Social Studies: How do humans affect their environment? How is the environment affected by humans? Focus on three ethnic groups and rice growing practices associated with three environments in West Africa (mangrove swamps, river floodplains and rainfed valleys/upland areas).

Science: Biomes and biological constraints for plants.

Activity 1: for the same three environments described above, students will modify a simulated environment to make it suitable for growing rice. (There will be many dirty hands!)

Activity 2: Students will design and implement experiments growing rice to explore how the genetic variation of rice allows different rice varieties to grow well in different environments.

Module 2: Migration of people, knowledge and seed.

Social Studies: Migration of African enslaved peoples to the American Colonies. Migration of Asian rice seed to South Carolina. Use of African rice-growing knowledge in the American Colonies to grow Asian rice varieties.

Science: Genotype, Environment and Genotype/Environment interactions. Adaptation and selection of rice varieties to new environments. Modification of the environment to enhance rice production. Relationship between genotype and phenotype.

Module 3: Hunger, sustainability and disease

Social Studies: How do humans affect their environment? How is the environment affected by humans? Focus on three ethnic groups and rice growing practices associated with three environments in West Africa (mangrove swamps, river floodplain Hunger and sustainability in Africa. AIDS in Africa and effects on population. Relationship between human disease and nutrition.

Science: Soil fertility (hungry people need plants; hungry plants need their own food.) Disease in plants. Look at viral diseases in rice as the parallel of AIDS in humans; explore the concept of genetic resistance as a defense against disease.