Why do I need to learn this?
It’s a question teachers expect to hear from students, but it also is one they don’t want students to feel compelled to ask.
But as more and more Elkhart County teachers ditch the textbook in favor of lessons based on current events and real-life problems, fewer students are questioning the importance of what they are learning.
Science students at Elkhart Memorial High School do not ask their teacher why they need to learn about genetically modified crops because they are eating them at home and seeing foods marketed as “non-GMO” at the grocery store.
And students at Goshen Middle School do not ask why they need to learn about Syrian refugees because they see photos of hungry children and their grief-stricken parents on social media.
Both of those topics were covered in Elkhart County classrooms last week as teachers challenged students to think critically about current events and controversies. And for both lessons, teachers invited members of the business community into the classroom to put a real face on the discussion.
GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS
Biology students at Elkhart Memorial High School gathered around their lab stations Friday morning and waited for test results to come back: Was the product they tested genetically modified?
David Rambow, business development leader at Agdia Inc., walked through the classroom and guided the students. He had brought with him test strips developed by Agdia that display lines if a product includes enzymes that would not be present in a non-modified crop.