What Can Pigs Teach Us About Human Resourcefulness?

Pigs are an important renewable resource for food, consumer goods, and medical applications.

Objectives

  • Students will develop and defend an argument for the importance of a natural, renewable resource (pigs) in creating life-saving medications and products.

  • Students will gain a deeper understanding of how the pig, as a natural resource, can be used to aid in the needs of humans as our populations grow.

  • Students will understand the importance of developing and creating products from renewable resources that can have positive impacts on survival.

Kentucky Academic Standards

NGSS

  • MS-ESS3-4: Human Consumption of Natural Resources
    Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact earth’s systems. (Cause and Effect)

  • MS-PS1-3: Matter and Its Interactions
    Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.

ELA/Literacy Standards

  • RST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.

  • WHST.6-8.1 Write arguments focused on discipline content.

  • WHST.6-8.9 Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Supplies/Resources

  • Digital presentation

  • Student Info Sheet

  • Computer/laptops and Internet access

  • Claim—Evidence—Reasoning Template

  • Poster board or drawing paper

  • Markers, crayons, paints, or colored pencils

Instructions

  1. Using Claim—Evidence—Reasoning, students will gain a greater understanding of some of the most critical medications we manufacture from pigs.

  2. Assign each group/student a C-E-R template and a resource or product we get from pigs. Students should have access to computers for research to fully support the claim.

  3. Hints: provide the following questions to help guide students as they conduct their research:

    • What is this product? Educate your reader.

    • What part of the pig is used to help make this product?

    • Could this product be made from another natural resource if the pig was unavailable?

    • Explain why this product is important to many people.

  4. Ask students to draw a picture/create a collage/write a story that depicts how the assigned medication/product helps people:

    • Heparin

    • Insulin

    • Organ Xenotransplantation

    • Gelatin (how it is used in medications)

    • Zenpep

    • Acthar

    • Armour Thyroid

    • Mosaic Heart Valve

    • Discuss what questions student should use in their research queries to find the information needed quickly. Be aware that articles presented by animal rights groups may include messaging to dissuade the use of pigs for human medicine.

CurriculumJennifer ElwellPigScience, Science-Secondary