Omnivores Dilemma Essay

Learning Objective The finale of this two day exemplar is to glide by students the opportunity to engagement the recitation and writing habits theyve been practicing on a regular basis to unpack Pollans investigative journalism of industrial lifts. By adaptation and re variation the transition ab step up combined with fellowshiproom discussion ab place it, students will identify wherefore and how advanceing practices puzzle changed, as rise up as identify Pollans point of panorama on the subject.When combined with writing ab bring out the personation and teacher feedback, students will begin to appreci have investigative journalism, as tumefy as mis well-favoured from where their nutrition is coming. Reading Task Students will silently bring the flight in question on a abandoned dayfirst one by one and indeed adjacent on with the textual matterbook as the teacher and/or skillful students read a trumpet- ilk. Depending on the nastyies of a given text and t he teachers knowledge of the fluency abilities of students, the dedicate of the student silent read and the teacher instruction aloud with students following baron be reversed.What is most-valu adapted is to grant all students to interact with intriguing text on their admit as frequently and singly as possible. Students will then reread specific passages in response to a set of concise, text- dependent questions that compel them to examine the think ofing and structure of Pollans reporting. thitherfore, rereading is deliberately built into the instructional unit. Vocabulary Task Most of the nitty-grittys of spoken language in the exemplar text can be disc e verywhereed by students from c atomic number 18ful reading of the context in which they appear. instructors can use discussions to bewilder and reinforce how to learn language from contextual clues, and students must be held accountable for engaging in this practice. Where it is judged this is not possible, underli ned terminology atomic number 18 defined concisely for students to the right of the text in a separate column whenever the professional text is re arrestd. At judgment of convictions, this is all the support these defined words indigence. At strainer(a) times, particularly with abstract words, teachers will take aim to spend much time explaining and discussing them.In addition, in subsequent close readings of passages of the text, high time value schoolman (Tier Two) words have been bolded to d cutting abet to them. Given how crucial vocabulary knowledge is for academic and c beer success, it is requisite that these high value words be discussed and lingered everyplace during the instructional sequence. objurgate Syntax Task On occasion, students will encounter particularly difficult sentences to decode. Teachers should engage in a close examination of much(prenominal) sentences to help students disc all everyplace how they are built and how they convey meaning.Whil e many questions addressing important aspects of the text double as questions close syntax, students should receive regular back up practice in deciphering complex sentences. It is crucial that the help they receive in unpacking text complexity focuses twain on the precise meaning of what the reservoir is saying and why the condition might have constructed the sentence in this particular fashion. That practice will in turn support students gr eject force out to unpack meaning from syntactically complex sentences they encounter in next reading.Discussion Task Students will discuss the passage in wisdom with their teacher and their associationmates, perpetrateing activities that result in a close reading of Pollans text. The goal is to foster student confidence when encountering complex text and to reinforce the skills they have acquired regarding how to build and extend their understanding of a text. A general principle is to al ports reread the passage that provides evid ence for the question under discussion.This gives students an other(a)wise encounter with the text, helping them develop fluency and reinforcing their use of text evidence. Writing Task Students will paraphrase contrastive sentences and paragraphical records of Pollans text and then write either a compare and melodic phrase essay illustrating the differences between the traditional mature and the pulverisation develop or an consideration against the factory invoke. Students might be afforded the opportunity to rewrite their essays or revise their in-class paraphrases laterward participating in classroom discussion, allowing them to refashion both their understanding of the text and their expression of that understanding. text edition Selection This selection, taken from the three-year-old readers edition of Pollans bestseller, The Omnivores quandary, asks students to consider how their food is spring upn directly and why and how that has changed. This brief history and science of United States get up environmental science offers students diverse opportunities for exploration and close reading.Outline of Lesson Plan This lesson can be divided by the teacher into two days of instruction and locution on the part of students and their teachers, with the option of a written homework assigning after Day 1 and the possibility of adding an additional day devoted(p) to peer review and revision of the culminating writing assignment. Standards Addressed The following green Core State Standards are the focus of this exemplar RI. 7. 1, RI. 7. 2, RI. 7. 3, RI. 7. 4, RI. 7. 5 W. 7. 1, W. 7. 2, W. 7. 4 SL. 7. 1 L. 7. 4, L. 7. 5 The Text Pollan, Michael. The Omnivores dilemma The Secrets Behind What You consume(Chapter 3 From bring up to Factory) Rule or order A union that kills louses Corn parentn from seeds with different traits DNA is the chemic name for genes. Genes give all organisms their traits such(prenominal) as how fast they grow Animal dun g use for fertilizing land Relating to skill from the sunlight Branch of science concerned with the relationships between living liaisons and their environment Grassy field where animals can crinkle A basket instance Text Vocabulary Thats well-nigh seventy- vanadium gallons of oil per acre of give whiskey ( nearly estimates are much higher. ) Heres some other way to look at it.Calories, like the gram calories in food, are units of nil. On the industrial bring about, it takes active ten calories of dodo supply muscle to produce one calorie of food competency. That means the industrial farm is use up much capability than it is producing. This is the opposite of what happened in the beginning chemical fertilizers. underpin then, the Naylor farm produced to a greater extent than than than two calories of food naught for any calorie of fogey fuel faculty invested. In terms of sinew, the ground conking farm is a losing suggest. Its too heavy(p) we cant but drink the petroleum directlyit would be more efficient.The factory farm produces more food much faster than the old solar-based farm. provided the clay further work as long as fogey fuel energy is bald-faced. A plan of action oil more point of intersectionive and less wasteful Day One Instructional Exemplar for Pollans The Omnivores Dilemma (Young commentators Edition) Summary of Activities 1. Teacher introduces the days passage with minimal commentary and students read it independently (5 minutes) 2. Teacher or a skillful reader then reads the passage out loud to the class as students follow along in the text (5 minutes) 3. Teacher asks the class to discuss the first set oftext-dependent questions and perform tar parted tasks about the passage, with answers in the form of notes, annotations to the text, or more formal responses as appropriate (40 minutes) Text nether Discussion Directions for Teachers/Guiding Questions For Students It may come out that Ive given maize t oo much credit. later all, corn whisky is undecomposed a plant. How could a plant take over our food chain and push out almost every other species? Well, it had some(prenominal) help-from the U. S. Government. read the intervening paragraphs Then in 1909 a pill pusher spy a way to take due north out of the air. This due north could be use for fertilizer.However, making nitrogen this way takes enormous amounts of energy, energy that we mainly get from fossil fuels. Not and that, it uses a band of enthalpy that in addition comes from louse up and oil. With chemical fertilizer, farming went from macrocosm solar power to beingness powered by oil, coal, and accelerator. 1. Introduce the text and ask students to read independently Other than big(p) an initial gloss to words students would likely not be able to define from context (underlined in the text), teachers should avoid giving any downplay context or instructional guidance at the outset of the lesson patch stud ents are reading the text silently.This close reading approach forces students to imprecate exclusively on the text quite of privileging terra firma knowledge and levels the compete field for all students as they seek to address Pollans words. It is particular to cultivating independence and creating a culture of close reading that students initially get laid with rich texts like Pollans without the aid of introductory material, extensive notes, or even teacher explanations. 2. Read the passage out loud as students follow alongAsking students to listen to Pollans text exposes students a second time to the rhythms and meaning of his language in the lead they begin their own close reading of the passage. Speaking clearly and carefully will allow students to follow Pollans narrative, and reading out loud with students following along improves fluency while offering all students entrance money to this complex text. correct and skillful modeling of the reading provides student s who may be dysfluent with accurate pronunciations and syntactic patterns of English. Text Under DiscussionDirections for Teachers/Guiding Questions For Students It may seem that Ive given corn too much credit. After all, corn is just a plant. How could a plant take over our food chain and push out almost every other species? Well, it had some help-from the U. S. Government. At the heart of the industrial food chain are huge businesses, agri-businesses. The same businesses that create new seeds provide farmers with the tools and fertilizer they requirement to grow lots of corn. Agribusinesses in any case need cheap corn from which they start processed food and hundreds of other products.To get the corn flowing and keep back it flowing, agribusiness depends on government regulations and taxpayer money. The government started seriously helping corn back in 1947. That was when a huge weapons plant Muscle Shoals, Alabama, switched over to making chemical fertilizer. How can a weapo ns plant make fertilizer? Because ammonium process, the main ingredient in explosives, happens to be an excellent reference work of nitrogen. And nitrogen is one of the main ingredients in fertilizer. After World fight II, the government found itself with a tremendous superabundance of ammonium process.There was a debate about what the government should do with the leftover dud material. One paper was to spray it on forests to help out the forest exertion. nevertheless the scientists in the Department of Agriculture had a better idea Spread the ammonium nitrate on farmland as fertilizer. And so the government helped launch the chemical fertilizer industry. (It alike helped start the pesticide industry, since insect killers are based on poison gases developed for the war. ) Rule or order Substance that kills insects 3. Guide discussion of the first half of the essay with a series of specific text- dependent questions and tasks.As students move by means of these questions, be sure to check for and reinforce their understanding of academic vocabulary in the corresponding text (which will be boldfaced the first time it appears in the text). At times, the questions provided here may focus on academic vocabulary. (Q1) Ask students to define agribusiness. It is important for students to understand that agribusinesses are not farmers. many students might need clarification here. Teachers should discuss the following sentence Agribusinesses also need cheap corn from which they make processed food and hundreds of other products. Agribusinesses are large companies that manufacture farming equipment, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, processed foods as well as provide services to farmers. Sidebar Website listing many different examples of products make from corn. If students are intrigued to learn all the different types of products made from corn, have them view the graphic web on pages 68-69 of Pollans The Omnivores Dilemma (Young Readers Edition) or examin e the following website http//www. ontariocorn. org/classroom/products. htmlProducts%20that%20 use%20Corn (Q2) How did the U. S.government help launch the chemical fertilizer industry? The U. S. government sprayed their WWII surplus of ammonium nitrate on farmland. Ammonium nitrate was manufactured for weapons during the war. After the war, the U. S. government require to do something with the remaining barrage material. It must have worked well as a fertilizer because after that the chemical fertilizer business took off, and many farms began using it to grow crops. Text Under Discussion Directions for Teachers/Guiding Questions For Students chemical fertilizer was needed to grow hybrid corn because it is a very hungry crop.The richest acre of Iowa soil could never feed thirty thousand hungry corn plants year after year without added fertilizer. Though hybrids were introduced in the thirties, it wasnt until farmers started using chemical fertilizers in the 1950s that corn yields really exploded. Plants and Nitrogen Plants and all living thing organisms need the element nitrogen. Without nitrogen, cells cannot make proteins or DNA. For thousands of years, farmers added nitrogen to their soil, even before they knew what nitrogen was. They fertilized their crops with manure from their animals.They also rotated crops. That means they never grew corn in a field more than two years in a row. Then they would switch that field to soybeans or some other legume. Legumes such as beans add nitrogen to the soil with the help of pally bacteria that live on their roots. Then in 1909 a chemist discovered a way to take nitrogen out of the air. This nitrogen could be used for fertilizer. However, making nitrogen this way takes enormous amounts of energy, energy that we mainly get from fossil fuels. Not only that, it uses a lot of hydrogen that also comes from gas and oil.With chemical fertilizer, farming went from being solar powered to being powered by oil, coal, and gas. Corn grown from seeds with different traits DNA is the chemical name for genes. Genes give all organisms their traits such as how fast they grow Animal dung used for fertilizing land Relating to energy from the sun (Q3) Why are chemical fertilizers so important and inevitable to agribusinesses? Students should remember from (Q1) that agribusinesses rely on corn to produce many of their products. The type of corn being grown, hybrid corn, needs very fertile soil.Chemical fertilizers are necessary to create this fertile soil especially because of the beat (thirty thousand hungry corn plants) being planted. (Q4) Ask students to secernate in writing one cause and effect relationship they have read about thus far. Possible answers should include the U. S. governments surplus caused the chemical fertilizer industry to take off or that corn farming exploded as a result of the chemical fertilizers. (Q5) What is the congenital way to fertilize crops? The natural way to fertilize crops i s by place different crops every couple of years in addition to dispersal animal manure on the fields.(Q6) What are fossil fuels? What might be some problems with using fossil fuels to produce chemical fertilizers? Fossil fuels are natural sources of energy such as oil, coal, and gas. Teachers should point out why fossil appears with fuel (because these types of fuels are derived from the organic remains of prehistoric plants and animals). Students might key out that making nitrogentakes enormous amounts of energy and fossil fuels are not free, thus breeding the apostrophize of chemical fertilizer. Students might also cite the environmental costs (using their own prior knowledge) of using fossil fuels.Day Two Instructional Exemplar for Pollans The Omnivores Dilemma (Young Readers Edition) Summary of Activities 1. Teacher introduces the days passage with minimal commentary and students read it independently (5 minutes) 2. Teacher or a skillful reader then reads the passage out l oud to the class as students follow along in the text (5 minutes) 3. Teacher asks the class to discuss the first set of text-dependent questions and perform targeted tasks about the passage, with answers in the form of notes, annotations to the text, or more formal responses as appropriate (40 minutes)Text Under Discussion Directions for Teachers/Guiding Questions For Students Then in 1909 a chemist discovered a way to take nitrogen out of the air. This nitrogen could be used for fertilizer. However, making nitrogen this way takes enormous amounts of energy, energy that we mainly get from fossil fuels. Not only that, it uses a lot of hydrogen that also comes from gas and oil. With chemical fertilizer, farming went from being solar powered to being powered by oil, coal, and gas. read the intervening paragraphs The factory farm produces more food much faster than the old solar-based farm. scarcely the system only works as long as fossil fuel energy is cheap. 1. Introduce the text and ask students to read independently Other than giving an initial gloss to words students would likely not be able to define from context (underlined in the text), teachers should avoid giving any background context or instructional guidance at the outset of the lesson while students are reading the text silently. This close reading approach forces students to rely exclusively on the text instead of privileging background knowledge and levels the playing field for all students as they seek to comprehend Pollans words.It is critical to cultivating independence and creating a culture of close reading that students initially grapple with rich texts like Pollans without the aid of prefatory material, extensive notes, or even teacher explanations. 2. Read the passage out loud as students follow along Asking students to listen to Pollans text exposes students a second time to the rhythms and meaning of his language before they begin their own close reading of the passage.Speaking clearly an d carefully will allow students to follow Pollans narrative, and reading out loud with students following along improves fluency while offering all students access to this complex text. Accurate and skillful modeling of the reading provides students who may be dysfluent with accurate pronunciations and syntactic patterns of English. Text Under Discussion Directions for Teachers/Guiding Questions For Students Then in 1909 a chemist discovered a way to take nitrogen out of the air. This nitrogen could be used for fertilizer. However, making nitrogen this way takes enormous amountsof energy, energy that we mainly get from fossil fuels. Not only that, it uses a lot of hydrogen that also comes from gas and oil. With chemical fertilizer, farming went from being solar powered to being powered by oil, coal, and gas. THERE GOES THE solarize When George Naylors fix spread his first load of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, the ecology of his farm underwent a quiet revolution. Until then, the far ms nitrogen had been recycled in a natural interlace. Legumes used the suns energy to fix nitrogen in the soil. Other plants used the nitrogen to grow.Animals ate the plants and the farmer recycled the nitrogen by spreading the animals manure on the soil. But now the Naylors didnt need to produce their own nitrogenthey went out and bought it. The nitrogen for the fields would no longish be made with the suns energy but with fossil fuels. Farming was no longer an ecological loopit was more like a factory. The farmer bought raw materials (seed and fertilizer) and turned it into a better productcorn. Since there was no need for legumes to fix nitrogen, farmers could plant corn in every field, every year. Animals and their pastures could be eliminated.Farming became much simpler. Like a factory, the industrial farm produces just one product (or at most, two. ) Relating to energy from the sun A disunite of science concerned with the relationships between living things and their envi ronment Grassy fields where animals can graze Ask students to write a paragraph explaining the belong sentence of the text box (With chemical fertilizer, farming went from being solar powered to being powered by oil, coal, and gas. ) Answers might sound like this The traditional farm fertilizes its soil with animal dung and by rotating its crops.The crops such as corn and beans grow from the suns energy. Crop rotation allows the soil chemistry to change and become more fertile. Alternatively, chemical fertilizers shroud the soil without the use of the sun. Chemical fertilizers are manufactured in a factory and transported to farms by machines powered by fossil fuels. (Q7) What does the reservoir mean when he wrote, the ecology of his farm underwent a quiet revolution? Students should distinguish that the natural order of fertilization described in the first paragraph was dramatically altered when Naylors father began using chemical fertilizer.It was a quiet revolution because n othing in this natural world protested the change. (Q8) remark textual evidence for the claim, Farming was no longer an ecological loopit was more like a factory. Teachers should highlight the connection in meaning to loop and revolve/revolution. Students will cite textual evidence such as The farmer bought raw materials (seed and fertilizer) and turned it into a finished productcorn. farmers could plant corn in every field, every year. the industrial farm produces just one product (or at most, two. ) the industrial farm, is powered with fossil fuels. Text Under Discussion Directions for Teachers/Guiding Questions For Students And like most factories, the industrial farm, is powered with fossil fuels. Theres natural gas in the fertilizer and the fossil fuel energy it takes to make the pesticides, the diesel motor used by the tractors, and the fuel needed to harvest, dry, and transport the corn. Add it all up and you find that every bushel of corn from an industrial farm require s about half a gallon of oil to grow. Thats around seventy- five gallons of oil per acre of corn (Some estimates are much higher. ) Heres another way to look at it.Calories, like the calories in food, are units of energy. On the industrial farm, it takes about ten calories of fossil fuel energy to produce one calorie of food energy. That means the industrial farm is using up more energy than it is producing. This is the opposite of what happened before chemical fertilizers. Back then, the Naylor farm produced more than two calories of food energy for every calorie of fossil fuel energy invested. In terms of energy, the modern farm is a losing proposition. Its too bad we cant simply drink the petroleum directlyit would be more efficient.The factory farm produces more food much faster than the old solar-based farm. But the system only works as long as fossil fuel energy is cheap. A basket Suggested plan of action oil more productive and less wasteful (Q9) What fossil fuels are needed to power the industrial farm? Students should highlight phrases such as natural gas in the fertilizer and the diesel used by the tractors, and the fuel needed to harvest, dry, and transport the corn. (Q10) What does Pollan mean when he writes, the modern farm is a losing proposition?This question will determine if the students understand the authors routine in writing this passage. It asks students to determine the importance of certain phrases and identify the telephone exchange theme of this section. Students might cite the following phrases in their answers the industrial farm is using up more energy than it is producing and the system only works as long as fossil fuel energy is cheap. Students should recognize the traditional farming methods produced more with less fossil fuel energy than the industrial farm. Students can also extract information from the bar graph found in the exemplar.Explanatory Writing Assignment Directions for Teachers and Students / Guidance for Teache rs get one of the following writing assignments based on the excerpt from Michael Pollans The Omnivores Dilemma (Young Readers Edition) Write an essay canvas and contrasting traditional farming methods with those of an industrial/factory farm. Write an logical argument against the industrial/factory farm. Support your argument with textual evidence. Reread the conk three paragraphs of the exemplar and examine the bar graph. In your own words, describe the authors opinion of the industrial farm.Support your ideas with particular words or phrases that highlight the authors opinion. Supporting details for a compare and contrast essay might include Traditional Farm Factory Farm fertilizes soil with manure (needs animals) rotates crops every couple of years solar powered produces more food energy than it uses to grow crops exists as a cycle The farmer bought raw materials (seed and fertilizer) and turned it into a finished productcorn. farmers could plant corn in every field, every year. the industrial farm produces just one product (or at most, two. ) the industrial farm is powered with fossil fuels. industrial farm is using up more energy than it is producing Not a cycle Textual evidence for an argument against the factory farm might include factory farm produces more food much faster than the old solar-based farm. But the system only works as long as fossil fuel energy is cheap the industrial farm is using up more energy than it is producing the industrial farm, is powered with fossil fuels. Theres natural gas in the fertilizer and the fossil fuel energy it takes to make the pesticides, the diesel used by the tractors, and the fuel needed to harvest, dry, and transport the corn. Factory farms need chemical fertilizers to grow hybrid corn Guidance regarding an essay about the authors point of view Asking students to identify the authors opinion or point of view (the modern farm is a losing proposition) forces them to synthesize the whole text. Students mig ht notice the authors ironic tone in the sentence, Its too bad we cant simply drink the petroleum directlyit would be more efficient. Teachers should point out that this type of emotional language very much signifies an authors point of view.Additional Reading Passages from The Omnivores Dilemma The Secrets Behind What You Eat (Young Readers Edition) 2009 pp. 48-52 CAFO-saturated Animal Feeding exertion The old-fashioned way of raising cattle, like the old-fashioned way of developing corn, was on the small family farm. Cattle were elevated in pastures, eating great deal and haythe food they naturally eat. But as corn took over the family farm, cows and other animals were pushed out. Cattle are now raised in densely packed animal cities like Pokys. These places are called CAFOsConcentrated Animal Feeding Operations.Farmers gave up raising cattle because, as unnamed as it might seem, it costs a farmer more to grow feed corn than it costs a CAFO to buy it. (Thanks to those gover nment subsidies. ) alimentation meat used to be a special occasion in most American homes. Thanks to CAFOs, meat is now so cheap that many of us eat it three times a day. Of course, the American taxpayers have already paid part of the cost by subsidizing corn. But there are other costs involved in raising cattle this way, costs that shoppers dont see when they buy a steak at the supermarket. On the old-fashioned farm, there is really no such thing as waste.Animal manure goes back into the fields as fertilizer. But the waste from CAFOs is a huge source of very ototoxic pollution. Tons of animal manure are produced with no good way of disposing of it. The feedlots are also breeding grounds for new and deadly bacteria. Some of these bacteria are finding their way into our food. And there is another cost to raising cattle on CAFOs, one thats even harder to see. These animals have evolved to eat grass. But in a CAFO they are forced to eat cornat considerable cost to their wellness, to t he health of the land, and ultimately to the health of us, their eaters.() Cows and GrassA Partnership Cows have evolved over millions of years to eat grass. Its not a one-sided deal. At the same time, grasses have evolved over millions of years to be eaten by cows. This partnership is one of natures wonders. When a cow eats grass, it doesnt kill the plant. Grasses have evolved so that they can survive being eaten very well. (As long as the cows give them a chance to recover. ) In concede for being chewed on, the plants get help from the cows. The cow protects the grass home ground by eating young trees and shrubs that might compete with grasses.The animal also spreads grass seed, plants it with his hooves, and then fertilizes it with his manure. Only certain animals, including cows, sheep, goats, and bison, can make a meal out of grass. They can do this because they have a change second stomach called a rumen. (Thats why these animals are called ruminants. ) The rumen is like a twenty-five-gallon fermentation tank. Here is where the cow gets some help. privileged the tank lives a type of bacteria that dines on grass. The bacteria break down the cell walls of the grass and allow the cows to get at the protein and carbohydrates within.On the plains of the American west, where steer 534 was born, bison and the prairie grasses lived together in partnership for thousands of years. (I pellet we should include the bacteria in that partnership, also. ) It was a natural, solar-powered loop. The plants used the suns energy to make food. The bison (with the help of bacteria) ate the grass and in return planted it, fertilized it, and defended its territory. It was a successful ecological system. A rumen has evolved into the perfect organ for digesting grass. But it is not good at digesting corn.So then why is steer number 534 forced to eat corn instead of grass? The answer is one word speed. Cattle raised on grass simply take longer to grow than cattle raised on co rn. In my grandfathers time, cows were four or five years old at slaughter, Rich Blair explained to me. In the fifties, when my father was ranching, it was two or three years old. Now we get there at fourteen to sixteen months. What gets a steer from 80 to 1,100 pounds in fourteen months is tremendous amounts of corn, food supplements, and drugs. Fast food indeed. This work was support by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation