Introduction Lesson 1 Experience 1 Experience 2 Experience 3 Resources Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Culminating Experience National Standards   The History of Agricultural Biotechnology Today, we are trying to achieve goals similar to those of our ancient ancestors: growing enough high-quality food to meet the needs of our increasing population. Throughout history people have cultivated crops and experimented with plants to improve food quality and quantity. Because of advances in technology, scientists have been able to develop new approaches to plant production. This lesson invites students to travel back in time to observe the history and development of agricultural biotechnology. Objectives Students will: Define agricultural biotechnology and discover its history by investigating the time line found on The Children's Museum Website. Travel back in time to research and then present a person, topic or event involved with the development of agricultural biotechnology. Analyze when they think the turning point of biotechnology took place. Biotech Terms: agriculture hybrid corn Arabidopsis thaliana insulin biotechnology Mendel, Gregor chymosin microscope Crick, Francis Pasteur, Louis DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) pasteurization FlavrSavr® tomato Leeuwenhoek, Antonie van genetics Watson, James golden rice yeast Focus Questions: Who is a scientist? What do scientists do? What type of equipment do scientists use while experimenting? Who do you know today that is like a scientist? Why? Where are some places that scientists might work? How do humans use technology compared to other species? How does technology influence living things? How does society influence the type of technology that is developed? Why are plants important to humans? How can food production affect the way people live and work?

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