Year 6
TEACHER GUIDE
Food in the Australian Curriculum: an educational unit for the Year 6 curriculum
So You Think You Know Where
Your Food Comes From?
This resource was produced by AgriFood Skills Australia with funding from the Australian Government
through the Department of Agriculture.
CC BY-NC-SA
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First published: May 2014
Developed by:
SAVA ideas2outcomes – Sheridan van Asch
Designed by:
Tim Welch
Advice provided by: Mrs Laurie Steel, Primary School Teacher, Childers Primary School, Queensland
James Elkerton – Year 6 Student, Tasmania
© Commonwealth of Australia 2014
AgriFood Skills Australia
General inquiries:
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Postal address:
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Web: www.agrifoodskills.net.au
Table of contents
Food in the Australian Curriculum Programme – Introduction
ii
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From – Overview
iii
Learning Topic 1 – So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat
1
Description2
Learning outcomes
2
Activity 1: So what do you eat?
3
Setting the scene
Student activity – Work task 1: What are the most common foods eaten
in your class?
Activity 2: So where does the food you eat come from?
3
4
7
Setting the scene
7
Student activity – Work task 1: Create glossary
8
Student activity – Work task 2: Explain key agricultural words/phrases
8
Student activity – Work task 3: So what is free-range and what is
organic farming?
9
Resources10
Activity 3: So what is needed to make food grow?
11
Setting the scene
11
Student activity – Work task 1: Let’s summarise what you have learnt
12
Student activity – Work task 2: Loaves of bread and sustainability
12
Resources12
Activity 4: Australian cuisine – the food you eat – a result of a diverse
and connected world
13
Setting the scene
14
Student activity – Work task 1: Australian food before European
settlement – did it exist?
14
Student activity – Work task 2: The introduction of foods from other places
15
Student activity – Work task 3: Major project
16
Resources17
Learning Topic 2 – So How Is The Food You Eat Produced?
19
Description20
Learning outcomes
20
Activity 1: How and by who is some of the food you eat produced?
21
Student activity – Work task 1: Farming animals to produce the food you eat
21
Student activity – Work task 2: Making butter – is the change irreversible
or reversible?
22
Resources23
Activity 2: So how about growing your own garden
Student activity – Work task 1: Growing a garden
Student activity – Work task 2: Garden in a box
Student activity – Work task 3: Growing a garden and selling the produce
Student activity – Work task 4: The kitchen garden
24
25
25
25
27
Appendix 1: Additional teacher support resources
28
Appendix 2: Links to the Australian Curriculum
28
List of websites
31
Food in the Australian Curriculum Programme
Introduction
Food in the Australian Curriculum is an initiative of the Australian Government funded by the
Department of Agriculture. It aims to raise awareness and enhance the teaching and learning of the
agribusiness industry in Australian schools.
The programme supports teachers in the implementation of the English, Maths, Science, History,
Geography and Technologies curricula.
Implemented by AgriFood Skills Australia, the programme provides free:
• in-school presentations for students in years 4-10 on the agrifood industry that are aligned to the
curricula;
• teacher professional development workshops on the industry, curricula and classroom resources;
and
• teaching materials to support the implementation of the English, Maths, History, Science,
Geography and Technologies curricula.
What is included in the resource
This Year 6 Unit has been developed as one of the teaching materials to support this programme.
The “kit” comprises:
Teacher Guide
Student Activities and Tasks
The Teacher Guide
offers tips and
sample activities,
tasks, resources
and assessment
options.
The Student Activities and Tasks is
in powerpoint format to allow for
direct use with smartboards and
the functionality to enable you to
adapt the activities to meet the
needs of your students. The text
that are in grey directly links to
the PowerPoint.
Navigation
The icons below are used to help identify activities and navigate the document.
learn
Learning
outcomes
PowerPoint
work task resource link
movie
Internet movie
resource link
A+
discuss
PowerPoint
resource link
Assessment
assess resource link
web
Website
resource link
Note about the cover: This is a photo of a young girl on her farm in NSW. They grow corn, cotton and
sunflowers and raise beef cattle.
ii
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
Overview
This Unit, So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From is divided into two standalone key
learning topics: So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat and So How Is The Food You Eat Produced.
Together they provide students with the skills to answer the key inquiry question: So you think
you know where your food comes from?, during the course of which students will develop an
understanding of both where their food comes from and the processes involved to get it from the
paddock/garden to the plate.
Students will also gain an appreciation of the importance of food in their daily lives as well as
the impact food has had on shaping our history and culture, and the way it reflects our diverse
and connected world.1 At the same time they will gain an appreciation of the role farmers play in
sustaining our way of life by ensuring that we have food on our tables, as well as gaining a fresh
perspective on our agricultural sector and the important role it plays in our nation.
The purpose of this Unit is to provide you with a guide for integrating agricultural concepts and
ideas in the delivery of the Australian Curriculum in a practical way, in this case for Year 6. The
suggested activities and tasks contained within this Unit aim to build a deep understanding of where
our food comes from, as well as building skills in the areas of English, Science, Mathematics, History
and Geography.
Links to the Australian Curriculum
This Unit supports a cross-curricula approach to the delivery of the Year 6 Australian Curriculum
within an agricultural context. It focuses on the key learning areas of English, Mathematics, Science,
History and Geography. It does not cover all aspects of the content descriptors for the Year 6
curriculum.
The sample activities and tasks have been mapped to the relevant Year 6 Content Descriptor http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Year6 - for each of the key learning areas. Further details of
the relevant content descriptors can be found in the Appendix.
This Unit also aims to assist teachers in meeting those achievement standards of key learning areas
that can most effectively be supported by the activities and resources focussed on agriculture.
The relevant achievement standards are linked to each learning area and can also be found in the
Appendix.
Timeframe
The timeframe for delivering this Unit will depend on whether you use all or only part of the activities
and tasks.
Teaching and Learning Activities
The Unit is divided into two standalone key learning topics, namely:
1. So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat; and
2. So How Is The Food You Eat Produced?
Each Learning Topic includes:
• description (purpose)
• learning outcomes
• relevant Australian Curriculum achievement standards
• Activities with:
–– relevant Australian Curriculum Descriptors
–– specific learning outcome/s
–– suggested work tasks
–– assessment options
–– suggested teacher support resources
1
Australian curriculum: Year 6 geography level description.
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
iii
Key Inquiry Questions
The key inquiry questions for Year 6 are:
1. How important is the physical environment to ensuring the growth and production of food in
Australia? (Science)
2. How has food contributed to Australia’s global connections between people and places?
(Geography)
3. What contribution does agriculture (food) make to understanding how Australian society changed,
particularly throughout the twentieth century? (History)
Learning Outcomes
Following this Unit, students should be able to:
• describe the role agriculture plays in where our food comes from and how it gets to our plate;
• explain the different farming practices and processes involved in producing familiar food products;
• demonstrate an understanding of and explain reasons for the diversity of food that has become part
of Australia’s cuisine;
• assess the importance agriculture has played in shaping Australia’s history; and
• explain the importance of the physical environment in food production.
Key Supporting Teacher-Specific Resources
In preparation for delivering this Unit and the associated activities it is recommended that you
review the following resources, which have been chosen to provide you with an understanding of the
importance of agriculture in Australia and how key concepts can be delivered in a classroom setting:
1. Australian Agriculture – The Greatest Story Never Told – You Tube Video (5:08)
2. Bill Bailey’s – F.A.C.E (1:49)
3. Splash – ABC – From paddock to plate (this resource supports many of the activities contained within this Unit)
Many of the resources contained within this work unit are available on the Scootle website. To make
access easier, teachers and students should be logged onto Scootle before accessing resources.
Resources identified by a TLF-ID, can be accessed on the Scootle search engine via the reference number.
iv
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
Year 6
TEACHER GUIDE
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
Learning topic 1:
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat
LT1 > Overview
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat
Learning topic 1:
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat
Description
This is an introductory learning topic where students explore the food they currently eat: whether it is
fresh or processed, and its place in our culture.
Students will interact with others through class discussions and presentations, represent data in
different formats, use a range of communication techniques, express and develop ideas, and create
texts including note taking and persuasive texts, by undertaking guided inquiry.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this learning topic students should be able to:
1. explain key agricultural concepts such as fresh, processed, free-range, organic, sustainable, etc.
2. understand the importance of physical conditions in creating an environment conducive to
growing food.
3. write a persuasive text and prepare a report and a presentation about the food they eat.
4. explain how Australian cuisine has contributed to an understanding of the diverse and
connected world we live in.
Relevant parts of the achievement standards:
Students will be able to:
English:
• compare and analyse information from different texts, including digital texts. They will be able to
listen to discussions, clarify content and challenge others’ ideas in relation to ‘Where your food
comes from’.
• create detailed texts elaborating on key ideas for a range of purposes and audiences. Make
presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions using a variety of strategies
for effect.
• create informative texts encompassing reports, reviews, explanations and discussions.
Mathematics:
• interpret and compare a variety of data displays and evaluate secondary data displayed in the
media.
Science:
• describe and predict the effect of environmental changes on individual living things.
• explain how scientific knowledge is used in decision making and identify contributions to the
development of science by people from a range of cultures.
History:
• sequence events and people (their lifetime) in chronological order and represent time by creating
timelines.
• identify a range of sources and locate and compare information to answer inquiries.
Geography:
• explain the characteristics of diverse places in different locations at different scales from local to
global.
• describe the interconnection between people and places.
• develop geographical questions to frame an inquiry.
• locate information from a range of sources to answer inquiry questions, and represent data and
location of places and their characteristics in different graphic forms, e.g. large-scale and smallscale maps.
2
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat >
So What Do You Eat?
LT1 > Activity 1 > Overview
Activity 1: So What Do You Eat?
Content Descriptor:
Maths
Statistics and probability: describe probabilities using fractions, decimals
and percentages.
ACMSP144
English
Identify and explain how analytical images like figures, tables, diagrams,
maps and graphs contribute to our understanding of verbal information in
factual and persuasive texts.
ACELA1524
Learning Outcome
learn
Understand percentages and how to create graphs, and interpret a range of data displays to explain
what are the most common foods that are consumed in their class.
Description
This activity aims to engage students by discussing what they already know about the food they eat,
as well as introducing them to key concepts such as growing food, fresh vs processed foods, types of
farming and production. Students are also introduced to the mathematical concept of percentages
and how this can be applied to determining the percentage of the food they eat in terms of what is
fresh or processed.
1. Setting the scene
discuss
Begin by getting students to think about the food they eat. This could be done by asking initial focus
questions, such as:
a). What are your favourite foods?
–– write down your favourite foods
–– which ones do you think are fresh and which are processed?
–– what ingredients do you think have been used to create the foods you have chosen; and
–– where do you think the ingredients have come from?, e.g. sugar comes from sugarcane.
You will need to create a sense of difference between those foods that are fresh and those that are
processed. Students should look up the following words:
–– Fresh
–– Processed
–– Ingredients
You could provide them with a copy of the table What are Your Favourite Foods which can be found at
the end of this activity. They can also use this table for Work task 1.
b). Bring in a range of food types such as potatoes, bread, cauliflower, basil, spaghetti, peanuts,
avocados, apples, oranges, milk, bacon, cheese, butter, tuna, frozen chips, sauce and eggs, and
also a few tricky items like broccoli (which is a flower).
To guide the discussion ask your students the following:
The food in the shopping bag:
–– Do you think it is fresh or processed?
–– Is it grown in the ground or above the ground? Or not in the ground at all? If not, where might
it come from?
OR
c). Have students look at what they have in their lunch boxes and discuss with them:
Where do you think the food in your lunch box comes from?
–– Is the food from a plant or an animal?
–– Is it fresh or processed?
–– How do you think it gets to your lunch box? Make a list of the steps.
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
3
LT1 > Activity 1 > Work task 1
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat >
So What Do You Eat?
2. Investigation and analysis
work
task
Work task 1: What are the most common foods eaten in your class?
Students should work in pairs or groups (no more than four in a group2) to identify the most common
foods eaten in their group and whether most food eaten is fresh or processed. Working together they
should establish the percentage of fresh and processed food eaten by their group, and then explain
the findings/results of their group by using graphs.
Before undertaking this task you may need to either introduce or revise the concept of percentages
with students.
Teacher support resource:
web
Educational Services Australia: Supporting Australian mathematics project - Year 6 percentages.
[opens web site]
Work task 1: What are the most common foods eaten in your class?
You are to:
• Select a spokesperson for your group.
• Make a list of all the foods that are the most common in your group.
• Why do you think they are the most common foods?
• Make a list of those that are fresh and those that are processed.
• Where do you think most of the food that you eat comes from? The supermarket? Is it grown in
Australia? If not, where is it grown?
• Collate the group’s findings in a table (your teacher will provide the sample table What are your
favourite foods?.
• Construct a column graph and/or pie chart to display your findings, demonstrating the range of
foods from the most common to the least common.
• What percentage of the food eaten by your group is fresh and what percentage processed?
• Write a short piece explaining your group’s graphs. Your spokesperson will share this with the
class.
Students should use computers to create the relevant graphs and columns.
Teacher support resources:
web
Constructing graphs [opens website]
SCOOTLE:
web
Maths Years 5 and 6: chance and data: data [opens Scootle]
2 Four is considered to be the optimum number for conducting effective group work
4
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
Main ingredients
Meat, cheese, lettuce, bread, pickles
Favourite food
Hamburger
What are your favourite foods
Lettuce
Fresh
Meat, bread, cheese, pickles
Processed
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat >
So What Do You Eat?
LT1 > Activity 1 > Work task 1
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
5
6
Main ingredients
Meat, cheese, lettuce, bread, pickles
Favourite food
McDonald’s hamburger
(from the most common to the least common
What are the group’s favourite foods
Lettuce
Fresh
3
2
1
0
Pizza
Meat, bread, cheese, pickles
Processed
Burger
3 people
Tally
Noodles
LT1 > Activity 1> Work task 1
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat >
So What Do You Eat?
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat >
So Where Does The Food You Eat Come From?
LT1 > Activity 2 > Overview
ACTIVITY 2: So Where Does The Food You Eat Come From?
Content Descriptor:
English:
Literacy: reread and edit student’s work.
ACELY 1714
Literacy: use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse information
and ideas, comparing content from a variety of textual sources including
media and digital texts.
ACELY1713
Language: understand the use of objective and subjective language and bias.
ACELA1517
English:
Creating texts: plan, draft and publish informative and persuasive texts.
ACELY1715
Science:
Science understanding: the growth and survival of living things affected by
the physical conditions of their environment, and scientific knowledge is
used to inform personal and community decisions.
ACSHE220
Learning Outcome
learn
Students will gain an understanding of the key concepts associated with the food they eat and
be able to review each other’s work in terms of discussing and editing each other’s level of
understanding.
Students will begin to develop the skills to discuss, research and write persuasively.
Description
This activity introduces students to key agricultural concepts, some of which could be considered to
be controversial. Thereby the idea of objective and subjective language and bias can be introduced.
The students will also reflect on what they have learnt to date about fresh vs processed foods etc.
and can be encouraged to prepare notes and work together.
1. Setting the scene
discuss
Have on your board the following terms and explain to students that during the course of this unit
they will be exploring these key concepts in relation to the food they eat.
KEY TERMS
Paddock to plate
Farm to factory
Fresh or processed
Free-range/organic farming
Sustainable/unsustainable
Building on what has been considered earlier, and what students have learnt previously in other
classes, discuss with students where food comes from based on the following focus questions:
Student focussed discussion activity
Ask the students:
Let’s discuss where you think your food comes from:
• Where do you think your food comes from? (Make a list of their ideas).
• How do you think potatoes are grown and how do you think they become chips; what goes into
making bread or spaghetti; do you know avocados grow on trees and that peanuts are flowers
and grow above the ground? (Again capture their ideas).
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
7
LT1 > Activity 2 > Work task 1&2
discuss
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat >
So Where Does The Food You Eat Come From?
• Have you ever grown something in a garden? If not why not? Where might you or can you grow
a garden? And what could you grow and why? (The aim is for students to think about how they
could grow a garden, even if they live in an apartment/unit).
• What do you think is needed to grow food?
• Have you ever visited or lived on a farm? What did it grow? (If students haven’t visited a farm get
them to talk about what they think a farmer does and why it might be important in terms of the
food they eat.)
• What is a crop? What crops do you think are grown in your community, region or state?
• Have you heard of terms like free-range and organic farming? What do you think they mean?
• Why do you think farming/agriculture needs to be sustainable? If it isn’t sustainable, will you be
able to continue to eat the food you currently eat?
It will be important to discuss with students concepts such as free-range, organic and sustainable.
These discussions can also be used to introduce the idea of the use of subjective, objective and
biased language.
Work task 1: Create a glossary
work
task
Have students create a glossary of terms by researching the meanings of: fresh, processed, garden,
sustainable, free-range, organic, farming, crop etc. They should add to this glossary as they continue
working through the unit.
2. Investigation and analysis
Work task 2: Explain key agricultural terms
work
task
Student focussed activities
Following the class discussion have students reflect on what they have learnt.
Students are to explain the following key agricultural terms.
• Write down one or two key points about what you have learnt under each of the key headings:
–– paddock – plate;
–– farm – factory;
–– fresh or processed;
–– free-range – organic farming; and
–– sustainable - unsustainable.
• Follow up (research) and find two (2) more key points that you can add to each idea or concept.
(Ask students where they might find more information to help them add some more ideas).
• What is the difference between a garden and a farm, and fresh or processed? What is a crop and
what do free-range and organic mean?
• In pairs, share and look at each other’s notes and edit each other’s work. Students may wish to
share information they have discovered.
Let students know that this information will be important for their next work task, where they will be
asked to prepare a persuasive piece of writing.
8
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat >
So Where Does The Food You Eat Come From?
LT1 > Activity 2 > Work task 3
Work task 3: So what is free-range and what is organic farming?
work
task
Have students research the meaning of free-range and organic farming and discuss the concepts
with them. They should consider using a variety of textual sources, including media and digital text.
Have them refer to the notes they made previously.
Student focussed activity
Students to research the ideas of free range and organic farming.
So what is free-range and what is organic farming?
Write down the different meanings/types of free-range farming.
• What might be the link between free-range and organic farming?
• Where might you find free-range products? Which do you think are the most popular? Make a
list.
• Why do you think this type of farming is popular amongst some people and not others?
OR
web
You may wish to replace Task 3 with Topic 10- Lessons – Farm to Fork from the Australian Organic
Schools Teaching Resource. The Topic introduces students to the concept of organic farming.
Assessment Options
Persuasive text – To free-range or not to free-range.
Students should have had an introduction to the structure and language of persuasive texts and
discussed the topic To free-range or not to free-range.
This resource may help your students in understanding the elements of persuasive writing:
web
A+
assess
The Art Of Persuasive Writing: Doing The Work [hyperlinked: web]
Student focussed activity
Students to write a persuasive text
Assessment task: To free-range or not to free-range
You are to write a persuasive text by taking a position for or against the topic To free-range or not to
free-range.
You will have three sessions to research and write a draft of your text.
Remember your text will need:
• an introduction
• background information
• paragraphs with key sentences explaining your argument
• conclusion
• bibliography (the list of resources you have used to collect your information)
I will review your drafts and then you will have to provide a word processed final copy.
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
9
LT1 > Activity 2 > Work task 3
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat >
So Where Does The Food You Eat Come From?
You may wish students to use the following resources to assist them in preparing their texts. You may
also get them to work in pairs, encouraging them to share ideas and review each other’s work:
Student support resources:
web
Students in Grade 6 produced the following two resources, which contain guiding questions:
1. Growing an organic edible garden - English Science (5,6) - ABC Splash (3mins 3 secs)
2. Grass fed beef or grain-fed beef? - English (5,6) - ABC Splash (3mins 56 secs)
movie
The next two resources provide students with information about aspects of free-range farming:
3. Great Year 6 worksheet on Flip egg-vironment: Investigating animal welfare
4. Scootle: Organic and free-range
Teacher support resources providing background information:
ABC Bush Telegraph Wilbur 101: Ethical production at Wilbur’s farm [opens website]
Wilbur was bred by Tammi and Stuart Jonas who bought 69 acres near Daylesford to produce
ethically raised rare-breed pigs. On their farm (Jonai Farm) they follow the same principles as the
renowned US farmer, Joel Salatin, who believes in transparency in food production and the ethical
raising of livestock in a free-range system.
Australian Organic Schools [opens website]
Australian Organic Schools educates children about where their food comes from and the benefits
of organics for our health and the environment. Our programs provide free teaching resources to
support schools to grow organic food, integrate food growing and preparation into the school’s
curriculum, and contribute to whole-school environmental sustainability.
10
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat >
So What Is Needed To Make Food Grow?
LT1 > Activity 3 > Overview
ACTIVITY 3: So What Is Needed To Make Food Grow?
Content Descriptor:
Science
Science understanding: the growth and survival of living things.
ACSSU094
Sustainability
Inquiry and skills and reflecting and responding, discussing what they
know and have learned about different views related to the sustainability
of environments.
ELBH446
Learning Outcome
learn
Students will develop an understanding of the physical and biological needs to grow food and how
to summarise key information from a range of sources, e.g. media.
Description
This activity introduces students to the physical and biological requirements for growing our food.
Through using the resource ABC – From paddock to plate students will have the opportunity to gain
an understanding of the role of farmers play in producing food.
1. Setting the scene
movie
Show students
Where does bread come from/ How do you grow rice – ABC From paddock to plate NOTE: There are some excellent guiding activities associated with the two that are worth using. Or
you could get students to discuss:
discuss
Where does bread come from/ How do you grow rice?
• After watching the two films, list what you think are needed for both wheat and rice to grow.
• What do you think farmers need to understand to make sure their crops grow successfully?
• The two films tell us that wheat and rice did not grow here before Europeans came to Australia –
so how do you think these two crops arrived in Australia?
Tell students their notes will be helpful in undertaking future work, so they should ensure they can
refer back to them.
2. Investigating and analysis
Student focussed discussion activities
Through discussion get the students, working in pairs, to consider and then show the steps they
believe are involved in getting bread to their tables:
• Where does bread come from and how does it get to your table?
• What is the main ingredient of bread?
• What basic needs and growing techniques are required to grow this ingredient?
• How is it turned into bread?
• How do you think the bread gets to your table/plate? Draw the steps (flow chart)
Chemical science. Now would be a good time to have students consider the notion of changes that
are reversible and irreversible. As an illustration, the transformation that occurs when wheat is
processed to make bread involves changes that are irreversible, because bread is baked.
Student focussed discussion activities
How do you grow rice?
Let’s think about what you learnt when you watched ‘How do you grow rice’. Where in Australia do
you think it is best suited to grow? And where would you not find rice growing and why?
Students should consider the importance of rain, soil and sunlight, and that some places are too dry
to grow wheat, etc. Therefore the growing of wheat or rice is not sustainable in those places.
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
11
LT1 > Activity 3 > Work task 1
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat >
So What Is Needed To Make Food Grow?
Work task 1: Let’s summarise what you have learnt
work
task
Student focussed activity
Students to summarise ideas learnt
• You are to summarise what you have learnt when watching the film and during the class
discussion. You should make sure you explain what environmental elements and farming
techniques are needed to grow crops.
• Add the word sustainable and its meaning to your glossary of terms.
Students should be able to explain that rain, soil and sunlight are important in growing crops. In
some parts of Australia crops like wheat and rice are not sustainable without the use of farming
techniques such as irrigation.
Work task 2: Loaves of bread and sustainability….
work
task
Teacher directed discussion. First you may need students to research how many families live in
Australia or you could tell them. The information can be sourced via Google.
1. How many loaves of bread do you think might be eaten per week in Australia (it doesn’t have to
be totally accurate – think about how many people/families live in Australia and if they all ate a
loaf of bread per week –how many loaves would that be)? Ask students to think about how they
might find out this information. If they have access to the internet, get them to see if they can
find out the information.
2. How much wheat might be needed to produce the bread? Students need to think about how
much land is needed to produce one loaf of bread.
3. If our population increases by 10% over the next 10 years, how much more wheat do you think
will need to be grown to provide families with bread?
4. Do you think Australia will have enough land to support this increased growth?
5. What might we have to do to ensure we can continue to produce enough bread to feed us?
Have students consider things like the need to import wheat and how we might be able to make
our farming land more sustainable. What is sustainable: what does it mean and why might it be
important? 3
Teacher and student support resource:
movie
ABC From paddock to plate [opens website]
3 Charlie Martin - previous Agribusiness education manager of the Gateway School to Agribusiness Program - Queensland
12
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat >
Australian Cuisine – the food you eat - a result of a diverse and connected world.
LT1 > Activity 4 > Overview
ACTIVITY 4: Australian cuisine – the food you eat - a result of a
diverse and connected world.
Content Descriptor:
Science
English
Science understanding: the growth and survival of living things affected by
the physical conditions of their environment.
ACSHE220
Science as a human endeavour: important contributions to the
advancement of science have been made by people from a range of
cultures.
ACSHE099
Literacy: plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and
sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements.
ACELY1710
For defined audiences and purposes, making appropriate choices for
modality and emphasis.
Geography
History
Geographical knowledge and understanding: the various connections
Australia has with other countries and how these connections change
people and places.
ACHGK035
The effects that people’s connections with and proximity to places
throughout the world have on shaping their awareness and opinion of
those places.
ACHGK036
Geographical inquiry and skills:
Communicating – present findings and ideas in a range of communication
forms, for example: written, oral, graphic, tabular, visual and maps, using
geographical terminology and digital technologies where appropriate.
ACHGS045
Historical knowledge and understanding:
Australia as a nation - stories of groups of people.
Historical skills:
ACHHK115
Chronology, terms and concepts - sequence historical people and events.
ACHHS117
Perspectives and interpretations: identify points of view in the past and
present.
ACHHS123
Explanation and communication - use a range of
communication forms (oral, graphic, written and digital
technologies)
ACHHS125
Learning Outcome
learn
Students will gain an appreciation as to how scientific inquiry can introduce new ways of thinking
about how our land was managed prior to European settlement; a greater understanding of the
influence migration had on developing our Australian cuisine, including influencing what crops now
grow in Australia; and how to communicate what they have learnt in both oral and written formats.
They will also develop an understanding of sequencing events.
Description
This activity introduces scientific inquiry and sequencing of events, and aims to build an
understanding of how food has contributed to creating a diverse and connected world.
Key inquiry questions (Australian curriculum Year 6 - geography):
• How do places, people and cultures differ across the world?
• What are Australian’s global connections between people and places?
• How do people’s connections to places affect their perception of them?
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
13
LT1 > Activity 4 > Work task 1
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat >
Australian Cuisine – the food you eat - a result of a diverse and connected world.
1. Setting the scene
discuss
Food has connected us to other countries and affected our perception of people and places.
Teacher directed discussion:
Begin by getting students to think about the food they previously identified as their favourite food
and what country they think it originally came from, for example: hamburgers – McDonald’s, pizza
– America or Italy or perhaps somewhere else (maybe China?). Potatoes might be associated with
Ireland but actually originated in the Americas (there is a Potato Museum in Lima, Peru).
Student focussed discussion activities
Discuss the idea of where food came from with the students:
So how did all the food we eat first come to Australia?
• What do you think Australian food is?
• Where, when and how do you think different types of food arrived in Australia?
• What role do you think migrants played in bringing different foods to Australia. (Think about
what you learnt in Year 5 history)
2. Investigating and analysis
Work task 1: Australian food before European settlement - did it exist?
Have students think about the food that may have already existed here prior to European settlement.
work
task
Introduce students to this concept by showing them:
Student focussed activity
movie
Tasty bush tucker - Science (6) - ABC Splash (4mins 14 secs) and get them to complete the Things to
think about section
http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/30798/understanding-bush-foods
The film also covers key points such as the harsh conditions of the Australian environment, the
adaption that native plants made to the environment, and why European style farms failed in their
first years here.
OR
Student focussed discussion activities
Work task 1: Bush tucker
work
task
• You are to find out (research) as many types of bush tucker as you can and where such food is
found.
• Why do you think the European settlers didn’t eat the food that was already here?
• What food did they eat instead and why? In the beginning, did the food the early settlers brought
to Australia survive, and if not why not?
• What were the consequences? (You may have them reflect on what they may have learnt in Year 5)
Get students to reflect on what farming techniques were introduced so that food could be produced
by the early settlers.
a) If possible invite a member of the local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community to talk to the students about bush tucker.
b) It is thought that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (First Nations People) didn’t farm the land
as we do today, however this may not be correct. Science understanding has challenged this
notion. A recently published book by Bruce Pascoe – Dark Emu also challenges this notion.
14
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat >
Australian Cuisine – the food you eat - a result of a diverse and connected world.
LT1 > Activity 4 > Work task 2
Student focussed discussion activities
movie
Show students the
First Australians were also the first farmers - Science (6) - ABC Splash (3mins 27 secs) and have them
consider:
Things to think about:
http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/29898/indigenous-eel-farming?source=search
Discuss other examples, including fish traps and herding of kangaroos.
discuss
• Is this farming as Europeans understand it to be?
• What is the definition of farming?
Teacher Support Resource:
You may wish to consider the ideas put forward in a recently released book:
Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
http://www.magabala.com/books/new-releases/dark-emu.html
web
Dark Emu argues for a reconsideration of the ‘hunter-gatherer’ tag for pre-colonial Aboriginal
Australians and attempts to rebut the colonial myths that have worked to justify dispossession.
Accomplished author Bruce Pascoe provides compelling evidence from the diaries of early explorers
that suggests that systems of food production and land management have been blatantly understated
in modern retellings of early Aboriginal history, and that a new look at Australia’s past is required.
Work task 2: The introduction of foods from other places
work
task
Have students reflect on earlier work tasks where they considered the food they eat. Then get them to
think about the fact that, as it isn’t bush tucker, how did the food they eat today arrive in Australia?
Teacher directed discussion:
Thinking about the history they have studied to date, what type(s) of food do they think came with the:
discuss
English colonists
• The arrival of the Chinese on the gold fields
• The influx of European migrants after the Second World War – the Greeks and Italians
• The first refugees from Vietnam, followed by those from the Middle East and then Africa
• What foods do they know of that don’t seem to link with these historical occurrences, such as: KFC,
McDonald’s, Indian food like curries, etc. When and why do they think they arrived in Australia?
You may need to explain the background and terms such as the Second World War, European migrant,
and refugee.
Student focussed activity.
Work task 2: The arrival of foods from other places
In pairs or groups (of no more than four) following our discussion of the arrival of different foods into
Australia, find out when and what food was brought to Australia by the:
• English colonists
• Chinese on the gold fields
• European migrants after the Second World War – the Greeks and Italians
• Refugees from Vietnam, the Middle East and Africa
• When did other types of food arrive, such as: KFC, McDonald’s, Indian food like curries, etc
Extension Question
• Why do you think fast foods like McDonald’s arrived in Australia?
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
15
LT1 > Activity 4 > Work task 3
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat >
Australian Cuisine – the food you eat - a result of a diverse and connected world.
Teacher focussed activity:
work
task
A+
Have students create a map showing the link between the countries where people came from and
those parts of Australia where they settled, for example: the Chinese came from China and settled
around the gold fields of Ballarat in Victoria; the Greeks and Italians settled mostly in Melbourne, the
capital city of Victoria, etc.
Assessment Option
Work task 2: Timeline – the arrival of different foods in Australia
assess
In your groups and using the information from your research on when different foods came to
Australia, you will create a timeline starting with the food Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people ate right through to the food we eat today.
Criteria:
You will be assessed on how well you can put the events into a sequence.
A+
assess
Work task 3: Assessment Option (Summative)
Discuss with students what the word ‘cuisine’ means and the types of restaurants, cafés and fast
food places that are in their communities. Tell them they are going to do a report and presentation on
‘Foods of the world’.
Student self-directed activity
Major project – Australian cuisine reflecting our diverse and connected world
You are to:
1. Choose a food linked to a particular country that has become a part of our Australian cuisine.
You may choose Vietnamese, Chinese, Indonesian, Italian, American, Mexican, Indian, Persian,
Ethiopian or any other one that you are interested in studying.
2. Research your food: what is it, what are its ingredients, what part of the world did it come from,
who originally brought it to Australia (if it wasn’t here already), why did you choose it, if it is your
favourite food think about why it is your favourite, how does it grow, etc?
3. Prepare a report and presentation to share with the class.
4. The report and presentation should include the following:
–– An introduction – why you chose the food
–– Background – e.g. where it came from
–– Interesting things about the food you have chosen
–– Maps and diagrams that help describe your food and its origin and will make your
presentation interesting.
Presentation – this should be no more than five (5) minutes and should have an introduction,
some interesting points you want to share, and a conclusion.
Extension question
• How do you think food is linked to the changes in Australian society – has it led to a more
tolerant society?
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So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat >
Australian Cuisine – the food you eat - a result of a diverse and connected world.
LT1 > Activity 4 > Work task 3
Suggested Criteria:
The purpose of this assessment piece is for students to demonstrate:
• their understanding of geographical knowledge;
• sequencing of both historical events and information (content);
• that they can research information and choose appropriate content; and
• that they can communicate with their peers and teachers through the development of the report
and its subsequent presentation.
In preparation for students to undertake this assessment option it is recommended that you:
• Discuss with students how they might go about researching the history: how and why did the
cuisine/crop they have chosen come to Australia; did it come with immigrants or did it already
grow here; what did farmers have to do to make sure the “food” could grow in Australia, or is it
mostly imported? (Get them to think back to ‘How rice grows’, etc)
• Discuss with students what geographical data they may need to use to support their report and
presentation, particularly including maps (e.g. choropleth maps 4) that will help explain the links
between the diverse nature of Australian cuisine and how it is connected to the rest of the world.
Cooking your favourite dish a final task
work
task
Finally, students could cook a dish from one of the countries of their choice and share it with the
class, during which they can explain where the ingredients came from, the processes that took place
to get the food to the classroom table and some of its history.
OR
Taking a healthy eating approach students could do this activity in groups and share the dish with
the class. This could be a great way to celebrate and consolidate prior learning as well as reinforcing
aspects of healthy eating.
• Refer to the Australian Dietary Guidelines and categorise the ingredients in the dish according to
the chart Australian Guide to Healthy Eating
• Students could discuss how their dish fits with healthy choices. Things students might have to
consider include:
–– What might they need to do to supplement the dish to ensure they eat healthily?
–– Consider if some ingredients could or should be replaced to make it healthier?
–– Is it a dish that could be included regularly in our diet or is it a “treat”?
• In their groups, students should be prepared to explain where the ingredients came from, the
processes that took place to get the food to the classroom and some of its history plus how it fits
into a healthy eating regime
Teacher support resources:
web
How to create a choropleth map [opens website]
Provides a solid overview as to how to create maps that are required by Year 6 in geography
Bush Book – Volume 2 – Chapter 3: Food and Nutrition – The diet of Aboriginal people before
European contact. [opens website]
Provides a short overview of the different types of bush tucker.
ABC – Splash
movie
4 A choropleth map (Greek– + πλήθ[ος]), («area/region» + «multitude») is a thematic map in which areas are shaded or patterned
in proportion to the measurement of the statistical variable being displayed on the map, such as population density or
per-capita income.
The choropleth map provides an easy way to visualise how a measurement varies across a geographic area or it shows the
level of variability within a region.
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
17
Year 6
TEACHER GUIDE
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
Learning topic 2:
So How Is The Food You Eat Produced?
LT2 > Overview
So How Is The Food You Eat Produced?
Learning topic 2: So How Is The Food You Eat
Produced?
Description
This learning topic stimulates students to think about, and gain an understanding of, how our food is
grown or produced. Students will have the opportunity to explore the biological needs of crops and
farm animals, and how farmers use their scientific knowledge to help their decision making. They will
also gain an understanding of how foods can change form, e.g. milk becoming cheese, and how this
happens.
Students will apply their scientific knowledge and understanding and mathematical skills in a practical
way by developing and or designing a garden, as well as selling the produce.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this learning topic students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate their understanding of what physical conditions are required to grow food.
2. Explain how our food is produced and the importance of farmers.
3. Explain the processes of irreversible and reversible change.
4. Apply mathematical formulas: percentages, fractions, scales.
Key Inquiry Questions:
How is our food produced?
• What are the physical needs (environment) to grow food – both crops and animals?
• Why does agriculture need to be sustainable?
Relevant parts of the Achievement Standards:
Students will be able to:
English:
• compare and analyse information from different texts, including digital texts.
• create detailed texts elaborating on key ideas for a range of purposes and audiences. Make
presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions using a variety of strategies
for effect.
• be able to create informative types of texts including reports in a particular style, e.g. news reports.
• demonstrate making considered choices from an expanding vocabulary and make and explain
editorial choices.
Mathematics:
• interpret and compare a variety of data displays and evaluate secondary data displayed in the
media.
• connect fractions, decimals and percentages as different representations of the same number.
• solve problems involving length and area.
Science:
• describe and predict the effect of environmental changes on individual living things.
• compare and classify different types of observable changes to materials, in this case food.
• construct multimodal texts to communicate ideas, methods and findings.
20
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
So How Is The Food You Eat Produced? >
How and By Who is Some of the Food You Eat Produced??
LT2 > Activity 1 > Work Task 1
ACTIVITY 1: How and By Who is Some of the Food You Eat
Produced?
Content Descriptor:
Science
Science understanding: the growth and survival of living things affected by
the physical conditions of their environment.
ACSSU094
Science
Chemical science: changes to materials can be reversible, such as melting or
freezing, or irreversible, such as burning or cooking.
ACSSU095
Learning Outcome
learn
Students will review what they have previously learnt about growing crops and the difference between
a garden and a farm. They will expand their understanding of the physical and biological requirements
for growing food in relation to the farming of animals and the processes involved from the paddock to
plate. Students will also learn to classify changes to materials as irreversible and reversible.
1. Setting the scene
discuss
Teacher directed discussion
Ask students to discuss how they think food is grown/produced. If Learning area 1 of the unit has
been undertaken then this should provide the opportunity to assess the progress of your students:
where are they now and where should they be?
What is a crop? What crops have they already talked about and researched?
Work task 1: Farming animals to produce the food you eat
work
task
Discuss that producing food includes the farming of animals and not just crops. Revise the types of
animals that provide them with the food they eat, for example: McDonald’s hamburgers – meat –
produced by cattle.
Student directed activity
Why do cows make milk /How apiarists farm their bees– ABC From paddock to plate[opens website]
You have watched Why do cows make milk and How apiarists farm their bees, now answer the
following questions:
movie
Dairy
• Why do cows produce milk?
• What happens to the extra milk?
• What other types of food come from milk?
• What are the physical requirements to help cows make milk?
• What could happen to their physical environment that would mean they couldn’t make milk?
Bees
• Describe how honey gets on to your table and what conditions are needed to ensure bees can
make honey. Make a flowchart that shows how the honey gets from the bee to your table.
Extension question
• Find out why bees and honey may become unsustainable in Australia.
Extension question
• What scientific knowledge do farmers need to make sure they can produce the greatest quantity of
best quality food? Find out why bees and honey may not continue to be sustainable in Australia.
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
21
LT2 > Activity 1 > Work Task 2
A+
assess
So How Is The Food You Eat Produced? >
How and By Who is Some of the Food You Eat Produced??
2. Investigation and analysis
Assessment Option: News report
Students are to create a news report on the effect a natural disaster may have on farmers. To prepare
students for this assessment task you will need to discuss with them the style of writing that makes a
news report different to some of the other writing they have done.
Depending on the timeframe you could have students prepare either an online/newspaper report or
a television report (this may take longer if students are to prepare a video).
The aim is for students to explain how natural events cause rapid changes to the earth’s surface and
then to describe and predict the effect environmental changes can have on individual living things.
News Report: Natural disaster creates havoc for farmers
You are going to prepare a news report on a natural disaster that affected farmers in Australia.
Overview:
We have discussed how important the physical environment is to ensuring farmers can grow crops
and farm animals so that we can have food on our table. But sometimes the physical environment
can make life and the growing of crops and animals very hard.
Describe some examples of when you think this might occur. What is a natural disaster? List some
types of natural disasters.
• Choose and research a natural disaster that would have had an effect on a farmer’s crop or
animals.
• Prepare a news report in 150 words that could be used for either television or newspapers. It will
need a catchy introduction, a body with some key facts, and a conclusion.
• Include a description of the natural disaster, why it occurred, and what happened to the farmer’s
crops or animals (how they were affected).
[Hyperlink: PowerPoint – Student Activities and Tasks]
To help students in this task they should look at The Virtual Farm Visit found on the PRIMEZONE
website, particularly the farmer from Kalyeeda Station in the Kimberlys who has to manage his farm
through drought periods.
Work task 2: An introduction to chemical science – the notion of changes that are
reversible and irreversible.
work
task
Teacher directed discussion:
• Discuss with students the idea that cheese is made by milk changing. It’s a chemical change and
is irreversible.
• Have students begin to think about the idea of classifying changes to foods (material): those that
are reversible and those that are irreversible.
• Students should explore how cheese/yoghurt is made: in terms of the scientific concepts of
reversible and irreversible, how they are classified as reversible or irreversible, and why. Which
other foods might be able to be reversed and which can’t, e.g. chocolate can melt but it can also
be reset? What about eggs used in cooking? How does this idea apply to food that is processed?
Teacher directed activity
Have students make yoghurt or ice cream. You could also make cheese but this is a bit more
complex. Making butter is easy; students in their groups could undertake the following activity.
22
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
So How Is The Food You Eat Produced? >
How and By Who is Some of the Food You Eat Produced??
LT2 > Activity 1 > Work Task 2
Student directed activity
work
task
Making butter – is the change irreversible or reversible
Each group has a glass jar containing cream. In your groups take turns in shaking it. You will have to
shake it very hard, then watch what happens.
Did you make butter? Why did this happen? Taste the butter you made. What does it taste like and
smell like? Can it turn back into cream or is the process irreversible?
Extension activity: how do you think ice cream is made? In pairs write a procedure/ recipe for making
ice cream.
Teacher support resources:
Activity 1 can be expanded if you want to focus on other food groups such as eggs, meat or sugar.
OR
You could choose one food group and follow it from the paddock to the plate.
Suggested resources:
There is a range of great resources produced by industry groups that can be accessed via:
• SCOOTLE;
• PRIMEZONE;
• Various agricultural industry groups such as the Meat and Livestock Australia; and
• Visit to the local fruit and vegetable market, e.g. Brisbane Markets.
Here are some examples SCOOTLE:
web
Dairy - as an example of paddock to plate Scootle has a number of resources available
– Discover Dairy
Eggs - Year 6 worksheet on flip egg-vironment
PRIME ZONE:
Has a wealth of resources focused on agriculture: http://www.primaryindustrieseducation.com.au
Take the Virtual Farm Visit
This program discusses sustainability issues on three Australian cattle and sheep farms in the
Kimberlys, central-western NSW and Gippsland. Teacher guides include summaries of video
content and questions for students. This appealing resource allows students to study the different
farms from a range of viewpoints. Farmers discuss techniques, market influences, technology, and
environmental factors in relation to quality products, land management and financial viability.
Farms of the future
Bing and Larry, Landlearn Vic’s mascots, take students on a fun journey via a four minute animated
video showing how Australian farmers produce some of the best food in the world and the great
variety of foods that are grown by farmers in Victoria.
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
23
LT2 > Activity 2 > Overview
So How Is The Food You Eat Produced? >
So How About Growing Your Own Garden
ACTIVITY 2: So How About Growing Your Own Garden –
“Grow, cook, eat, learn”
Content Descriptor:
Science
Mathematics
Science understanding: the growth and survival of living things affected
by the physical conditions of their environment
ACSSU094
Chemical science: changes to materials can be reversible, such as
melting or freezing, or irreversible, such as burning or baking.
ACSSU095
Chance: describe probabilities using fractions, decimals and
percentages.
ACMSP144
Fractions and decimals: compare fractions with related denominators
and locate and represent them on a number line.
ACMNA124
Add and subtract decimals with and without digital technologies and
use estimation and rounding to check the reasonableness of answers.
ACMNA128
Money and financial mathematics: investigate and calculate percentage
discounts of 10%, 25%, and 50% on sale items with and without
technologies.
Learning Outcome
learn
Students will put into practice their scientific understanding in relation to the growth and survival
of living things, and how these living things are affected by the physical conditions in their
environment. Students apply mathematical skills to designing and selling produce from their garden:
understanding scale, percentages and fractions.
1. Setting the scene
discuss
Activity 2 can be as simple as creating a garden in a box or a small plot within the schoolyard, where
students can grow an individual plant type such as tomatoes or herbs, or it can be as expansive as a
full scale kitchen garden, such as the Stephanie Alexander kitchen garden project:
https://www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au/‎
Teacher directed discussion:
• Revisit the idea of what a garden is. Consider the types of gardens that exist, making sure
students understand the gardens in this activity are not flower gardens but ones that grow food
we can eat.
• Have the students come up with suggestions, e.g. balcony gardens and communal gardens.
• Why might people want these sorts of gardens?
• When does a garden become a farm? We grow strawberries in gardens but that can’t feed
everyone so we have strawberry farms.
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So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
So How Is The Food You Eat Produced? >
So How About Growing Your Own Garden
LT2 > Activity 2 > Work Task 1
2. Investigation and analysis
work
task
Work task 1: Growing a Garden
Show students and have them consider:
a) Growing a garden
movie
After watching Vegetable gardens - Science (3,4,6) - ABC Splash (5mins 18 secs)
[hyperlinked – web]
complete the Things to think about section.
Showing students this movie is highly recommended as it provides a good introduction to how they
can grow a garden almost anywhere, even if they live in a unit or an apartment. However, if you are
unable to show the film the following is recommended.
Have students create their own garden in a box. You may wish to provide the students with herbs,
the potting mix and the boxes (obtained from supermarkets), or you can have students collect their
own box, potting mix and herbs. It is recommended that the students are provided with disposable
gloves and that you demonstrate what they will need to do.
Garden in a box
Working in pairs, you are going to create your own garden in a box with a few plants such as herbs.
work
task
First watch the movie Vegetable gardens – [hyperlinked to web]
Then you will need to:
• Select the herbs you wish to grow.
movie
• Fill the box with potting mix, make rows as shown in the film, plant your seeds, cover them with
potting mix and water them in.
• You will now need to take responsibility for making sure your garden gets the attention needed
to ensure the survival of your living herbs.
• You should make a checklist of what these important things are that you will need to do to make
sure your herbs survive.
• Once your herbs have grown make a note of what was required to make sure they survived and
thrived. If they didn’t survive try to work out why not.
Work task 2: Growing a garden and selling the produce.
work
task
As part of this activity students will have the opportunity to:
• prepare a garden space using mathematical scale;
• grow produce they will be able to sell;
• consider the environmental conditions required to ensure a healthy crop; and
• summarise their findings.
By undertaking this task students will have the opportunity to understand how food is grown while
also applying mathematics to the construction of the garden and sale of the produce.
Note: this work task should be adapted to fit your students’ learning needs and their specific
environment. If garden space is not available, this activity can be undertaken using polystyrene
boxes.
At this stage it may be helpful to revise the concept of scale with students.
Scootle :Scale matters - range of numbers
web
Equipment required for the task: seeds or seedlings, pegs, tape measure, rulers
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
25
LT2 > Activity 2 > Work Task 3
So How Is The Food You Eat Produced? >
So How About Growing Your Own Garden
Work task 2: Growing a garden and selling the produce
You are going to create your own small vegetable garden.
work
task
Equipment: seeds or seedlings, pegs, tape measure, rulers, gloves, potting mix or fertilisers,
spades.
Choose at least four different vegetables to grow depending on the season (your teacher may
provide you with appropriate seeds or seedlings).
Select a garden size, e.g. 20 m x 8 m.
Estimate the size by stepping out the dimensions, then measure out the garden size with a tape and
place pegs in the corners.
Next draw a scaled map of your garden so it can fit on an A4 page (you are only going to draw the
outside shape of your garden using scale, e.g. 1:100 - this is to introduce you to scale).
Your teacher will give you the width of rows for planting, e.g. 1 m, and tell you how far each
vegetable should be away from each other, e.g. lettuces 30 to 40 cm.
Why do some plants need more space than others?
(To enable students to understand approximations when planting, get them to use rulers to help
understand how far these measurements are, e.g. 30 to 40 cm from elbow to fingers).
Draw row lines to scale, with 2 or 3 rows for each vegetable.
Draw to scale with a cross for each plant. You can then add up the total number of seedlings needed
for each vegetable you are going to grow.
Your teacher will tell you the number of seedlings in a punnet. You will then need to calculate how
many punnets you will need.
Now go ahead and plant your garden.
You will now need to look after your garden by weeding, watering and mulching it until your produce
is ready for sale. This will occur at the beginning of every lesson.
In the meantime you are also going to:
Prepare/design order forms in preparation for selling the goods.
Decide on a selling price, perhaps 60% of the supermarket price.
Find out the current supermarket prices per kg for your produce and then work out your selling
price. For example, if zucchini are selling for $5.00 per kg in the supermarket, your selling price for
zucchini will be $5.00 x 60%=$3.00.
You are to keep a working log of all your work, including how the environment has impacted on your
garden. You are also to keep a financial record of money in and money out.
[Hyperlink: PowerPoint – Student Activities and Tasks]
OR
Work task 3: Design your own garden, based on Design your own park.
work
task
web
26
Working in a team of four you are going to design your own garden after having looked at ‘Design
your own park’.
(Design your own park – found at Scootle)
This work task can easily be adapted to the concept of designing your own garden. It explores how to
express fractions and display them in different ways. Students select boxes within the grid and view
or enter corresponding fractions and their equivalents. They can also interact with a dynamic number
line to express fractions differently. This learning object is one in a series of two objects combined as
‘Park fractions’.
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
So How Is The Food You Eat Produced? >
So How About Growing Your Own Garden
LT2 > Activity 2 > Work Task 4
The outcome of this activity is that students will understand fractions from a practical perspective.
OR
Work task 4: The kitchen garden
web
“In a garden there is nature, science, maths and vocabulary: in a kitchen it’s the same. It (the kitchen
garden) crosses over so many areas of the curriculum.” Peter Burke, Principal, Daylesford Primary
School.5
Many schools have developed their own garden. The school garden provides the perfect opportunity
to deliver subjects such as mathematics and science within an agricultural context, as well as
introducing students to healthy eating. Stephanie Alexander’s ‘Kitchen garden program’ provides
funding support for kitchen gardens:
A+
assess
Work task 4: From the paddock/ocean to the plate
This is the final task, the one that will have students demonstrating that they understand the process
of getting food from the paddock/garden onto their plates. Prior to students undertaking this task
you may wish to revise what a flowchart is and help students understand the meaning of sequencing.
The section Supporting Resources from ABC Splash Paddock to plate resource may assist in showing
students what a flow chart can look like.
Student self-directed activity
Work task 4: From the paddock/ocean to the plate
As a team of four you are going to:
Choose one of the foods you have talked about, e.g. milk, eggs, bread, meat, fish.
Create a flow chart that shows the steps in the process from the paddock to the plate.
You will need to think about sequence.
Teacher support resource
SCOOTLE:
web
Scale matters: range of numbers
Overview
Explore the use of scale on a number line. Select a ruler displaying a scale such as ones, tenths or
hundredths. Look at a pair of numbers marked on a number line. Identify the number corresponding
to another point. Or locate another point on the number line to complete a series of three
numbers. Apply a marked scale to help you estimate the relative distances. This learning object is a
combination of four objects in a series of seven objects.
Design your own park
web
Overview
Use this tool to explore how to express fractions and display them in different ways. Select boxes
within the grid and view or enter corresponding fractions and their equivalents. Interact with a
dynamic number line to express fractions differently. This learning object is one in a series of two
objects combined as ‘Park fractions’.
5
“Grow and know” – Aplus, Weekend Australian, November 9-10 October 2013 p2
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
27
APPENDIX
APPENDIX
1. Additional teacher support resources
ABC Bush Telegraph: School kids teach farm to plate ethos
Hobart primary school students are teaching each other about where their food comes from.
A great resource demonstrating how effective it is having students teach each other about food and
the environment.
ABC Splash: Using greywater in the garden - Science (6,7)
web
ABC Splash: Building a school garden - Science (3,6)
Prime Zone: www.primezone.edu.au/‎
An excellent website for finding a range of topics related to agriculture
Building your school garden together
CarbonKids, CSIRO Education, PO Box 225, Dickson ACT 2602 or email: [email protected] or
phone: (02) 6276 6804; URL http://www.csiro.au/resources/carbonkids.html
Sustainable farming:
Target 100 is an initiative by Australian cattle and sheep farmers, along with the broader industry, to
deliver sustainable cattle and sheep farming by 2020.
Farms of the future:
Bing and Lary, Landlearn Victoria’s mascots, take students on a fun journey via a four minute
animated video to show how our farmers produce some of the best food in the world, at the same
time as describing how many different foods are grown by farmers in Victoria.
Meat and Livestock Australia: Cattle, sheep and goat industries fast facts
2. Links to the Australian curriculum
2.1 Relevant Australian curriculum content descriptions
Mathematics:
Strand: Statistics and probability
Chance: describe probabilities using fractions, decimals and percentages (ACMSP144).
English:
Strand: Literacy
• Creating texts: reread and edit student’s work (ACELY1714).
• Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and
multimodal elements for defined audiences and purposes, making appropriate choices for
modality and emphasis (ACELY1710).
• Use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse information and ideas, comparing content
from a variety of textual sources including media and digital texts (ACELY1713).
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So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
APPENDIX
Science:
Strand: Science understanding
• Biological needs of plants and changes to material.
• The growth and survival of living things affected by the physical conditions of their environment
(ACSHE220) and the use of scientific knowledge to inform personal and community decisions.
Strand: Science as human endeavour
• Important contributions to the advancement of science have been made by people from a range
of cultures (ACSHE099).
History:
Strand: Historical knowledge and understanding
• Australia as a nation: stories of groups of people (ACHHK115).
Strand: Historical skills
• Chronology, terms and concepts: sequence historical people and events (ACHHS117).
• Perspectives and interpretations: identify points of view in the past and present (ACHHS123).
• Explanation and communication: use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written and
digital technologies) (ACHHS125).
Geography:
Strand: Geographical knowledge and understanding
• The various connections Australia has with other countries and how these connections change
people and places (ACHGK035). The effects that people’s connections with and proximity to
places throughout the world have on shaping their awareness and opinion of those places
(ACHGK036).
Strand: Geographical inquiry and skills
• Communicating: present findings and ideas in a range of communication forms, for example
written, oral, graphic, tabular, visual and maps, using geographical terminology and digital
technologies where appropriate (ACHGS045).
2.2 Australian curriculum achievement standards
This unit supports the following key learning areas and aims to achieve the following standards
identified in the Australian curriculum for Year 6.
This unit will enable students to:
English
Receptive modes (listening, reading and viewing)
• compare and analyse information from different texts, including digital texts. They will be able to
listen to discussions, clarifying content and challenging others’ ideas in relation to “Where food
comes from”. (ACELY 1710)
Productive modes (speaking, writing and creating)
• create detailed texts elaborating on key ideas for a range of purposes and audiences (ACELY
1713). Make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions using a variety
of strategies for effect (ACELA 1524); and
• be able to create informative types of texts including reports, reviews, explanations and
discussions ( ACELA 1524) (ACELY 1712).
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
29
APPENDIX
Mathematics
• solve problems involving all four operations with whole numbers.
• solve problems involving the addition and subtraction of related fractions.
• interpret and compare a variety of data displays and evaluate secondary data displayed in the
media (ACMSP147) and (ACMSP148).
Science
• describe and predict the effect of environmental changes on individual living things.
• explain how scientific knowledge is used in decision making and identify contributions to the
development of science by people from a range of cultures.
• follow procedures to develop and investigate questions and design investigations into simple
cause and effect relationships.
History
• sequence events and people (their lifetime) in chronological order and represent time by creating
timelines.
• identify a range of sources and locate and compare information to answer inquiry questions.
Geography
• explain the characteristics of diverse places in different locations at different scales from local to
global.
• describe the interconnection between people and places.
• develop geographical questions to frame an inquiry.
• locate information from a range of sources to answer inquiry questions, and represent data and
location of places and their characteristics in different graphic forms, e.g. large-scale and smallscale maps.
• interpret data and other information to identify and compare spatial distributions, patterns and
trends to draw conclusions.
30
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
APPENDIX
List of websites
Teacher support resources listed in the text
Australian Curriculum – Content Descriptors and Achievement Standards
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Year6
Agriculture – The Greatest Story Never Told – You Tube Video
Google – Agriculture – The Greatest Story Never Told
Bill Baileys – FACE
Google – Bill Baileys – FACE
ABC From Paddock to Plate http://splash.abc.net.au/res/teacher_res/3-paddock-plate.html
PRIME ZONE: www.primezone.edu.au/
Maths Year 5 and 6 Chance Data – data (Scootle)
https://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/login.action
Topic 10- Lessons – Farm to Fork
http://www.organicschools.com.au/teaching-resources/curriculum-materials/topic-10-farm-to-fork/
The art of persuasive writing: doing the work
http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/viewing/S5595/index.html
Growing an organic edible garden - English Science (5,6) - ABC Splash (3mins 3 secs)
http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/152968/growing-an-organic-edible-garden?source=search
Grass-fed beef or grain-fed beef? - English (5,6) - ABC Splash (3mins 56 secs)
http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/153232/grass-fed-beef-or-grain-fed-beef-?source=search
Great Year 6 worksheet on flip egg-viornment – Investigating animal welfare.
http://www.eggs.org.au/assets/eggs.org.au/Education/AECL00027-Teacher-Resource-Yr6.pdf
Scootle: Organic and Free Range
http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/food-and-health/food-and-drink/organic-and-freerange.aspx
ABC Bush Telegraph Wilbur 101 Ethical Production at Wilbur’s Farm
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bushtelegraph/wilbur-101-broadcast/5167092
Australian Organic Schools
http://www.organicschools.com.au/
Where Does Bread Come From/ How Do You Grow Rice – ABC From Paddock to Plate
http://splash.abc.net.au/res/teacher_res/3-paddock-plate.html
Tasty bush tucker - Science (6) - ABC Splash and get them to complete the –
http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/30798/understanding-bush-foods
First Australians were also the first farmers - Science (6) - ABC Splash (3mins 27 secs)
http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/29898/indigenous-eel-farming?source=search
Bush Book – Volume 2 – Chapter 3: Food and Nutrition – The diet of Aboriginal People before
European contact.
http://www.nt.gov.au/health/healthdev/health_promotion/bushbook/volume2/chap3/before.html
How to create a choropleth map
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/geography/chlormap.htm
Why do cows make milk /How apiarists farm their bees– ABC From Paddock to Plate
http://splash.abc.net.au/res/teacher_res/3-paddock-plate.html
So You Think You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
31
Eggs
http://www.eggs.org.au/
Vegetable gardens - Science (3,4,6) - ABC Splash (5mins 18 secs)
http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/106432/vegetable-gardens?source=search
Vegetable gardens –
http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/106432/vegetable-gardens?source=search
Scootle :Scale matters: range of numbers
Design your own park – found at Scootle
Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden Program–.
http://www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au/join-the-program/join-the-program
Virtual Farm visit
http://www.mla.com.au/Cattle-sheep-and-goat-industries
Additional Teacher Support Resources:
ABC Bush Telegraph:
School Kids Teach Farm to Plate Ethos
Hobart primary school students are teaching each other about where their food comes from
A great resource demonstrating how effective having students teach each other about food and the
environment.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-12/kids-teaching-kids-primary-school-environment-foodeducation/4954036#.UjQUaxB2X_0.email
ABC SPLASH:
Using greywater in the garden - Science (6,7) - ABC Splash
http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/30744/using-greywater-in-the-garden?source=search
Building a school garden - Science (3,6) - ABC Splash
http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/30753/the-patch-school-garden
Building your School Garden Together
http://www.primaryindustrieseducation.com.au/primezone/buildingschoolgarden.pdf
CarbonKids, CSIRO Education, PO Box 225, Dickson ACT 2602 or email: [email protected] or
phone: (02) 6276 6804; URL http://www.csiro.au/resources/carbonkids.html
Sustainable Farming
http://www.target100.com.au/Home
Meat and Livestock Australia has – Beef Industry Fast Facts
http://www.mla.com.au/Cattle-sheep-and-goat-industries
AgriFood Skills Australia
General inquiries:
Phone: 02 6163 7200
Fax: 02 6162 0610
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.agrifoodskills.net.au
Location:
Level 3, 10-12 Brisbane Avenue
Barton
ACT 2600
Postal address:
PO Box 5450
Kingston
ACT 2604