The ABC of Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths in Food Production (ABC STEM in Food Production) has been produced for science week (13-22 March 2015) but it can be used at any time so don’t worry if your science week is already over flowing with science! This will give you a taste of the experience of having a farm yard in your classroom – but without the muck and without the smells!
The ABC STEM in Food Production gives the ABC’s of the part science, technology, engineering & maths play in modern food production. See how Bees, Cows, Digestion, Evolution, Fermentation….. Interactive screen and Lasers play a part in modern food production.
Use ABC STEM in Food Production in your classroom, assemblies, either as one medium learning bite or in small daily bites!
You can use either with a PowerPoint to download, or with Twitter:
We will tweet each of the ABC’s over 5 days as a series of questions or tasks to find out what the next letter will stand for. Each days learning bites will end with a video giving all the days letters with up close and personal images of the science, technology, pigs, cows, and machines involved in the production of our food.
Don’t worry if your school does not tweet or you are worried about the use of social media with young pupils we will put the tweets safely on here so you can safely introduce your class to social media. If you’d rather not use social media for this then see below for a PowerPoint alternative to download. But we think you should watch some of the videos you will be sharing with your pupils…..
PowerPoint Versions We have done 2 PowerPoint versions one simply gives the letters and word for you to show and then use the above videos at the relevant points. The second uses the same quiz idea as the Twitter version but via PowerPoint rather than social media in case your school does not allow social media on the classroom. Go to PowerPoint page for more details
NATIONAL CURRICULUM SUBJECTS LINKS.
Our programs link too many parts of the curriculum. Some of these links are directly through the content. Other links are dependent on the way you use these videos for class discussions etc. I have added some comments to each of the sections of the curriculum below and how the videos show or highlight these areas, either to connect to current learning or revise past learning. Curriculum Links to video contentTechnology – Cooking & Nutrition
Key stage 1
- Understand where food comes from.
Key stage 2
- Understand seasonality, and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed.
The videos show the cycles of how food is produced throughout the year giving a far better understanding of the time it takes to produce food and its connection with seasonality.
Science
For Year 1 pupils the videos show the life cycles of plants and animals, how they are sown or born then grow and are harvested. This is shown as it really happens and linked to the seasons.Year 1
Plants
- Identify and name a variety of common plants,including garden plants,wild plants and trees,and those classified as deciduous and evergreen
- Identify and describe the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including roots, stem/trunk, leaves and flowers
Animals Including humans
- Identify and name a variety of common animals that are birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and invertebrates
- Identify and name a variety of common animals that are carnivores, herbivores and omnivores
- Describe and compare the structure of a variety of common animals (birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and invertebrates, and including pets)
Seasonal Changes
- Observe changes across the four seasons
- Observe and describe weather associated with the seasons and how day length varies.
Year 2
For year 2 pupils the videos allow them to observe the life cycles of plants and animals and how farmers provide for the basic needs of both their animals and plants.Living things and their habitats
- Explore and compare the differences between things that are living, dead,and things that have never been alive.
- Identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe how different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants, and how they depend on each other
- Identify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including micro-habitats
- Describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain, and identify and name different sources of food
Plants
- Observe and describe how seed sand bulbs grow into mature plants
- Find out and describe how plants need water, light and a suitable temperature to grow and stay healthy
Animals including humans
- Notice that animals,including humans,have off spring which grow into adults
- Find out about and describe the basic needs of animals, including humans,for survival (water, food and air)
Year 3
For year 3 pupils the videos give you the opportunity to link to the parts of plants and how this is important to the food we eat from each part of the plant. How animals need a balanced diet just like humans.Plants
- Identify and describe the functions of different parts of flowering plants: roots, stem/trunk, leaves and flowers
- Explore the requirements of plants for life and growth (air, light, water, nutrients from soil, and room to grow) and how they vary from plant to plant
- Investigate the way in which water is transported within plants
- Explore the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal
Animals including humans
- Identify that animals,including humans,need the right types and amount of nutrition,and that they cannot make their own food;they get nutrition from what they eat
Rocks
- Recognise that soils are made from rocks and organic matter.
Year 4
For year 4 pupils the videos will help them make connections between work on classification and the animals found locally on farms and in the countryside. Use this as a basis for the construction of their first food chains based on the food they eat.Living things and their habitats
- Recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways
- Explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment
- Recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things.
Animals including humans
- Construct and interpret a variety of food chains, identifying producers, predators and prey
Year 5
For year 5 pupils the videos will allow them to follow the life cycles on local animals and plants which they would not be able to witness as they progress through the year.All living things
- Describe the differences in the life cycles of a mammal, an amphibian, an insect and a bird
- Describe the life process of reproduction in some plants and animals
Year 6
For year 6 pupils the videos will allow pupils to observe different local living things and use their knowledge of classification to put them into groups. The way farmers select breeding animals is also a good way to start the teaching of evolution and inheritance.Living things and their habitats
- Describe how living things are classified into broad groups according to common observable characteristics and based on similarities and differences, including micro-organisms, plants and animals
- Give reasons for classifying plants and animals based on specific characteristics
Evolution and inheritance
- Recognise that living things have changed over time and that fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the Earth millions of years ago
- Recognise that living things produce offspring of the same kind, but normally offspring vary and are not identical to their parents
- Identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution
English
- Participate in discussions and debates
- Articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions
Year 1
- Listening to and discussing a wide range of non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently
Year 2
- Listening to, discussing and expressing views about a wide range of contemporary and classic poetry, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently
- Writing narratives about personal experiences and those of others (real and fictional)
- Writing about real events
- Writing for different purposes
Year 3-4
Pupils should continue to have opportunities to write for a range of real purposes and audiences as part of their work across the curriculum. These purposes and audiences should underpin the decisions about the form the writing should take, such as a narrative, an explanation or a description
Year 5-6
Distinguish between statements of fact and opinion
Maths
Year 1-2
Teaching should also involve using a range of measures to describe and compare different quantities such as length, mass, capacity/volume, time and money.
Year 3
- Interpret and present data using bar charts, pictograms and tables
Year 4
- Interpret and present discrete and continuous data using appropriate graphical methods, including bar charts and time graphs.
- Solve comparison, sum and difference problems using information presented in bar charts, pictograms, tables and other graphs
Art
Key Stage 1
- To use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination
Key Stage 2
- To create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas
Computing
Computing has deep links with mathematics, science, and design and technology, and provides insights into both natural and artificial systems Link this to its use in modern food production
Key stage 1
- Use technology purposefully to create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital content
- Recognise common uses of information technology beyond school
Key stage 2
- Select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to design and create a range of programs, systems and content that accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information
Geography
A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching should equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments.
Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.
Understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time.
Agriculture, horticulture food production and the countryside are an excellent way to cover many of these points.Key stage 1
Pupils should develop knowledge about the world, the United Kingdom and their locality. They should understand basic subject-specific vocabulary relating to human and physical geography and begin to use geographical skills, including first-hand observation, to enhance their locational awareness
Human and physical geography
- Identify seasonal and daily weather patterns in the United Kingdom ……
- Use basic geographical vocabulary to refer to:
- key physical features, including: forest, hill, river, soil, valley, vegetation, season and weather
- Key human features, including: city, town, village, factory, farm, house, office, port, harbour and shop
- Use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment – could be rural!
Key stage 2
Locational knowledge
- Name and locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom, geographical regions and their identifying human and physical characteristics, key topographical features (including hills, mountains, coasts and rivers), and land-use patterns; and understand how some of these aspects have changed over time
Human and physical geography
- Describe and understand key aspects of:
- human geography, including: types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water
History
Key stage 1
- Changes within living memory. Where appropriate, these should be used to reveal aspects of change in national life.
- Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality
ECO SCHOOL TOPIC LINKS
With apologies if we are ‘teaching grandma to suck eggs’ here are some of our thoughts on how our videos link to the Eco School Topics Showing pupils just which of their food products are grown in this country will give them important background knowledge when discussing transport, energy and global perspective of food production and the healthy living choices they make when they go to the shops.Energy
- Growing food and the associated energy costs of buying home grown food or imported food
Water
- Use of water to grow plants
Biodiversity
- How growing studying local habitats and where pest are found can help local biodiversity
School grounds
- How the simple act of hunting for mini-beasts can help build up a picture of the school grounds in preparation for the design and creation of new features in your school grounds
Healthy living
- How growing your own produce can promote healthy living by promoting a healthy diet and also promoting exercise in the act of growing that produce. The improvement of school ground can also aid mental well being.
Transport
- Reduce transport costs of food by growing your own local produce.
Litter
- When carrying out gardening tasks introduce children to tidy habits – pick up all packaging and dispose of ‘thoughtfully’ – see waste
- When outside be it school, garden or countryside “Take only photos Leave only footprints!”
Waste
- Explain that gardening and farming is and always has been synonymous with recycling. Re-use seed trays, compost is made from last years ‘recycled’ plants. Think twice abut where to put litter – bin or recycle?
Global citizenship
- Explain how even the little things we do – where how food comes from, how much we recycle, our biodiversity, can affect the whole world be it good or bad!
