GESCI 110: Sustaining Life Workbook

The GESCI 110 Sustaining Life Workbook BYU-Idaho Edition—Revised December 5,

2022

The GESCI 110 Sustaining Life Workbook was created at BYU-Idaho under the
direction of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences among a collaboration of
departments. It incorporates the best information known to science with principles
taught in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Efforts have been made to
integrate the gospel and science to help students make optimal resource
management.
The GESCI 110 Sustaining Life Workbook is copyright Brigham Young University-Idaho
(2023).
To navigate this workbook, use the “Outline” located to the left of this page. If you don’t see the
“Outline” , select the icon, on the left that looks like this image to open the “Outline”.

Contributions by
Alyssa Charrier, Ed.S., CFLE
Tanya Orton, RN, MSN
Nathan Meeker, Senior Portfolio Manager
Jennifer Hunter, Product Development Manager
Ardi Markaj, Assistant Product Development Manager
Ina Rodino, Rights and Permissions Manager
Elizabeth Pingry, Lead/Head Copyeditor
Ann Allen, Assistant/Associate Copyeditors (Lizzy’s students)
Tim Tanner, Graphic Designer
Caleb Balls, Assistant/Associate Graphic Designer
Welcome to GESCI 110: Sustaining Life! This course is designed to help you answer
this question: How do we feed and care for a growing world population?
Through the activities of this course, you will be able to do the following:
 Explain the strengths and limitations of the scientific process as a source
of knowledge.
 Identify engaging fields of study with good career potential.
 Analyze compelling and important questions using scientific evidence.
 Discuss challenging issues in a respectful and productive manner.
 Develop skills and understanding to improve a sustainable food supply
and promote healthy lifestyles.
We hope you will enjoy learning more about our role as stewards in order to continue
sustaining and improving the lives of individuals and communities of the world

Course Overview
Below is an overview of all of the topics in our course. Each week we will be covering a
different topic related to sustaining life.
You can select the links in the course overview chart below to be taken to that activity in
the workbook. You can also use the outline in Google Docs.
Follow these steps to open the outline:
  Select View from the Google Docs menu.
 Select Show Outline.
 Select the link in the outline to go to any section of the workbook.
Week Main Questions and Topics Major Assignments

Week How can we feed a growing world  Establish WhatsApp Teams

01 population?  Three Rs of Credible
 Ways of Knowing Truth: Information Activity
Science and Revelation  Week 1 Quiz (iLearn)
 Climate, Soils, and  Top Soil Degradation
Stewardship Activity
 Forum Prep: Urbanization
and Sustainability
 Example Forum
Week How will we increase plant and animal  Developing Countries
02 production? Activity
 History and Future of  Animal Efficiency Activity
Agriculture  ForumPrep: GMOs and
 Animal Production Forum
 Sustaining Life Project:
Introduction and Part 1—Identify
Issue, Solutions and Research
Questions
Week How do we make educated food  Food Journal Part 1: Goal
03 choices? Setting
 Food Preservation  Food Journal Part 2: Report
 Educated Food Choices Back
 Forum Prep: Obesity
Epidemic and Forum
 Career Exploration: Food
Science and Agriculture
Week How do we promote healthy living?  Wellness Journal 1: Goal
04  Food Waste and Setting
Distribution  Wellness Journal 2: Report
 Long-Term Health Back
 Sustaining Life Project: Part
2—Research Results and Action
Plan
Week How do we care for families from birth to  Strengthening Families
05 death? Activity
 Human Reproduction,  Domains of Aging Activity
Growth, and Development  Forum Prep: Health
 Aging Well Campaign Presentation and
Forum
Week How can we build emotional resilience?  Mental Health and Balance
06  Mental Health and Activity
Balance  Forum Prep: Project
 Addiction and Suicide Presentation
Prevention  Career Exploration: Health
 Careers
 Sustaining Life Project: Part
3—Presentation and Reflection
Week How can we prevent acute and chronic  Vaccine Activity
07 illness?  Non-Communicable Disease
 Infectious Disease Country Analysis Activity
 Chronic Disease

Each module is designed in a similar layout. Each week covers two main topics. For
each topic, you will have a study page with videos and study questions and an
Application Activity. Each week you will also have a Forum Preparation Activity and hold
a Forum Discussion through WhatsApp. Twice in the semester, you will also do a
Career Exploration assignment. You should plan on dedicating about 10–12 hours per
week to our class. A typical week might look like this:
Due by midweek
 Study Topic A and Quiz (two hours)
 Application Activity A (one hour)
 Forum Preparation (one hour)
Due by the end of the week
 Study Topic B (two hours)
 Application Activity B (one hour)
 Forum Discussion in WhatsApp and Reflection (30–45 minutes)
 Career Exploration Activity (45 minutes)
Introduction Activity
In I-Learn, in W01, there is a W01 Activity: Workbook set up and Sample Activity. You
answer the three questions below and then cut and paste your responses into the W01
Activity: Workbook set up and Sample Activity in I-Learn.

Interests: What are some of your interests? Write your answer in the box below:
My name is Stella Likeh Obi from Abuja Nigeria, I think I would be interested in a
career in this field. My current career goal is to become a social worker, so it is a
similar field of interest. I think it would be rewarding to help treat patients who
struggle with mental and emotional problems. I think the hard part of this career
would be the science side of it. I usually don’t do research for enjoyment, but I do not
mind studying the human mind and behavior. It is interesting to me to learn about
why humans think and act like they do.
Expectations: What do you expect to gain or learn from this class? Write your
answer in the box below:
I'm expecting to learn the transformation that is expected to enable communities to
use knowledge to solve current societal problems and create employment, sustained
democratic governance, and economic growth understanding the impact of human
activities on the environment and practicing sustainable living can help ensure the
long-term health of the planet and, by extension, human life.
Unique: What is something unique about you? Write your answer in the box below:
My ability for complex and abstract thinking. I possess cognitive abilities that allow me
to engage in advanced problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, and the
development of intricate systems of knowledge, I exhibit a wide range of emotions
and have a strong sense of self-awareness and empathy.

Sustaining Life Project

Along with the course activities, you will complete a Sustaining Life Project that will
demonstrate your ability to research and analyze scientific evidence, create an action
plan and project to complete, and report and reflect on your project.
Our hope is that you will select a meaningful and interesting project that is both related
to sustaining life and can be applied in your home, community, or career to bless
others.
The Sustaining Life Project is divided into three parts:
 Part 1: Identify a Problem, Solution and Research Question (Due Week
02)
 Part 2: Report on Research and Make a Plan to Act (Due Week 04)
 Part 3: Return and Report on Your Project and Reflect (Due Week 06)
More information about your project can be found by selecting the links above in the
workbook.

Forum Discussions in WhatsApp Communities

You are not alone in this class! Each week you will have topics to discuss with your
brothers and sisters around the world who are also taking this class. We want these
discussions to be natural, real, and meaningful, so we have chosen to use WhatsApp
for our group discussions.
You will be added to two groups in WhatsApp:
 The whole class GESCI110 Community Group
o This is the place where the instructor will be posting
announcements and reminders. Please check it 1–2 times a week
for important announcements.
 Your GESCI 110 Forum Teams (10 students)
o This is the group you will be chatting with to discuss the
forum topics each week.
o Feel free to share ideas, questions, or other resources you
find related to our class!
o The link to join your WhatsApp Community and Group will be
given in our online class.
WhatsApp Forum Discussions
Starting in Week 02, you will be discussing a forum topic using WhatsApp chat. There
will be a forum preparation activity and some forum case study questions and slides to
help guide your group discussion for the weekly forum discussions. We hope you will
enjoy getting to learn with one another!
Forum Reflection
After participating in your weekly forum discussion, please return to the course in I-
Learn, report on what you learned from others in the group, and summarize what you
shared in the discussion.
WhatsApp: Additional Instructions for Getting Started
You will be getting more information and a link to the class community in our online
class. Before selecting that link, please set up WhatsApp on your phone by following the
instructions below.
 How do I set up and install WhatsApp? (Select the links below
for instructions.)
o Install WhatsApp on your phone.
 Register your device and verify your information.
 Add your name, photo, and profile information. (Here
is a tutorial: "How to Edit Your Profile.")
o Please use your real name so we know who you are!
o Optional: Install WhatsApp on your computer. Using
WhatsApp on the computer makes typing in the discussions and
sharing links much faster. (You will need to have WhatsApp
installed on your phone first to use this option.)
 What do I do if I get a strange message from someone I don’t
know?
o The GESCI 110 Community Groups should only be used for
class purposes.
o Spam may happen on WhatsApp! If you ever get a message
from someone you don’t know or from outside of our class asking
you to tap on a link, give personal or financial information, or telling
you that you need to pay for WhatsApp, do not select it!
 Simply report and block the user, then delete the
message. (Here is a tutorial: "About Blocking and Reporting
Contacts.")
o You can also adjust your privacy settings to allow only
contacts to see your information.
 More help can be found on the WhatsApp Help Center webpage.