education

3-6 Paddock to Plate

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Second Nature Education offers an amazing variety of educational and experiential programs to a variety of farms, food processing and storage facilities in: Queensland and New South Wales; throughout Australia; and overseas.

All our programs are either tailored to support relevant units within the Australian curriculum, or as specifically requested by our clients.

What We Provide 

  • Award-winning educators/ facilitators
  • Itineraries and Flyers
  • Curriculum-based work-booklets
  • All relevant equipment (supplying up to 150x students per session)
  • Example assessment tasks
  • Pre/Post excursion activities (usually a PPP)
  • Risk Assessment (location specific)
  • Variety of field-work locations (where available)
  • Accommodation options (we provide quotes to utilise the most affordable and most appropriate accommodation to suit your needs)
  • Catering options (we provide quotes to utilise our own in-house catering service for every excursion (where available) and/or catering through a third-party provider

 

Primary School (3-6) Programs

Our “Paddock to Plate” programs for years 3-6 have been specifically developed for this age group, and for a variety of learning abilities. Through our “Paddock to Plate” excursion, students gain a basic understanding and awareness of where their food comes through an exploration of working farms and food processing/storage facilities (excursions) or an exciting and interactive PPP (incursions). This experience can be delivered to complement the following units or modules within Geography:

  • Year 3 Places are both Similar and Different (QLD) or Places are Similar and Different (NSW)
  • Year 3 Diversity and Significance of Places and Environments (VIC)
  • Year 5 Factors that Shape the Human and Environmental Characteristics of Places (QLD) or Factors that Shape Places (NSW)
  • Year 5 Factors that Shape Places and Influence Interconnections (VIC)

Trip Overview

Supporting local farmers is imperative to maintaining food security within Australia. They are the ones who supply fresh produce to our supermarket shelves and ultimately to our dinner plates. This does not make them exempt from social change. Buyers are opting for cheaper overseas products; the commercialisation of milk and other products is driving profits down; and biosecurity threats such as white spot disease are percolating through production chains. There has never been a better and more pressing time to teach students about where their food comes from.  Primary teachers choosing to undertake one of our field-based “Paddock to Plate” excursions have the option of an ‘Experiential’ field trip (usually Grades K/P-4) or a ‘Work-booklet’ based field trip (usually grades 5-6/7). Experiential field trips are less structured than work-booklet-based field trips and allow flexibility to follow the specific interests of a group. Work-booklet-based field trips allow for a methodical and structured investigation of food production in Australia. Our “Paddock to Plate” incursion option allows students who are unable to participate in a field trip (e.g. due to finances, proximity to farms, behaviour issues, etc.) to gain a basic understanding of where their food comes from through a well-designed in-class presentation.

Highlights

  • Exploring a range of different farms and food processing/storage facilities
  • Speaking one-on-one with farmers from a diverse range of backgrounds
  • Assisting farmers with daily tasks
  • Tasting local produce!
  • Milking a cow (optional)
  • Feeding goats (optional)
  • Sketching

More Information

Inclusions

Excursions

  • Visit 1-4 farms (e.g. cattle, lettuce, micro-herb, chicken, dairy, carrot, pineapple, etc.)
  • Guided exploration of farms with discussion of historical and present-day farming practices
  • Discuss the impacts of farmed monocultures on soil and surrounding environments
  • Discussion of hydroponics, biological pest control and other innovations in farming
  • Field work (interview farmers)
  • Field sketch of study site (view of a farming region)

Incursions

  • An age-appropriate interactive PowerPoint presentation
  • Virtual exploration of multiple sites forming a food production chain (i.e. producer -> processor -> storage -> supermarket)
  • Talk from a local farmer
  • Samples of local produce to try!
Educational Outcomes
  • Awareness and knowledge of the challenges facing farmers in Australia
  • A basic understanding of how the longevity of farming activity affects food security in Australia.
  • Awareness of how humans have reshaped natural environments to create built environments
  • Knowledge of the difference in biodiversity between an undisturbed biome and a biome that has been modified to support crop growth or grazing.
  • Knowledge of environmental issues that have arisen as a result of farming practices including pollution, introduction of invasive species, death of pollinator species and loss of biodiversity
  • Learning of sustainable farming practices that can be used to minimise these issues
  • A connection to and sense of stewardship towards Australia’s natural environment
  • Motivation to support local farmers through the purchase of local produce from green grocers and supermarkets
Itinerary

Below is an example itinerary for a 1-day “Paddock to Plate” excursion. All excursions packages include the necessary work booklets and equipment.

08:00 Tour group pick- Second Nature have a fleet of vehicles available to cater for any number of passengers (within reason). We can provide transport to and from schools and airports
08:30 Arrive at a Fruit Farm for Activity session 1 During this activity, students will tour the farm whilst speaking with the farmer to learn about how the relevant fruit (e.g. pineapple, avocado, strawberries, etc.) is grown, harvested, processed and stored. They will hear about the costs and challenges of distributing the fruit to consumers.
09:30 Morning tea at the Fruit Farm. Students will have the chance to taste some of the locally grown fruit!
09:45 Depart Fruit Farm for a Cattle Farm.
10:00 Arrive at the Cattle Farm Activity Session 2 Students will be taken on a guided walk of the farm, during which the daily tasks of cattle farmers will be pointed out to them. Students may be asked to help with a simple task as part of this activity (e.g. filling food stalls, etc.). They will once again interview the farmer about the process and challenges of producing their product/s.
11:00 Depart Cattle Farm for a Leafy Greens Farm
11:15 Arrive at the Leafy Greens Farm for lunch There will be great areas to take a break and enjoy panoramic views of the farming region.
12:15 Activity Session 3 The students will set off on another farm tour, this time looking at the unique infrastructure the farmer has developed for processes such as potting and irrigation. Students will learn about integrated pest management solutions and organic methods of food production at this site.
13:15 Depart Leafy Greens Farm for a Dairy Farm
13:30 Arrive at Dairy Farm for Activity Session 4 After touring the farm and interviewing the farmer for comparison with other sites, students will have the unique opportunity to milk a cow! They may also get to feed the nearby goats while they wait for their turn.
14:30 Depart Dairy Farm, back to school or airport
15:00 Arrive back at institution or airport when required
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