This page contains links to meanings of sustainability in farming and to the 2012-2014 Wimmera HUB project with Science-based picture books to use with children.
What does sustainability in farming involve?
Lots of things, sometimes different wordings! Read my collection of definitions at Sustainability in Farming! Interview people yourself or with your class, with an interview sheet provided. Read reports on definitions from children’s interviews of farmers in their community at a small rural school at Hopetoun.
Read this Sust in farming survey report (304 kb) on three word clouds from surveys of 30 educators about sustainability and its issues. The first is made from definitions of sustainability. The second is of their issues for sustainability and the third of their issues for farming sustainably.
Wimmera HUB -SPP “Sustainability and our Farmlands Environments”
The books and discussions sheets on this theme are ready to use on this page
The Project
Wimmera HUB received funding from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development for a 2012-2014 Strategic Partnership Project (SPP) – The ‘Lower Wimmera Environmental Education Project’ – to focus on PD for small rural primary schools near Warracknabeal. Seeing a need for sustainability to be related to our rural environment, the LWEEP developed Sustainability and our Farmlands Environments as its umbrella theme linking the projects in schools, as mainly in-class teacher PD. New and unique resources have been created from this in partnership with Wimmera HUB, DEECD, the schools and enviroed4all. Read the Wimmera HUB SPP PD aims for teachers.
Semester 1-2 2012– major project “Sustainability and our Farming Environment”
- Y4-6 teacher PD 10-session program at St Joseph’s Primary School Hopetoun.
- Read their 6 Science based picture story books on ‘farming sustainably” covering dealing with dry times, pests and weeds.
- Read the summary pdf (360kb) HUBSPP S1 2012
Semester 2 2012– National Science Week sessions – ‘Sustainability in our Wimmera Farmlands’
- 7 in-class teacher PD sessions in Wimmera Primary Schools using the above resources
- Read the summary pdf (804kb) HUBSPP S2 2012
Semester 1 -2 2013 – major project ‘20th Century Australian Science, Changing life on our farmlands 
- F-y6 teacher PD 10 –session program at Beulah Primary School.
- Read their 7 Science based picture story books “discoveries for sustainable farming” dealing with salinity, bores, vehicles, and grain farming.
- Read the summary pdf (508 kb) HUBSPP S1 2013
Semester 2 2013 – Sustainability and Farmlands sessions
- teacher/educator PD at Greening Australia’s Narrmbool Toolbox for Environmental Change on the Sustainability and our Farmland Environment using both sets of above resources.
- F-3 teacher PD at Tawonga PS on Living things in Sustainability and our Farmland Environments, using a selection of the above resources
- Read the summary pdf (688 kb) HUBSPP S2 2013
Semester 1, 2014 – major project
Y5-6 teacher PD 10- session program at Rainbow Primary School with focus on plant science has completed. Their books will be added to this on-line resource when available
Key resources to be produced –
Semester 1- 2, 2014 Sustainability and Farmlands
1 teacher PD at Greening Australia’s Melbourne 2014 Toolbox for Enviornmental Change on the Sustainability and our Farmland Environment using 2012 and 2013 sets of above resources in s1
2 aim to provide Teacher PD sessions in clusters to train in using the three sets of resources in s2
page last updated 8/8/2014