Social Systems. Division III

Transcription

1 A survey about what the community of Laingsburg knows about genetically modified organisms. Social Systems Division III Malinda Barberio and Reanna Byrnes 9th Grade Laingsburg High School 8008 Woodbury Road Laingsburg, MI 48848

2 Abstract The purpose of this experiment is to present information regarding the publics knowledge of genetically modified organisms. We found that in agriculture today there is a large amount of controversy on the use of GMOs. Some people believe them to be bad, and create studies to show this. Others do studies and experiments to show the benefits of GMOs, proving them to be more sustainable than other crops. We wanted to see if the students with an agriscience background had a different opinion on GMOs, assuming they know more about them than the general public. To conduct this experiment we created a survey to distribute to two agriscience classes and then asked the general public to take out survey. After tallying up all the results we were able to conclude that those in an agriscience class were better able to produce knowledgeable responses to questions regarding GMOs. When doing this experiment again we would choose more specific questions and multiple choice answers to prevent the many types of responses. Overall we believe that students in an Ag class are more knowledgeable on the topic at hand and better able to give us feedback. Malinda Barberio and Reanna Byrnes Michigan Social systems Division III

3 Introduction 3 In 1980 the first GMO was patented and used in the field. (GMOawareness.com) GMOs are genetically modified organisms; the U.S. Farmers have been using GMOs for 36 years now, however, people still view this as a relatively new practice. The purpose of GMOs are to increase sustainability in food products, to which we have accomplished. Yet, the creation of a genetically modified organism has created controversy within the United States. We have noticed that people have conflicting opinions on GMOs; some believing they are safe because of the fact that they are tested between 7 and 10 years for safety and allergen potential before going onto market(battelle.org); others believing they are harmful from the number of surveys showing the harmful effects found in humans and animals (geneticliteracyproject.org). We have conducted a survey with a series of questions to determine the knowledge and differentiated opinions on GMOs between different groups of people based on their knowledge of the subject. The purpose of conducting this experiment was to test the community's knowledge of GMOs that surrounded their opinions, often an individual's beliefs are influenced by the people and media that surround them in their everyday lives. The beliefs of the citizens dictates what farmers in agriculture are able to raise due to the fact that if the population dislikes an item, no one will buy it, resulting in the loss of profit. From the very first modernly genetically modified organism by Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen there has been concerns about the safety.

4 Literature Review There are many opinions believing both benefits and dangers of the use of GMOs within the U.S. GMOawareness.com is a website that has articles stating that there have been no studies on the effects of GMOs on humans and animals. It plans to bring to the attention of citizens that we are using these organisms yet not really knowing what they do, whether it be harmful or helpful. A Cornell University study shows that mandatory labeling of GMOs would increase the household expenses for New York residents by $500 each year.(2010 grocery manufacturing association) Yet the Battelle insider has an article (March 27, 2010) that claims GMOs are "the most tested products in history, being tested anywhere between 7 and 10 years before going on the market. This article found in research studies that GMOs have been found to be more sustainable and even contain biotechnology benefits and could potentially protect us from certain diseases. It also states that due to the public s "wrong" view on GMOs, these new products cannot come to the market because of the large controversy it would enact. Many studies on GMOs claim to have found different results in the safety of these organisms. It is possibly one of the most debated topics in agriscience today.

5 Materials and Methods For this experiment, even though it may not seem like it, there are important items needed for an accurate data response. A series of 8 specific questions surrounding the topic must be present on your survey. The people necessary for this are, 35 people who are not in and have not been in an agriculture class. Also you need to survey three agriculture classes in the Laingsburg community high school, a vet science class, an AFNR biology class, and a conservation of natural resources class. Other items needed are internet access for creating graphs on numbers and keeping track of the data. To conduct this social systems experiment first you must create a survey with 8 questions surrounding the topic, in this case, GMOs, to test the audience's knowledge (see Figure 1). Second, a survey is created it must be distributed into three agriscience classes; Vet Science, AFNR Biology, and a conservation class. Each individual is given an individual survey. Thirdly, after giving the agriscience students a survey 35 individuals who are not currently in an agriscience class. These people can be anyone from family, to students or even the office staff. Fourth, once all of the surveys are collected they must be kept separate and the results tallied. The fifth step is then to tally all the answers up, continuously keeping the AG and general public surveys separate. Sixth, after all has been added up each question must be interpreted to determine how people knowledge and opinions vary based on what agriscience class they are currently in. Seventh, after observations and discussions are made, graphs are made to show the differences between groups and opinions. Lastly a conclusion can be formed based on the consistency of the answers.

6 Results When collecting the data from our surveys we found that more people who are taking an agriscience class were able to answer questions regarding genetically modified organisms. Out of the General Public, only 57% of the responses knew what GMO stands for. Those taking a second level agriculture class, Conservation, had a 68% accuracy for the definition of a GMO. The highest level of agriscience class that took our survey had a percentage of 92% being able to correctly define GMO. when asked where an individual had heard about GMOs before, agriscience class was the top response within both Ag class responses, however in the general public 97% knew nothing about a GMO. On average the Ag classes had more responses than those not in an agriscience class. The opinions on whether GMOs were good or bad had different numbers, the general public had 19% percent of the people say GMOs were good, 36% say they were bad, 45% had either a biased opinion or no opinion at all. In the conservation class 0% said GMOs were good, 22% say they were bad, and 78% of the students saying they did not know if they were good or had a biased opinion. Lastly, in the vet science class 28% of people said GMOs were good 32% saying they were bad, and 40% not knowing or having a biased opinion.

7 Discussion and Conclusions After we conducted our experiment and tallied the surveys, we found an interesting pattern within the two separate groups of people. Those people who have had experience in Agriscience were better able to answer the questions related to GMOs on our survey than the general public. We believe that the reason those in an agriculture class were able to make more informed answers was because they had been given experience on the topic. Agriculture classes spend a large portion of time focusing on crops and animal types used in our food industry, with GMOs playing a huge roll in the agriculture business. Many classes even have discussions over what a GMO is and what they are used for. We hypothesized that the agriculture classes would not only be able to answer a question with more details, but also provide more information and reasoning surrounding their opinions of GMOs. This assumption was correct, many of the general public could answer to what a GMO was but could not give any further details to what they are used for and how often we consume them. We also noticed that between the agriculture classes the opinions on GMOs still varied, some believing they are good, others believing them to be bad; however only 30% of the students said that they had heard about GMOs from their agriculture class the other 70% was from 23% from the Internet and 47% haven't heard/learned anything other than what GMO stand for. In the end there was still a wide variety of opinions on if they were good or bad. We concluded that because they are in an Agriscience class the students are given a biased education on GMOs, allowing each individual to conclude their own separate opinion on the topic with the information they are given. Within the general public only 23% had heard about GMOs from a science class, but 26% had heard about GMOs from the internet. We concluded on this that because there is so many opinions out on social media in blog form,

8 articles or posts on social media like Facebook that those who see a picture while scrolling through their feed or other article with an anti GMO belief may believe the negative opinion themselves, the same being true for posts, articles, and blogs with GOOD opinions. When conducting our research there were articles that stated "10 reasons GMOs are harmful" and other articles with studies claiming GMOs to be beneficial. At the end of our project the students in an agriscience class could give us more information about GMOs than the general public; however the question still remains to whether GMOs are harmful or beneficial. References GMA. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2016, from newsroom/cornell-study-mandatory-gmo-labeling-would-increase-food-prices-500-for-ny/ GMO Awareness. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2016, from PCR technology for screening and quantification of genetically modifie. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2016, from PCR technology for screening and quantification of genetically modifie. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2016, from References gentransferdurchpollen.pdf [Press release]. (n.d.).

9 Acknowledgements Many people were involved in the process of this social systems project on the GMO controversy. Our agriscience teacher, Mrs. Eggleston, distributed the surveys to all of the agriscience classes. The school staff for not only allowing us to distribute our survey during class time but to even take it for us. Lastly all of the others, not in an agriscience class, who took our survey, allowing us to get the information we were studying. Figure 1 Name: GMO science fair survey Answer the questions to the best of your knowledge.

10 1) What does "GMO" stand for? 2) What do you know about GMOs? 3) Where have you heard about GMOs before? 4) Do you think GMOs are harmful? 5) How often do you eat something that is NOT a GMO? 6) Are feeds made from GMOs safe for livestock? 7) Do GMOs cause health problems for plants, animals, and humans? 8) Overall, do you believe GMOs are good or bad?