curriculum links: AC Science, Xcurricular Sustainability, literacy, AusVELS communication, AC Geography
National Science Week link: Science Feeding the world, Science in our daily life farming
Global link: 2014 International Year of Family Farming , UN Decade of Biodiversity
What issues are there for sustainability in farming and farmlands?
Many! And they are often complex! But these “Sustainability and Farmlands Environments” picture books by Wimmera-Mallee children for children just look at one issue at a time. In doing so, they put Science into everyday farming life. 
These 2012 books can be accessed directly from St Joseph’s PS webpage or link to them below.
These Science based picture books were written and illustrated by rural F-6 primary school children in our ‘sheep-wheat’ lands for the Science Talent Search competitions. Each is available freely on the web as discussion starters.
This is an introduction to the second set of books from Beulah PS.
The 2013 books are on FUSE as Learning Resource ID’s S8F7GH, MN2XC9, N2TZF4 and 5M7LZ2 . They can be accessed directly from Beulah PS webpage or link directly to them below.
Comprehension -discussion sheets have been made for each story. Use them orally, rather than for written exercises. The stories cover several themes listed below with links to question sheets. Each questions sheet relates to a story which can be found at the school’s website, linked here:
Issues around Sustainability and our farmlands environments
Use all stories and all discussion sheets. Share the main sustainability issue in each story as a class reporting back and thereby show that there is much complexity in this for farming and farmlands.
or if you want to break it up into targeted issues:
Issues around dry times
2 stories – Water saves us One Summer
Dry times set qns
Issues around pests
4 stories – Four Farming Brothers Saving the Barley Pesty Solutions Bats
Issues around crops and plant breeding
Coming! Rainbow PS y5/6 have written these in 2014, but they are not ready yet for the web.
Caring for Living Things (F-2)
8 stories – Four Farming Brothers Water saves us Saving the Barley Pesty Solutions Bats One Summer the Teleporting Windmill Broken Windmill
Salinity knowledge
1 story – the Teleporting Windmill
Machinery developments
6 stories – Air seeder The Auto header The Round Baler The Red Ute The Pickler The Broken Windmill
Background to these books and this project
Under the 3-year, Wimmera HUB SPP grant from the DEECD, three small rural schools created three sets of picture books linked under the theme “Sustainability and our Farmlands Environments” and the National Science Week theme for that year. These books have been used in other schools with these discussion sheets to generate discussion about farming, farmlands environments and sustainability for them, for which there is otherwise little information. Comments back to the children on your use of their books would be welcome.
return to sustainability and farmlands page to read more about this 3-year project.
page set up 9 Aug 2014