Hello! We are a group of students from Professor Adams’s Seminar 3 class. Our names are Claudia Zmijewski, Milana Sapozhnikov, Larry Markel, and Danny Aksenov. The purpose of our Citizen Science project was to teach high school students the basic facts about genetically modified organisms so that they could take a stance, or at least consider a side, on the GMO debate. The learning strands that were addressed in our Citizen Science project were Strands 1, 2, and 3—sparking interest and excitement, understanding scientific content and knowledge, and engaging in scientific reasoning. Although we included a substantial amount of scientific background on genetically modified organisms, the main focus of our project was the controversial GMO debate. Our final digital deliverable was in the form of a documentary, which was split between the hard science behind what genetically modified organisms are as well as how they are made and the pros and cons of GMOs. Our Citizen Science project was ultimately successful because we were able to have a productive discussion on whether or not GMOs should be considered a serious threat or a viable solution.
