This is one example of a lesson/project plan using the dairy farm:

  1. Go to the web site using your interactive whiteboard.

  2. Start the class off with considering the questions on sheet 1 on the homepage of this site. They could discuss their ideas in groups and record their thoughts before sharing with the rest of the class. Encourage them to think as creatively as possible about different types of farms. How many different types of farms can they think of? What might be the differences between a Scottish farm and one in Kent, England, for instance, or overseas? There are links on the Teachers Resources page to other web sites that will help with this activity.

  3. Sheet 2 features the countryside code. This could be used to facilitate a discussion on how the children might behave when visiting a farm, and how a farm visit would differ from a visit to e.g. a museum/ tourist attraction? What sort of clothes and shoes should the children wear? They might like to come in on one day dressed as if they were going to visit the farm. What will they hear and …..smell!

  4. Click on the dairy farm link from the homepage to go to the cartoon of the farm map.

  5. Click on ‘farmer’

  6. Look at the picture of Lucy (if you click on any of the pictures they will enlarge to full screen or as big as you wish). Play the two audio files. Pupils may wish to hear them several times.
  7. Look at the PRS 1-3. The first one is quite straightforward and the pupils should be able to answer it from the audio files. These sheets open as pdfs so you can have them on display while you are listening to the audio file and looking at Lucy’s picture. It takes a bit of practice to get the pictures and pdfs of the PRS on the screen at the same time as you play the audio files, but once you’ve tried it a few times you will get the hang of it!
    PRS 2 requires the pupils to do some work with a map, or using maps etc on the internet.
    PRS3 features some additional thinking about what a farmer does.
  8. Go back to the farm cartoon.
  9. The logical next place to go is the link to dairy cattle, but the pupils could also choose where they would like to go next!
  10. Follow the same combination of listening to the audio files, looking at the pictures and the PRS as above. Choose as much or as little of the farm to explore as you think will enable the pupils to gain an insight into how it operates. There is obviously the opportunity to study one of the farms in-depth, or to compare two or more of the farms at a more superficial level.
  11. The Upper Stages booklet available to download from the teachers’ resources page enables the link to be made about the role of milk and dairy products in a balanced diet. The activities include reference to an original piece of research undertaken in the 1920s which provided the first evidence that milk was an important part of the diet for young, growing children.
  12. You can extend the whole project to include other aspects of food and health with the booklets and Leader’s notes, and also the ‘Getting in Shape for Life’ matrix, which contains cross-curricular ideas for teaching and learning.

Please contact us with your comments on any aspect of the web site and the other resources. We will make every effort to amend and develop this resource as we get feedback on how it is being used. At anytime: sue.bird@abdn.,ac.uk During school term time: allan.paterson@aeec.org.uk