LESSON PLAN

Your Name: Daniella Variale

Title of Lesson: Which is Better?
Grade: 6
STANDARDS

(6.W.9) Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

(6.SL.4) Present claims and findings, sequencing ideas logically and using pertinent descriptions, facts,
and details to accentuate main ideas or themes; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear
pronunciation.
LESSON SUMMARY/OVERVIEW

This lesson provides students with the opportunity to reflect on what they have learned about the issues and
benefits surrounding the topic of monoculture and polyculture farming techniques, such as biodiversity,
pesticide use, soil quality, and human health. Students will use this background information as well as the
additional facts provided to them to develop an argument for the use of either monoculture or polyculture
methods, working in groups to act as one of the many people that directly or indirectly affect the system of food
production. This lesson offers time for individual reflection of learning as well as student-to-student interaction
to support the development of argument writing and presentation skills. The lesson starts with students recalling
what they have learned throughout the unit, goes into a time of group work requiring synthesis of text and
writing, and ends with a debate and debrief about the best farming technique to use to grow our crops. Students
will discover that there are many people involved in determining farming practices and that a range of opinions
makes it difficult to inspire change or consensus.
OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to identify facts from an informational text to support their fictitious viewpoints of
monoculture and polyculture farming in order to write a one-paragraph defense of their opinion to
share/debate with the class.
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION

Each group of students will produce one paragraph of writing, using facts from an informational text to support
their assigned viewpoint of monoculture and polyculture farming. To receive full credit, the paragraph must
have at least five sentences, accurately reflect the viewpoint that the given character would have, and
incorporate at least one fact from the informational text.
During the presentation and debate time, students will be assessed on their understanding of the topic (reflected
in their claims and evidence), the logical sequence of their ideas, the factual or in-character value of their
rebuttals to other viewpoints, and respect for classmates.
PREREQUISITE KNOWLEDGE
Prior to this lesson, students need to know the effects monoculture and polyculture methods can have on the
environment and human health. Students will have time to personally reflect on these ideas, and time will be
given in class for students share personal take-aways to help each other remember even more effects. Students
may also need to be reminded of what is expected of them when writing a well-developed paragraph. Prompts
regarding the number sentences in a paragraph, the use of transition words, and the presence of a logical
organization will be given.

MATERIALS
Paper
Pencils
Document Camera
One paragraph of informational textcontent varying per group
One paragraph description of the character students will play in the debatecontent varying per group
VOCABULARY/KEY WORDS

Monoculture: growing one type of crop in a given area

Polyculture: growing a variety of crops in one area
Biodiversity: the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem
Pesticide: a substance used for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to cultivated plants or to
animals
Genetically modified organism: an organism that has had genes from an entirely different species
integrated with its own in order to achieve a certain characteristic
TEACHING PROCEDURES

1. Put four pictures under the document camera that are labeled biodiversity, pesticides, soil, and human
health and relate to these topics. Ask students to take a minute to silently remember something they
learned about at least one of the categories and how it relates to farming techniques.
2. Ask students to share their fact(s) with their shoulder partner. Walk around to encourage student
discussion and correct misconceptions that may still exist.
3. Bring the class together and ask students to share out the fact that their partner shared regarding what
they learned from this unit.
4. Introduce the task by telling students that there are many people that have different ideas about whether
monoculture or polyculture is a better technique for farming. Explain that each group (3-4 people) will
get a different character/persona that they will pretend to be, and they will act as though they have all
been called together to determine a consensus on the best farming method. Characters will be the types
of people that are directly or indirectly involved in the food production/consumption system. Acting as
that character, students will try to defend their viewpoint on farming techniques by using the facts from
their given text.
5. Introduce the assessments by explaining that they will prepare a one-paragraph speech to read to the
class, making their case for one of the farming methods. After everyone has given their opinion, they
will get to question each other, with the added challenge of keeping/defending the characters view and
not personal views. One student may read the cooperatively written speech, but all may help in the
defense of the viewpoint.
6. The students will be using Futures Thinking to complete this assignment. Students will be thinking
about how the decision to use pesticides, harm biodiversity, and make GMO crops will affect the future
food production system. Students will consider what a continual manipulation of natural systems might
cause for both the environment and human health.
7. Students will also be using Values Thinking to complete the assignment. Students must understand and
support values that may be different than their own. This causes then to consider how different people

that have differing motivations, backgrounds, and lifestyles might vary on their opinion about
monoculture or polyculture practices.
8. Students will be using Systems Thinking to complete the assignment. Students will see from the range
of people involved with food production and consumption that our food system involves a much larger
chain than just farmers and citizens. Each person in this chain is an important link to how it is run and
can affect the food system as a whole.
9. Use the words Futures, Values, and Systems Thinking so the students know what type of thinking they
are engaging. Provide time for students to work on their paragraph and use these types of thinking after
each group is assigned its character.
1. Corn Farmer: Has been growing the same crop for 25 years and needs to feed his/her family.
Sees monoculture as the only way to farm and is not willing to take on the added expense or
work just for pesky environmentalists.
2. Organic Farmer: The organic farmer tries to not use pesticides on the crops and instead
rotates the fields and plants many types of crops to preserve biodiversity.
3. Environmental Activist: The environmental activist does not want monoculture to be used in
the USA at all because of the destruction to biodiversity and increase use of pesticides that
further damages the environment.
4. Geneticist-makes GMO: The geneticist has no problem with GMOs and thinks that they will
save the world from pesticides. The Geneticist is in agreement with the environmental activist
about reducing pesticides in the environment.
5. Plant Seed Bank Scientist: The seed bank scientist wants to preserve the biodiversity of plants
as much as possible and realizes that current farming practices are decreasing plant
biodiversity, making them susceptible to disease.
6. Suburban mom: The suburban mom wants to buy the healthiest food possible but pay the least
amount for it.
7. US Congressman-Arizona: The congressman wants the constituents happy. He is involved in
making policy that decides which method should be used.
8. Large grocery chain CEO: The CEO has money to buy expensive products if there is a
market/want for them.
10. If some groups finish before others, ask them to think about what some of the other characters might say
to them and with what information they might answer that character.
11. Begin the mock meeting session. Listen to students share their speeches and question each other about
the validity and sustainability of their characters preferences.
12. End the mock-meeting and facilitate discussion about students experiences with the activity.
13. Ask students to share with the class which method of farming they have decided they prefer and why.
RESOURCES

Biodiversity unit [PDF file]. (2010). Retrieved from

http://outreach.mcb.harvard.edu/teachers/Summer10/AmyRichard/BiodiversityDebate.pdf
WAYS OF THINKING CONNECTION
Futures Thinking is analyzing how past decisions led us to the present and how present decisions will affect the
future. Using Futures Thinking, students should see that the way we handle food production, either with
monoculture or polyculture farming, has an effect on the environment and human health. Using Futures
Thinking with the students would provide an opportunity to evaluate what consequences might take place if we
continue using monoculture practices and abusing the environment. Futures Thinking requires students to look
past the benefits we receive from a certain method today (perhaps a higher yield, for example) to see how the
future could be affected and what changes might result.
One component of Values Thinking is understanding that people have different values and that sets of values are
neither good nor bad. By having the students act as different characters that have very different ideas about ideal
food production, they are considering the values of people other than themselves. By engaging in Values
Thinking in this activity, students learn that there is a huge diversity of values that are uniquely dependent on
each persons background and motivations.
Systems Thinking means seeing the world as a series of interconnected systems that influence one another. This
means a change to one part of the system has cascading effects on other parts. This activity includes Systems
Thinking with the variety of characters who all belong to different systems (political, agricultural, scientific,
business, and consumer), yet are still involved in the food production system. Students will display Systems
Thinking when they reflect on how each character plays an important role in the system and can influence the
demands of the market, which would then have cascading effects on the rest of the system.