Paddock to Plate

Students will get a chance to observe and interact with some of our animals while learning about the food and fibre products that they provide us with.

Students will learn to use correct terminology for the animals and understand how some products are altered for human use.

This tour is linked to the Victorian Curriculum Levels 1 and 2, and is best suited to lower-middle primary students. 

Paddock to Plate – TOUR

Animals which may be visited:

  • Poultry
  • Sheep
  • Goats

Learning Intentions:

  • Identify what kind of animal products each animal provides. Discuss how plants and animals are grown to give us food and fibre, and how these can be changed or combined to create more products.
  • Learn and use correct terminology for animals (as well as their products).

Success Criteria:

I know I’ve got it when:

  • I can name the different parts of animals and how each part has a use.
  • I am beginning to use correct terminology or names for the animals, their offspring, shelter and products. 
  • I can talk about the different animal products I use in my everyday life.

Victorian Curriculum Links:

Science (Foundation to Level 2)

  • Living things have a variety of external features and live in different places where their basic needs, including food, water and shelter, are met (VCSSU042).
  • Living things grow, change and have offspring similar to themselves (VCSSU043).

Design and Technologies (Foundation to Level 2)

  • Explore how plants and animals are grown for food, clothing and shelter (VCDSTC015).

English

  • Understand the use of vocabulary about familiar and new topics and experiment with and begin to make conscious choices of vocabulary to suit audience and purpose (VCELA237) (Level 2) and (VCELA202) (Level 1).

Follow-up Activities

There is much potential to extend on students’ learning back at school as part of an inquiry unit or as a theme across curriculum areas. A Paddock to Plate tour could be used as the ‘Explore’ phase in the 5Es Instructional Model (Bybee, 1997). Visit https://www.primaryconnections.org.au/5es-teaching-and-learning-modelto read about the Primary Connections 5Es teaching and learning model.

Follow-up activities could include:ï‚·

  • Make butter (Place 1 cup of cream and a marble in a plastic jar and shake until whipped cream separates into butter and buttermilk)
  • Parts of the plant sorting activity (bring in edible greens, seeds, flowers, stems & roots) and then make a salad using one of each part of the plant
  • Students draw/collage their favourite meal onto a paper plate and label it showing where the ingredients have come from
  • Catalogue food products collage (sorting supermarket products into where they came from: pigs, cows, plants, pollinated by bees etc)
  • Read Welcome to Countryby Aunty Joy Murphy (Black Dog Books, 2016) and learn about what animals and plants the Wurundjeri people traditionally used for food and shelter (possum skin cloaks, murnong, eels, emus etc)
  • Watch a video about dairy farming and make a flow chart showingpaddock to plate
  • Sprout broad beans or grow something from a seed in the classroom and observe it grow
  • Graphic organisers: Pigs can, pigs are, pigs have-finish the sentencesï‚·Three-way Venn diagram activity (finding differences and similarities between pets, farm animals and wild animals or chickens, cows and goats)

Suggested External Resource

Websites and Resources https://www.ciwf.org.uk/education/downloads/primary-resources/ The Compassion in World Farming website provides a video and activity resources introducing young children to the issue of animal welfare in farming focussing on animals’ needs http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/38190/from-paddock-to-plateTeacher resource by Education Services Australia Ltd and ABC with links to fantastic ‘Paddock to Plate’ videos

http://www.kidcyber.com.au/animals Fact sheets with great fun facts for kids about animals including cattle, goats, bees and poultry

https://www.buzzaboutbees.net/A website with heaps of information all about bees and beekeeping

https://www.countrysideclassroom.org.uk/ TheCountry Classroom website contains loads of resources for teachers relating to food, farming and the natural environment https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/sites/www.gardenorganic.org.uk/files/resources/fflp/Edible-plant-parts.pdf Fantastic ‘Edible Plant Parts’ poster by The Country Classroom

https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/schoolsThe Garden Organic website has many resources for schools including activity ideas, games and information about gardening for all ages Picture booksBarton, Bethany,Give Bees a Chance, Puffin Books, 2019Butterworth, Chris, How Did That Get In My Lunchbox?: The Story of Food, Candlewick Press, 2011Carle, Eric, Pancakes, Pancakes!, Aladdin, 2005Murphy, Joy, Welcome to Country, Black Dog Books, 2016

Videos

How cows make milkby Dairy Australia

https://www.dairy.edu.au/resources/video-resource/how-cows-make-milk–chapter-5Milk, from the dairy to the shopby ABC For the Juniors

http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/30258/?id=30258

Discover how cheese is madeby Dairy Australia https://www.dairy.edu.au/resources/video-resource/discover-how-cheese-is-made-chapter-12

Free Range Pigsby Behind the News http://www.abc.net.au/btn/classroom/free-range-pigs/10535288

Meet the European honey beeby ABC Education http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/2751326/meet-the-european-honey-bee

Farming bees. Buzzzzby ABC For the Juniors http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/30267/?id=30267

Backyard Beesby Behind the News http://www.abc.net.au/btn/classroom/backyard-bees/10536114

Why is chicken so cheap? By The Economist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiYVoHEV5hs&feature=youtu.be