Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune In: Indonesian farming practices

20 minutes

Find Out: Australia vs Indonesian farming

25 minutes

Take Action: How can we share our knowledge?

5 minutes

Reflection

Tune In: Indonesian farming practices

Step 1

Begin by watching the video on this page and inviting students to respond to the prompts below (also available on the Student Worksheet):

I think…
I see…
I wonder…

Engage students in a discussion around their thoughts. Through your discussion, consider the following:

why do people move to cities rather than live in rural environments?
what is life like in the cities for families?
do you think this is similar to the population movement in Australia? Why/why not?

Step 2

Students will now think about farming in Indonesia by investigating the following question:

how has Indonesia had to shape and change its farming practices in a rapidly developing world with a rapidly shrinking rural population?

Students are to watch the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h1b86SUDZQ

As they watch should take note of the following:

what were farmers' initial reactions to the new farming techniques?
how were these initial reservations changed?
how and why did the change occur?

Find Out: Indonesian vs Australian farmers

Step 1

Explain to students that as the world’s population grows, so must our food production.

Students are to read these articles:

Indonesia’s Rice and Coffee Market at Risk Due to Climate Change
Climate change to drastically cut Indonesia's rice, coffee produce: Study (use this second article only for supported students)

Using these articles, students are to identify the primary challenges that Indonesian farmers are facing. They should list these as bullet points on the Student Worksheet.

Step 2

They are now to compare the information within these articles to the current problems facing Australian farmers.

Students are to explore the Australian context by examining this article: Modern agriculture has many complex challenges. Using the space provided on the Student Worksheet, students need to make some notes in response to the following points (also available on the Student Worksheet):

what are farmers needing to learn?
how are farmers having to change?
are farmers getting the support that they need?
is it financially viable for farmers?

Students should take a moment to consider the similarities and differences between the two countries' agricultural concerns and challenges; you could do this through small group discussion or as a class.

Step 3

Explain to students that regenerative agriculture is being proposed as a solution to future food security. Regenerative agriculture is similar to the Conservation Agriculture viewed in the second video.

Invite students to read the Regenerative Farming fact sheet and think about how regenerative farming practices could be applied in Australian and Indonesian contexts.

Students could then work in pairs to respond to the following (also available on the Student Worksheet):

do you think regenerative farming would look the same in both places? Why or why not?
which principles of regenerative farming might be best suited to the different countries?
what opportunities could regenerative farming provide in both countries?

Students could create a T-chart to compare their ideas of applying regenerative agriculture in Australian and Indonesian settings.

Students may need to undertake further research in support of their answers. The following resources could be used:

Take Action: How can we share our knowledge?

Step 1

Students will now think about the best ways that Indonesia, Australia and the rest of the world can share their agricultural knowledge in pursuit of food security now and into the future.

In pairs, students are to take their new knowledge of Indonesian and Australian farming practices and research their own country of choice from this list of the world’s top agricultural producers:

USA
Spain
Belgium
Italy
Canada
UK
Germany
Netherlands
France
China

Students are to compare and contrast their chosen countries' agricultural practices with Australia and Indonesia using a VENN diagram or table.

They will need to undertake research into what regenerative agricultural practices this other country is already being used. This information should also be included in the Venn diagram or table, along with information about regenerative agriculture in Australia and Indonesia.

Students will need to undertake research. Some places to start:

Differentiation:

Supported students will contribute Indonesian and Australian farming techniques to the class's world map so that they are solidifying their knowledge of these key areas but can also access the class map and learn about other countries in the world and their farming successes.
Supported students can also use the information here to learn more about Indonesian farming and agriculture.

Step 2

Using this site, the teacher is to set up a class map (very simple and self-explanatory).

In their pairs, students are to

locate their chosen country so that they can link their information to it
detail the farming techniques that are currently being used in that country
detail the techniques that are being trialled in that country
add the regenerative farming techniques that you have learned about that you think would work in that country and why you think they would be successful

Students are to add their names under their work so that the teacher knows who contributed what information to the class map.

Reflection

Note: if you plan on completing multiple lessons from this unit, students should use a separate document for reflections throughout these lessons to track their changing views on agricultural practices in Australia.

Invite students to work independently to respond to one of the following prompts (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Prompt 1. Australia and Indonesia

What farming practices are being used in Indonesia that we don’t use in Australia?
Why do you think these two countries that are so geographically close have such different farming techniques?

Prompt 2. Around the world

Do you think regenerative farming will work globally? Why/why not?
Do you think we can work together to help countries achieve their best around the world? Why/why not?

Take it further

Students who complete the work early can engage with the separate ongoing lesson on Space Agriculture, which has been written and designed specifically for this purpose.

Differentiated learning

We trust that teachers are the best equipped to know how to cater to the diversity in their classes. At Cool, we incorporate a variety of differentiation strategies into each lesson. Firstly, each lesson in this unit appeals to an array of different learning preferences. Learning activities can be completed in a number of different ways - if a student feels more comfortable speaking rather than writing, there are opportunities to accommodate this.

In lessons that feature group work or learning stations, we trust that teachers will use their discretion in knowing how to best organise their students in accordance with positive working relationships and ability. Graphic organisers and scaffolds are often included so students can ‘visually think’ and keep a record of their work. While our lessons are designed to be 55 - 60 minutes in length, we trust that teachers will manipulate lesson and segment times according to the needs of their students.

Sustainable Farming Practices in Indonesia

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