Mary has been given quite an open brief for her project. There are a number of ways in which she could choose to look at GM foods, for example:

• the scientific perspective;
• the philosophical/ethical/moral perspective;
• media coverage.

Here are Mary’s notes on what she already knows:

– in America there is not so much fuss about GM food
– you can already buy GM soya
– Friends of the Earth have campaigned against GM foods
– one summer a large group of people were arrested for deliberately damaging GM crops
– organic farmers argue that GM crops should not be allowed to be planted close to their land as there is risk of contamination
– most people do not like the idea that genes from animals (e.g. fish) may be put into new GM crops like tomatoes
– GM crops are sometimes called ‘transgenic’, what does this mean?
– what is the difference between GM crops/food and crops/food that have been selectively bred?

We can see that her current knowledge is mainly gleaned from the media and relates to the ethical issues surrounding growing GM crops in the countryside. The major gap in her knowledge is the scientific perspective – she knows very little about what is involved in genetically modifying crops and the scientific implications for the environment. In order to begin to plan a systematic search she will need to be able to pose a clearly focused question or perhaps a number of questions.