1

Activities 5, 6 and 7

A visit to the farm

Grade level:Grade 4

School subjects:human sciences, natural science,English, visual arts

EE Objectives:

  • awareness,
  • knowledge.

Objectives:

  • Learn about food that is produced close to Dieppe.
  • Improve knowledge of geography.
  • Learn about the role of the farm in a rural community.

Teaching strategy:Socioconstructivist approach

Duration:two45 minute periods and a one day field trip

Required materials:creative journal, colorcrayons

Information for the teacher:The visit to the farm will allow students to learn more about sustainable eating. With the help of the questions prepared in class, students will be able to ask questions to the farmer about his farm and its role the food supply system.

The local mixed farms areimportant for many reasons. The distance between the farm and where the product is sold greatly affects the production of greenhouse gases. A certain item that must travel over long distances affects the climate more than an item that is produced locally. Small and medium sized farms have the tendency of diversifying their production. A diversified production increases food security of a region and helps to reduce its dependence on food from the outside. These farms generally use less pesticide for their harvest and offer more sane conditions to farm animals. Their products contain fewer substances that can be harmful to our health. As well, in many rural communities, farms play an important economic role. Without these farms, many communities would have a hard time to survive and their citizens move to regions where there are more job opportunities.

Procedure:

Activity 5:

- Tell students that they will have the chance to visit a farm in order to better understand the problem of sustainable eating in Dieppe.

- Ask students to name different farms that sell their products at the Dieppe Farmers’ Market and to locate them on a map of the province.

- Givethem the basic information on the farm that will be visited. Explain that at the Belliveau orchard, they don’t only produce apples. The farm also has cattle, corn and squash fields, cherry trees, pear trees, plum trees and a processing plant that transforms fruits into juices and wines.

- Divide students into teams.

- Ask one team to prepare questions for the farmer. The questions are written on a big poster. Here are a few examples: Why did you become a farmer? Since when are you a farmer? What is the history of this farm? What do you produce and why? How many employees do you have? To whom do you sell your produce and how do they get to the area where they are sold?

- Ask another team to prepare questions about the fruit trees and the storage of these fruits. Here are examples: When do you pick them? How many employees help for the picking? How old are the trees? At what age does a fruit tree produce fruit? How many trees do you have? Can the trees and the fruits be damaged by animals or insects? What varieties do you have? Do you have to upkeep the trees? If so, when and how? How do you store the fruits?

- Ask a third team to prepare questions about the cattle (beef).Hare are examples: How many cows do you have? What do they eat? Who buys the meat? Who prepares the animals for consumption? What species do you have and why? How long do you keep them before killing them for consumption?

- Ask a fourth team to prepare questions about the vegetable garden. Here are examples: How do you prepare the field (with what equipment)? When do you plant the seeds? How many employees work in these fields? Who buys these vegetables and where do they buy them?

- Ask a fifth team to prepare questions for the juice and the wine? Here are examples: Where do you sell these products? When do you make them and much time does it take?

- Hang the posters in the class and invite students to circulate and add questions if they wish.

Activity 6:

- Explain the outing to students. The different types of questions will be asked at the time where the concerned elements are visited (cattle, fruit trees,…).

- Once at the farm, students first ask questions prepared for the farmer and the farm’s history.

- When the visit and the questions are done, invite students to pick apples in the orchard.

Activity 7:

- Orally revise the more relevant questions that were asked during the visit. Put the emphasis on the questions concerning the sale of produce, the important periods of time for the farm and the farm’s role in the community.For example, the period of time where apples are picked, when the trees are trimmed, number of employees…

- Discuss on the importance of the farm in a rural community as well as in a bigger region, for example South-east New Brunswick. Ask questions such as: Do you think farms are important in a rural community and why? Do you think farms are important for Dieppe and why? Why do you think that not many young adults want to become farmers? How could we help farmers in our region?

- Ask students to make a drawing of the farm in their creative journal and to include the different sectors of the farm.

Lesson:

Ask students to make a list of the information that they have gathered up to date and that they think is important for the research on sustainable eating. Ask them to note what they remember and what would be useful sustainable eating advice for citizens of Dieppe.