Organic Farms
Grade Level: 3rd
Learning Objectives: Learn about organic farming and food vs. intensive farming and food
Time Required: 60 minutes
Curriculum Areas: Health / Science / Art / Geography
Learning Objectives:
- To understand the interdependent relationship between plants, animals and insects, in nature
- To understand the benefits of organic farming systems
- To design an organic garden reflecting the relationships between plants, insects and animals
- To understand the importance of organic foods to our body
- To understand the different affects organic nurturing has on plants, animals, and the fruit itself vs nonorganic farming
Skills:
- Listening skills
- Working in pairs or as part of a small team
- Drawing and designing
- Using Hands
- Being able to demonstrate and describe different textures of differently grown produce.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will be able to:
- Demonstrate their understanding of organic farming systems by designing an organic garden to reflect the interdependent relationship between plants, insects, animals and human beings
- Students will be able to list and name different chemicals used on non organic farms as well as their affects on humans, the fruit themselves, and animals, bug, and insects whose lives also depend different kinds of produce
Prior Knowledge:
- An understanding of plant and animal lifecycles and feeding relationships
- An understanding of how plants grow and the key nutrients plants need (sunlight, water, plant seed, dirt)
Key Vocabulary
- Organic farm/garden Intensive farming Monoculture
- Fertilizers
- Pesticides
Activity
Introductory Activity
• Show the students 2 images, one image of a large, modern, intensive monoculture farm and the other image of a mixed organic farm.
• Ask the students to spot differences between the two. E.g. the organic farm has lots of trees and hedgerows. It has an orchard and woodland area etc.
• Explain that since the industrial revolution we have seen most of our small farms close down to make way for larger, intensive farms. Also, chemicals that were developed during WWII were used to create chemical pesticides which made it easier and more profitable to run intensive farms.
10 to 15 mins
Key Questions
- What differences can you see between these two farms?
- Which one has more trees?
- Which one has more hedgerows?
- Which one has more varieties of plants?
- Which one is has bigger fields?
- What do you think are the advantages of intensive monoculture farming?
- What are the advantages of organic farms?
Main Activity
• Show students the short film Hop onto My Tractor. The clip takes you on a tour of an organic farm and identifies typical organic farming methods, comparing them to intensive methods.
• Go back to the image of the organic farm. Explain that an organic farm tries to recreate nature’s lifecycle using as few human-made chemicals as possible. Point out the trees and hedges and ask what kind of wildlife would be attracted to these. Why are birds and insects important? Point to the flowers, why are these important? What kind of insects do they attract?
• Tell the students that it’s now their turn to design an organic farm.
• Elicit a list of things that could be included in the farm (cress/ flowers/ hedges/ lawns/ fruit/ vegetables/ bushes/ chickens/ insects etc)
• They could give their farm a name. e.g. Paradise Gate
• Students can work individually or in pairs to create their ideal organic farm.
20 to 30 mins
Key Questions
- What is important to have in an organic farm?
- What kind of organic food will you produce?
- How will you make sure it is organic?
Alternative Ideas
• Collect gardening/farming magazines and make organic farm collages with animals and plants.
• If you have access to a local organic farm, try to arrange a visit to show students the intricate relationship between the animals, plants and insects. Ask the students to take along sketch pads so that they can document some of the things that they see at the farm. They can use these to help them create their garden plan.
• Bring in some organic and non-organic foods and have a blindfolded tasting competition.
• If you have a school garden get your students to compare what you are growing with what they have learned about organic farms.
Reflection
- Ask for a few volunteers to share their garden designs with the rest of the class
- What are the advantages of organic farming?
Other Alternate Activity
As a class, have your students plant their own organic garden as well as non organic garden. After about three weeks when the seeds have sprouted, have your students compare and contrast the likes and differences of their garden.
Materials needed:
Small Dixie Cups (four per student to plant seeds in)
Organic and non organic seeds of your choice
Organic and non organic fertilizer
Windows (for sunlight)
Water (once a day)
Reflection
After three to four weeks, the seeds should have sprouted already. Have your students individually or as a group discuss their observations. If you would like, if there are leaves visible, you could even have your students pinch and taste to see if the texture is different. After every student/group is done, have a discussion as a class discussing the importance of organic foods and which foods they think are healthier and which they will prefer.
Resources
- Picture of intensive farm and a picture of a mixed organic farm
- Video tour of a organic farm – http://appetiteforaction.org.uk/hop-into-my-tractor/
- Paper/ pens/ ruler/ pictures of gardens/ farms and garden plans.