A farmer is growing glyphosate-resistant transgenic soybeans. What are you unlikely to see in those fields during the growing season?

Question

A.  A tilling machine
B.  Caterpillars
C.  Field mice
D.  Irrigation

Clarify Question
· What is the key concept addressed by the question?
· What type of thinking is required?

  Gather Content
  · What do you already know about transgenic crops?

  Choose Answer
· Given what you now know, what information and/or problem solving approach is most likely to produce the correct answer?
   Reflect on Process
· Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?

Answer 1

A.  A tilling machine

Clarify Question
· What is the key concept addressed by the question?
        o This question addresses transgenic crops.
· What type of thinking is required?
        o This question is asking you to take what you already know and apply it to this unfamiliar situation.

  Gather Content
  · What do you already know about transgenic crops?
        o Agriculturally important broadleaf plants such as soybean have been genetically engineered to be resistant to glyphosate, a powerful, biodegradable herbicide that kills most actively growing plants. Herbicide-resistant crops allow for no-till planting.
        o Tilling is the process where soils are turned over to prepare them for planting. This acts to remove weeds, which compete with crop plants for nutrients, and improve irrigation. Soils that are not tilled have greater levels of organic and inorganic nutrients that promote growth, often retain more water, and are less prone to soil erosion. Spraying glyphosate on the crop during the season means that weeds are killed eliminating the need to till while the crops are growing.
        o Bt crops are resistant to some insect pests. The approach is to insert into crop plants genes encoding proteins harmful to insect pests, but harmless to other organisms. The most commonly used protein is a toxin produced by the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt toxin). When insects ingest Bt toxin, endogenous enzymes convert it into an insect-specific toxin, causing paralysis and death. Because these enzymes are not found in other animals, the protein is harmless to them.

  Choose Answer
· Given what you now know, what information and/or problem solving approach is most likely to produce the correct answer?
        o Farmers use glyphosate to destroy weeds without having to till the soil, so a tiller would not be used on the fields.
   Reflect on Process
· Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
        o The question required you to take what you already know and apply it to this unfamiliar situation.
        o Did you recognize that glyphosate resistance allows farmers to target weeds without tilling?