Acknowledgements

Written by:

Denise Ford – LeistonPrimary School

Madeline Johnson – CastleHillInfant School

Thanks to:

James Moldon – Stanaway Farm

Janet Fendley – CountyAdvisory Service, Science

Linda Nixon – Education Business Partnership

Linda Cartwright – Education Business Partnership

Hannah Williams – Suffolk Agricultural Association

Brigit Parker – Suffolk Agricultural Association

Farming and the Countryside

Farming and the countryside provide a unique context for learning in a formal sense through the delivery of the National Curriculum and in an informal sense by enriching a child’s understanding of the world around them.

Through this pack we hope we have given you some ideas to deliver the primary curriculum in new and imaginative ways which will also help pupils to develop key skills.

Ideally, this pack should be combined with a class visit to Stanaway Farm.* As well as farm tour, teachers can also take advantage of the dedicated on site class room facilities at the farm.

A farm visit literally allows the teacher to extend the classroom outdoors and to study so many different aspects of the curriculum as the diagram below illustrates.

It also allows children to begin to understand the delicate balance between their future demands as consumers and the natural world around them – an ideal way to introduce concepts of citizenship and sustainability.

A farm visit helps a child to develop thinking skills, to process information and to gain confidence by asking questions and participating in the group visit and discussions. Finally, a visit to a working farm gives a child a whole range of new and exciting experiences such as the sights and sounds of nature and farm machinery.

* Or any other suitable farm.

Stanaway Farm

Stanaway Farm is a 780acre arable farm at Otley, six miles to the north of Ipswich.

The soil type is mainly heavy clay-loams and sandy clay-loams over chalky boulder clay.

The farm grows the following crops for human and animal use:

Crop / Average Acres
Milling Wheat / 123 acres
Feed Wheat / 173 acres
Winter Barley / 50 acres
Winter Oil Seed Rape / 74 acres
Winter Beans / 50 acres
Sugar Beet / 17 acres

Stanaway Farm is owned by the Felix Thornley Cobbold Trust – a charity formed in 1909 to promote agricultural education and good farming practices. It aims to combine consideration for wildlife and the environment with economic crop production.

The farm carries out an active programme of conservation including tree and hedgerow planting. Wide shelterbelts provide abundant wildlife habitat and movement corridors between scattered woodland areas. Recent entrance into the Countryside Stewardship Scheme has meant grass margins gave been added to, Hedge planting has increased and field and hedge maintenance has been improved.

The farm has recently invested in the Felix Cobbold Centre which provides dedicated classroom facilities for schools to combine a tour of the farm and the use of the facilities.

The farm is a member of LEAF (Linking the Environment and Farming) and has recently been appointed a LEAF innovation site demonstrating that it represents best practise in terms of commercial farming and care for the environment.

Introduction

Welcome to the Countryside Curriculum, a resource for primary school pupils of all abilities. It is designed to be used in the context of a visit to Stanaway Farm or any other suitable farm. However, there are many other activities which can be carried out in the classroom, school grounds or the environment of the school.

The pack is in two sections. Firstly, a series of “hands on” investigative activities designed to be carried out during, and immediately after, the visit. They involve the class in the following ways:

  • fact finding by asking the farmer questions;
  • observing and note taking with follow up possibilities in the classroom.

Secondly, the pack contains some curriculum specific lesson plans, from reception to year six, to explore aspects of farming and the countryside in greater depth through science and design/technology.

Farming and Art!

The class could be encouraged to think about their visit to the farm and to express what they have experienced through art. You may like to try some of these activities. Some could be carried out during the visit and some could be developed in the classroom.

  • Ask the children to work in groups to design and make a labeled model of the farm you have visited. They should include crops, buildings and machinery using appropriate materials.
  • During your visit to the farm, ask the children to make drawings of the outside of the barn looking closely at the building and how it fits into the surrounding landscape. Encourage the children to show how the building contrasts with the natural environment around it and to illustrate the different textures, colours and patterns they observe. They could also illustrate the inside of the barn showing the variety of different shapes and textures and note how the different areas of the barn are used. Ask them to annotate their drawings with key words to describe the buildings. Alternatively, this project could be done in the classroom if a series of photographs of the barn are taken during your visit.
  • As a class, follow a sound trail around the farm listening for different noises such as birdsong, farm machinery and any other sounds. You could make a tape of the sounds you hear to listen to back in the classroom or simply ask the children to make notes listing all the different sounds they hear [during a timed session at different locations around the farm]. Discuss the different sounds back in school and what they might mean. For example, can the children identify different reasons for birds to be singing.

Farming and the greenhouse effect

Farming raises many issues about sustainability and the environment. As a class, ask the farmer prepared questions about these and any other issues you can think of. Make notes during the visit for a discussion in class.

  • How can the growing of oilseed rape be beneficial to the environment? Examine the table below. Where could you find more information?

Product

/

Crop

/ Benefit to environment

Transport fuels

/

Wheat

/ Reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Transport fuels

/

Sugarbeet

Transport fuels

/

Oilseed rape

  • Why do greenhouse gasses need to be reduced?
  • What effect has there been on the farm with milder/wetter winters?
  • What effect on farming and wildlife does planting a new hedgerow have?
  • Is ‘set-aside’ beneficial to just wildlife or does the farmer benefit too?
  • How does encouraging wildlife onto the land have positive effects for the farm?
  • What effect can pesticides have upon the local environment?

Farming – Now and then

A visit to the farm allows children to explore how past farming methods differ from the present. Here are some activities putting farming in a historical context to carry out during the visit and back in the classroom.

  • As you visit the farm, look out for the different farm machinery and encourage the children to ask the farmer what they are used for. Back at school, ask the children to make a list of the different machines and what they do. As a class, discuss the changes that have occurred over the last 50 or even 100 years. Consider how the job of a farm worker might have changed over this time and how machinery has changed.
  • Compare the prices of threshing corn as reported in The Times 1851 illustrated in the table below:

Amount of Corn / Date / Price / Method
Per quarter
/ 1794 / 11p to 17p / By hand
Per quarter / 1811 / 27p to 35p / By hand
Per quarter / 1850 / 18p / By hand
Per quarter / 1850 / 8p / By Horse power
Per quarter / 1850 / 3p / By Steam power

Ask the class to discuss reasons for the drop in the cost of threshing by hand.

  • Ask the class to investigate how, over the years, threshing machines were developed from manual drive, through the horse power era, to engine drive. In recent years they have been replaced by combine harvesters. Consider the effect this has had upon farming today.
  • Discuss how the knowledge of soil structure has changed the way fields are ploughed today?

Investigative activities to do on the farm visit and back in class.

A visit to the farm raises many cross curricular investigative ideas. Some are more suited to during the visit and some are ideal for follow up in the classroom.

  • During the visit, ask the children to collect grasses, seeds, leaves, berries etc. Back at school ask the children to stick their samples onto card. Ask the children to identify and label them using books and the Internet etc. There are about 8000 different grasses in England.
  • During the visit ask the children to collect a variety of grasses and identify them. There are more than 10,000 species of grass in the UK. Encourage the children to ask the farmer which ones he encourages and which ones he tried to eradicate. Cultivated cereals such as wheat and rice are all grasses. Back in the classroom, make a list of “good” and “bad” grasses.
  • During the visit, look for all the different shapes around the farm, discuss the different building structures with the farmer and name the materials they are built from. Investigate the properties of the materials. Back in the classroom, design and make a structure to hold grain using different materials.
  • Whilst on the farm, ask the group to stand with their backs to the barn and observe the view and ask the children to draw what they can see. Ask them to make a labeled diagram of the landscape. The children could be asked to repeat the activity to compare and contrast the view from outside their school.
  • After the visit, ask the children to think about the advantages and disadvantages of living in the countryside. Get the children to make notes to support their ideas and have a class debate making a list “for” and “against”.
  • Many different species of birds visit the farm and the RSBP have conducted a survey of bird activity at Stanaway. During the visit persuade the children to ask the farmer about which birds visit the farm and construct a list. Ask the farmer about the effects of birds on crops and why birds are also encouraged to the habitats at the side of the fields. After the visit, work in groups to design and build a bird scarer, which could keep the birds away from the seeds and crops in the middle of the fields.
  • Ask the class to investigate why the farmer rotates his crops and whether this is a new method. Consider the benefits of crop rotation and work in groups draw and label a crop rotation diagram.
  • During the visit, ask the class to find out why fertilisers are used on farms. Discuss the positive and negative factors of fertilisers. Investigate the effects of putting fertiliser on the fields in various weather conditions. Back in the classroom, hold a debate about using fertiliser and make a list “for” and “against”.
  • Before the visit, ask the class to research the effect pesticides have upon the local ecology. Ask the farmer why they use pesticides when they are encouraging wildlife onto their field margins.
  • During the farm tour, ask the children to look at the farm buildings and consider if they stand out or blend into the landscape.

Impact on the Landscape / Contribution to Landscape
Stands out strongly +2
Stands out +1
Makes little impression 0 / Excellent +2
Good +1
Neutral 0
Poor -1
Very bad -2

For each of the following features assess their impact upon the landscape.

TreesHedgerowsFencingWoodpile

Telegraph polesElectrical pylons

Can you add to this feature list?

Feature

/

Table 1 Score

/

Table 2 Score

/

Total

Trees
Hedgerows
Fencing
Woodpile
Telegraph poles
Electrical pylons
  • In the classroom, investigate the journey some foods take from the farm to your table. Look on a map to see how far some foods in a typical lunch or evening meal travel. Ask the children to consider the problems of transporting food long distances. Has food always traveled long distances?
  • Back in the classroom work in groups to design a poster encouraging people to care for the environment. Ask the children to make a list of all the information they need to include. Encourage them to think of an eye catching slogan and to use bright and stimulating graphics.
  • Take the school’s microscope and/or hand lenses to do some field work during the farm tour. Place a hoop onto a field margin and ask the children to make a list of all the different living things they can see. Back in the classroom make a list of all the different plants and creatures the children have seen and sort them into different groups.

Notes on Lesson Plans

Content

The lesson plans focus on four areas of the primary curriculum and include individual lesson plans for years reception to six.

Science – conservation

Science – growing plants

Science – habitats

Design & Technology – farm vehicles

Learning Types

All lesson plans contain references to learning types denoted by :

A = best suited to a child who learns through listening

V = best suited to a child who learns through looking and observing

K = best suited to a child who learns through doing

I = best suited to a child who learns through co-operating with others/discussion

Timing and Pace

None of the suggested lesson plans contain the length of time that introductions, main parts or plenaries will take. It is assumed that teachers will adopt these plans to suit the classes they teach and allocate their own times.

Tips for Handling Invertebrates

  • Ensure the children handle them carefully using a plastic teaspoon and a fat paint brush
  • Make a pouter

Health & Safety

For visits to farms follow the advice detailed in this pack. Teachers should also refer to CLEAPSS guidelines and follow County guidelines relating to school visits.

Science – Conservation

Lesson Plans

Reception to Year Six

Year Group: Reception / Date: / Subject: Knowledge and understanding of the World -Science - Growing
Learning Objectives: To learn that a seed grows into plant.
Early Learning Goals:
To understand that the environment is precious and that we can have an effect upon it.

Suggested Activities

Introduction: Read ‘Jasper’s Beanstalk’ and discuss with children how things grow.
Make a class mind map of children’s knowledge about how things grow. (A,V)
Main: Children each plant a bean using: flower pot, compost, water, stick to support and bean. When children have planted their bean they begin their weekly bean diary. Page 1 ‘Planting the bean’. (K)
Plenary: In talking partners children predict what is going to happen to their bean. (I)
Focus on learning types:
A = auditory learners, V = visual learners, K = kinesthetic learners, I = intrapersonal learners.
Resources/Special considerations:
Book – ‘Jasper’s Beanstalk’, flower pots, compost, sticks, beans, labels, weekly diary.
Vocabulary:
Grow, compost, flower-pot, stem, leaves, beans, shoot (E), water, warmth, light, predict (E), soil.
Lesson evaluation:
Year Group: Year 1 / Date: / Subject: Science – Conservation 1C
Learning Objectives: To understand that we have a responsibility of care and consideration towards the environment.
Programme of study:
Sc2 – 5c – To care for the environment.

Suggested Activities

Introduction: Discuss different materials found in packaging. Discuss which materials will decompose (change) in a month. Which ones can be recycled? Which ones can be put on the compost heap? Which ones have to be thrown away? Discuss the amount of rubbish thrown away each year. What happens to that rubbish? (A)
Main: Children choose some items to bury. Wrap each item individually in a paper towel with a laminated label or directly into the ground marked with a label. Dig a large hole in the school grounds and bury the items. Mark the area where the items have been buried. Keep a record of items buried. Children draw items in books and predict what will happen.
Plenary: In talking partners children discuss their predictions.
Focus on learning types:
A = auditory learners, V = visual learners, K = kinesthetic learners, I = intrapersonal learners.
Resources/Special considerations:
Paper towels, laminated labels, items to bury (apple core, plastic yogurt pot, bread, foil, plastic carrier bag, paper bag, drinks carton, baby’s disposable nappy (clean!), sticks to mark area.
Vocabulary:
Recycle, reuse, bury, decompose (E), break down, rot, prediction, label.
Cross Curricular Links:
Year Group: Year 2 / Date: / Subject: Science – Conservation 2B
Learning Objectives: To understand that we have a responsibility of care and consideration towards the environment.
Programme of study:
Sc2 – 5c – To care for the environment.

Suggested Activities