Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Part A: Sustainable agriculture

20 minutes

Part B: Connecting producers and consumers

60 minutes

Part C: Socially sustainable food study

5 minutes

Reflection

This lesson can be taught in isolation however it is best delivered after student have built an understanding of sustainable agriculture in Love Food? Love Bees! - Sustainable Agriculture -Geography - Years 9 & 10.

Teacher preparation:

Prior to this lesson, create an account with Piktocart, so that you are able to demonstrate how to create an infographic with the class.

Part A: Sustainable agriculture

Step 1

If you completed Love Food? Love Bees! - Sustainable Agriculture -Geography - Years 9 & 10 prior to this lesson, revise students' understanding of sustainable agriculture by asking them to list five practices used by Australian farmers that contribute to sustainable food production (answers could refer to holistic practices such as permaculture, or individual practices such as contour ploughing, multiple cropping and reducing the use of chemicals).

Alternatively, if you are teaching this as a stand-alone lesson, show students the following clip:

Why do we need to change our food system? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcL3BQeteCc&t=123s)

Step 2

Hold a class discussion inviting students to suggest food-related decisions they (or their families) could make to reduce their environmental footprint. Answers could include buying local, reducing food waste or growing your own food.

Part B: Connecting producers and consumers

This activity will stimulate thinking about the organisations and networks that support food producers and consumers as a valuable part of sustainable food production.

Step 1

Hold a class brainstorming activity to identify ways in which food producers learn about sustainable food production and implement new methods, technologies and ideas. Ask the class: 'How do food producers learn about sustainable farming practices?'; and 'What organisations assist farmers to produce food sustainably?'. Record responses where they are visible to all students.

Answers may include educational organisations such as TAFE, community colleges and universities or even YouTube and the internet. Some students may suggest organisations such as CSIRO and Landcare. Answers will depend on where students live. Rural students are more likely to be aware of local organisations that assist farmers and know about ‘Field Days’ held by agricultural businesses to showcase new products and innovative practices.

Note: When discussing student responses you may refer to:

The 24 universities across Australia offering degrees in Agriculture.
Short courses offered in their local education facilities such as a TAFE or Community College.
Organic and permaculture farms that offer training courses to smallholders and home food producers, e.g. Milkwood.
Independent consulting companies, such as Resource Consulting Services.

Step 2

Explain that there are many government and private organisations, industry associations and Non Government/Not for profit organisations (NGOs) working to support and educate farmers.

Note: You may need to explain NGOs and not for profit organisations.

Revisit students' responses from the brainstorming activity and invite students to categorise the organisation into government, private or NGO/Not for Profit organisations in the Student Worksheet. Students may use Internet-enabled devices to conduct further research during this step.

Step 3

Explain to students that while large-scale food producers have associations and industry organisations to assist with the marketing and sale of their produce, for many smallholder food producers connecting with consumers can be a challenge. This is particularly the case for local producers of foods using organic or permaculture practices who want to target consumers seeking locally produced, safe, healthy and nutritious food. This is where local food hubs and networks become important.

If your class needs additional information about the importance of supporting locally grown, small-scale farming, consider playing the following clip:

Good food, fresh thinking - a look at our food system (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWNbHdoW7IA&sns=em)

Step 4

Invite student work in pairs and use the links provided in the Student Worksheet to help answer the following questions:

What is a food hub? Suggested answer: a food hub is an organisation that distributes local produce directly to their community.
Why can a food hub also be called a network? Suggested answer: because food hubs involve the work of a range of people from the community buying and selling food.
What role do farmers markets play? Suggested answer: farmers markets allow producers to sell directly to the public.
What is the value of food hubs/networks to a sustainable food future? Students' answers may vary, however they may discuss access to nutritious food in communities, creating fair food system for farmers, or education of the public about their food (food literacy).

Note: The food hub and network links below can be modified to include information about organisations in your local area:

Step 5

Invite volunteers to share their responses with the class, encouraging discussion throughout this process.

Part C: Socially sustainable food study

In this activity, students will investigate an organisation that supports sustainable food production and/or consumption. The inquiry could be based on an NGO/not for profit organisation or a network/food hub, such as a local farmers market.

Step 1

Explain to the class that they will be collecting information to produce an infographic about an organisation’s purpose and activities. Ask students what they know about infographics or if they have had ever created an infographic. Ensure that the class understands that an infographic is simply a visual representation of data. They are often creative in nature but the aim of an infographic is always to represent more complex information in an easily understandable way.

Display one of the following infographics:

Buzzing Off - How Dying Bees Affects You
Australian Honey Bee Industry
Food Waste

As a class, step through one of the above infographics, listing the features that have been included on the whiteboard. Suggested features to note - various graphs, small pieces of information, lists and icons/symbols.

Step 2

Inform students that you will now be demonstrating how to construct an infographic using information from the organisation ‘Act for Bees’.

To demonstrate how to investigate and create your infographic, go to the ACT for Bees website and display this to the whole class. As you go through the website, including the drop-down menu, invite students to identify the following features:

The name of the organisation - suggested answer: ACT for Bees.
The aim or purpose of the organisation - suggested answers (from the About Us drop-down): work with communities, Government and industries to become more bee-friendly.
The activities or services the organisation provides - suggested answers (from the Share drop-down): create school lessons, create community education resources and support bee-friendly gardening.
Some key facts and/or figures - this will vary but some suggested pages to visit include: the Home page, Grow and Learn.

Be sure to keep a word processing document open to type, or copy and paste the information you collect as you go through the ACT for Bees site.

Step 3

Draft an infographic using the information about bees the class identified by:

Logging into Piktochart and pressing 'create new' followed by 'infographic'.
Select a template that would be appropriate.
Copy and paste the information piece by piece, into the drafted infographic.

Note: You may choose to show students the following clip to further their Piktochart skills, Piktochart Tutorial: A Simple Guide to Piktochart.

Step 4

Show students the Infographic Assessment Rubric and step through each of the rows, explaining how they can achieve success. Invite students to ask any clarifying questions as you review this document.

Step 5

Invite students to form pairs and explain that they will be investigating a local food-related NGO/not for profit organisation or a network/food hub and creating an infographic based on their work. To begin this activity, invite pairs to research local network/food hubs that may be suitable for their infographic. Reiterate that students should be assessing if there is enough information on the site to create a good infographic. If students are unsure about an organisation, refer them back to the Infographic Assessment Rubric to see if they will have enough information to complete all outcomes.

Step 6

Students can now create a free Piktochart account and begin creating their infographics. Depending on students' familiarity with the subject and software you may want to hold a brief peer feedback session.

Step 7

To finish this lesson, ask students to share their infographics with the class. This sharing can be done digitally or by printing off each infographic for the classroom walls. Invite students to talk the class through the key features of their infographic.

Reflection

Invite students to respond to the following reflection question on the Student Worksheet:

Do you think the organisation that you created an infographic for is effective in creating a most sustainable food future, and why?

Differentiated learning

Extension - Encourage students to share their infographics with the organisation that it is based on, using their school emails. Students should work in their pairs to compose an appropriate email introduction to the organisation and ask for any feedback they may have to improve their work.

Provisions for Learning Support - There are a number of suggestions for assisting learning support students, e.g. completing the infographic activity as a class OR providing students with a modified list of potential organisations.

Supporting Sustainable Food

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Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will...

Success criteria:

Students can...

Lesson guides and printables

Lesson Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

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