Since this topic must meet the Arizona Science Standards, it would have to be done by no

earlier than grade 8, given the standard for life sciences that year. Since genetically-modified

organisms are a life science, I believe it would be great to discuss. Another aspect of GMO’s that

I think is great for the project is the presence of so many unknown questions. GMO’s are

currently undergoing rampant research and there is so much that is not known about them.

Science is about attacking the unknown and I believe GMO’s could serve as a great mechanism

for innovation and collaboration alike.

For this project, I have created a 10 day plan. Every day I will have my students take

notes which I will sign off on to ensure that they are obtaining the required information. On day

one, I will give a formative lesson introducing my students to the fundamentals of genetically-
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modified organisms such as how they work and elaborating on the controversy behind them. On

day two, we will discuss a case study regarding Monsanto, an agrochemical company that is

surrounded by controversy regarding their GMO use. On day three, I will give another formative

lesson on GMO’s agricultural effects across the world and to also introduce an upcoming lab. On

day four, I will introduce a lab assignment where students must formulate groups to create a lab

either highlighting a benefit of GMO’s or a consequence of GMO’s. Students will then be given

the rest of the day to strengthen their research skills by researching information then taking their

desired stance on GMO’s. I also believe that a research day would be great to enhance their

knowledge of technology and how to use it to their benefit. I will require that all groups create a

lab journal to create a driving question, hypothesis, observations, and conclusion across the

duration of their lab. On day five, students will be given the day to work on their lab and report it

into their lab journal. On day six, students will also be given this day to work on their lab and

report it to their lab journal. Day seven will consist of the conclusion to their labs and the start of

their lab report on their findings, which I will grade. The following day, I will have the students

cycle around the classroom to discuss their findings with other students. This is very important to

me because science is about facts and discussion alike and I find it necessary to have my students

contribute to those. Day nine, I will have my students formulate their own argument on GMO’s

in the form of a simple two-page argumentative essay, which they may be allowed to use their

own findings as support for their argument. The final day, I want to host an open-debate for my

class where everyone must argue their stance on GMO’s. I find it important that my students use

reason and civil discussion within the realm of science, because that is how we progress as a

civilization. The debate will be their final assessment for this project. I will grade each student
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not based upon which position they took, but whether or not they give a research-backed stance

on GMO’s and whether or not they do it civilly.

In my opinion, opinions are important. I want my students to create opinions about their

world, but I want them to do it in a proper manner, one backed by research and civil discussion.

This project plan gives students the time necessary to understand the topic and also to formulate

an opinion based on research. That is what I want my students to get out of this most. I want my

students to know that a proper scientific argument cannot be baseless and this knowledge alone

will be beneficial to their futures, and the community as a whole.

From my previous experience with science classes, I feel as if science classes never

provoked discourse enough. The easy route is simply providing an informational slideshow to

students, but I do not believe that serves as a great benefit to them. Sure the occasional slideshow

is helpful, but I think true learning comes from the empowerment of the student. I want to give

my students the reigns to expand their own knowledge on a subject, rather than just tell them.

This project allows students to not only consider a world-changing discovery, but to put them in

the shoes of a real scientist. Real scientists do not simply take notes all day, they research, they

conduct experiments, and they debate other scientists. All of those aspects of a real scientist are

covered with this project and that is why it is an innovative one.

However, there is no such thing as a free lunch, or in this case a free project. Costs will

obviously be incurred through project-based learning. With projects such as this one, it is

essential that teachers maintain a fiscal budget and be efficient with money. Below is the budget

for the materials that will be required for the use of this project:

Item Name Cost of Item Amount Needed Company

Paper $3.72 (500 pack) ≥ 500 Georgia-Pacific

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Pencils $12.49 (150 pack) ≥ 100 Amazon

Markers $2.39 (10 markers) 30 Crayola

Notebooks $2.49 30 Staples

My project is not overly complex therefore does not require a great amount of resources.

However, teachers must always expect to go through a lot of paper due to the large volume of

students. I, myself will require paper to create the Monsanto case study, where I will have my

students observe the effects of the company Monsanto’s GMO use. It is always smart for

teachers to have extra materials supplied for students who are unable to afford them. These

include the likes of pencils and markers which the students will use for general use and if

students would like to use them for their lab. Lastly, I budgeted for extra notebooks. I expect my

students to all have their own notebooks for required note taking, but I am aware that some

students do not have the financial means for them. Since a notebook of some sort is required to

record data, observations, etc. for their labs, I must budget for spares for those students who

cannot afford them. In order to help me raise funding for this project, I will use Adopt A

Classroom and Donors Choose. Both act as donation platforms for classrooms and should be

able to help me afford the $90.91 cost that this project will incur.

Appendix

Item Cost of Item Amount Needed Total Price

Paper $3.72 ≥ 500 $3.72

Pencils $12.49 ≥ 100 $12.49

Markers (10 pack) $2.39 30 $7.17

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Notebooks $2.49 30 $74.70

Total Sum: $90.91