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Description
The Fish Market Research Resource aims to educate students on the issue of seafood substitutions in supermarkets by reading articles, collecting fish samples for DNA bar coding and discussing the impacts and the implications of market substitutions. Using an inquiry-based learning approach, students will:
- collect real data for a project about food fraud
- develop an awareness of the uses of DNA barcodes
- understand the processes used to extract DNA from cells and sequence DNA
- understand how DNA sequences can be used to identify species
- correctly and accurately follow a scientific protocol
- keep accurate and complete records
- become familiar with the seafood supply chain from point of origin to consumer
In addition, this resource provides additional activities such as DNA extraction from a banana and making a DNA sequencing model.
General Assessment
What skills does this resource explicitly teach?
- Fish sample collection
- Using the LifeScanner program
- Reading of sampling results
- DNA extraction (additional activity)
Strengths
- Additional activities are available and ready to use to provide a deeper understanding
- Ideas are provided to help with student assessment
- The quantity of different activities provides opportunities for all types of learners to learn
- The resource contains several relevant links to help with understanding the problem
- The resource allows students to find the data to use during this activity
- Detailed lesson plans are provided
- Reproducibles for students are available
Weaknesses
- No action project is proposed
- It would be interesting for students to present their findings to their community
Recommendation of how and where to use it
This resource is excellent for biology classes where students must learn the concepts of DNA and genetic coding.
Relevant Curriculum Units
The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.
- Step 1Select a province
- Alberta
- British Columbia
- Step 2Select a grade level
- Grade 10
- Step 3Select a subject
- Science
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Genes are the foundation for the diversity of living things
- Grade 11
- Step 3Select a subject
- Science
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Life Science 11: Evolution. Evolution occurs at the population level
- Grade 12
- Step 3Select a subject
- Science
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Specialized Science 12: All members of a species have common characteristics that evolve over time
- Specialized Science 12: Our evolving understanding of genetics has implications for health, society, and environment
- Manitoba
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland & Labrador
- Step 2Select a grade level
- Grade 11
- Step 3Select a subject
- Biology
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Biology 2201: Ecosystem Interactions and Population Dynamics
- Grade 12
- Step 3Select a subject
- Biology
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Biology 3201: Genetic Basis of Heredity
- Environmental Science
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Environmental Science 3205: Water Use & the Environment
- Northwest Territories
- Nova Scotia
- Nunavut
- Ontario
- Prince Edward Island
- Saskatchewan
- Yukon Territory
- Step 2Select a grade level
- Grade 10
- Step 3Select a subject
- Science
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Genes are the foundation for the diversity of living things
- Grade 11
- Step 3Select a subject
- Science
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Life Science 11: Evolution. Evolution occurs at the population level
- Grade 12
- Step 3Select a subject
- Science
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Specialized Science 12: All members of a species have common characteristics that evolve over time
- Specialized Science 12: Our evolving understanding of genetics has implications for health, society, and environment
Themes Addressed
Food & Agriculture (2)
- Aquaculture
- Food Security
Land Use & Natural Resources (1)
- Fisheries
Water (1)
- Marine Environments
Sustainability Education Principles
| Principle | Rating | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Consideration of Alternative Perspectives | Very Good | The resource demonstrates well the different sides of the problem in question. It offers relevant information that come from many aspects of the problem, which helps students to make an informed reflection. |
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
| ||
| Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions | Very Good | Students need to determine why the fish could be mislabeled. To answer this question, students will need to have a good understanding of the environmental, economic and social aspects of the problem. |
| Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions: Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.
| ||
| Respects Complexity | Very Good | The quality of the activities of this resource makes it possible to arrive at a better understanding of the subject and also to see all its complexity. |
| Respects Complexity: The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected. | ||
| Acting on Learning | Satisfactory | Although students are asked to find options to help with the problem of mislabelled fish, no real action to be taken is proposed. |
| Acting on Learning: Learning moves from understanding issues to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community, or for the planet
| ||
| Values Education | Very Good | Throughout the resource, students must reflect on different aspects of the problem being studied. In addition, to conclude the lesson, students must report a "white hat-black hat" activity and will have to discuss their point of view. |
| Values Education: Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values. | ||
| Empathy & Respect for Humans | Poor/Not considered | Not considered |
| Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.). | ||
| Personal Affinity with Earth | Good | Since students have to work with actual fish, they learn to better appreciate the marine environment and respect the different types of fish. |
| Personal Affinity with Earth: Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.
| ||
| Locally-Focused Learning | Good | Students must use fish sold at their local supermarket. Therefore, when they see the results of the genetic code of the fish, they are seeing results for the fish they probably eat at home. |
| Locally-Focused Learning: Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community.
| ||
| Past, Present & Future | Poor/Not considered | Not considered |
| Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future. | ||
Pedagogical Approaches
| Principle | Rating | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Open-Ended Instruction | Very Good | The activities offered in this resource encourage pupils to think about the problem. After gaining a good understanding of the problem, students must take a stand on the issue and share their thoughts. |
| Open-Ended Instruction
: Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer. | ||
| Integrated Learning | Poor/Not considered | The objectives of the resource will mainly provide learnings in the field of science, especially in biology. |
| Integrated Learning: Learning brings together content and skills from more than one subject area
| ||
| Inquiry Learning | Good | |
| Inquiry Learning: Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.
| ||
| Differentiated Instruction | Good | The variety of activities offered in this resource can meet the needs of visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners |
| Differentiated Instruction: Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.
| ||
| Experiential Learning | Good | Students are part of a true scientific investigation into food fraud. They must take fish samples and have them analyzed for their genetic barcodes. These results will later be added to BOLD a database accessible to the public |
| Experiential Learning: Authentic learning experiences are provided
| ||
| Cooperative Learning | Satisfactory | Students work in groups |
| Cooperative Learning: Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.
| ||
| Assessment & Evaluation | Very Good | Assessment task ideas are presented to teachers with each activity to assess students' learning on the subject. |
| Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc. | ||
| Peer Teaching | Good | As an assessment activity, students are asked to write a journal article that summarizes the results of their study while explaining the genetic barcode in a way that is easy for the general public to understand. If these articles were sent to a real newspaper or published in the school newspaper, students would be able to present their learning to their peers. |
| Peer Teaching: Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.
| ||
| Case Studies | Very Good | Students collect data using real fish and their results are found on a real database used by scientists around the world |
| Case Studies: Relevant case studies are included. Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore concepts in an authentic context. | ||
| Locus of Control | Good | The activities always offer additional activities in order to make a greater investigation of the studied problem. |
| Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue. | ||
