Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: What causes low crop yields?

15 minutes

Find Out: The food chain from farm to table

30 minutes

Take Action: How are people impacted differently?

5 minutes

Reflection

Tune In: What causes low crop yields?

Step 1

Begin by inviting students to suggest what they think the term ‘crop yields’ refers to.

Explain that 'crop yield' is “a standard measurement of the amount of agricultural production harvested - yield of a crop - per unit of land area” (source).

Now invite students to suggest what they think ‘low crop yields’ means (a lower yield per unit of land area) and what might cause a low crop yield. Record suggestions about the causes on the board.

Step 2

Students are to examine this article and add to their list of causes of low crop yield on the board. How many of these did they predict?

Step 3. Students will briefly explore the impact of climate change and global warming on crop yields. Share the following video:

Climate Change Could Affect Global Agriculture Within 10 Years (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NZIvvhGlR0)

Once complete, invite students to add any new notes about the causes of low crop yields to their notes on the board.

In addition, engage students in a discussion around what they observed in this video and any thoughts or ideas they might have about what they observed.

Explain:

Thinking about climate change and how it might affect us in the future can be pretty frightening, and it’s important to acknowledge our worries about this future. But it’s also important to know that many people worldwide are working very hard to address the challenges of climate change and to ensure that - in this case - we can work towards a future with abundant food supplies (food security). One of the strategies for addressing potential food insecurity comes down to how we farm; this includes developing alternatives to conventional and intensive farming practices, such as regenerative farming. Regenerative farming has the potential to protect our food crops and systems while also reducing emissions and improving biodiversity.

Tip: The following factsheets can be used to understand more about soils and climate change:

Step 4

Where students are unfamiliar with regenerative agriculture, invite them to read through the Regenerative Farming fact sheet.

You can then invite students to think about regenerative agriculture's role in addressing low crop yields and the subsequent impacts on food security and biodiversity.

For example:

how might regenerative agriculture improve crop yields?
how might regenerative agriculture help us prepare for food production during climate change?

Find Out: The food chain from farm to table

Step 1

Explain to students that they will now explore the question:

how does my food end up on my table?

Students are to watch the following video on the process that bread undertakes to become the loaf on your table or the bread in your sandwich:

Field-to-Flour (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ctwYVNzIIU)

Step 2

Students will now choose a crop from the following list of food (also available on the Student Worksheet), research and then draw a flowchart for the journey of their crop (* for supported students):

Strawberries*	Cocoa	Coffee
Tea*	Avocado	Mango
Rice	Carrots	Maize
Corn	Beetroot	Peas
Apples	Oranges	Pears
Pineapple	Zucchini	Pumpkin
Capsicum	Cauliflower	Broccoli
Grapes	Sugar	Jackfruit
Brussel sprouts	Cabbage	Potatoes

Students will need to research their crop to answer the following (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What is the process for this food from farm to table?
Is this crop a singular product, or can its food pathway take multiple routes?
What people are necessary for the process from farm to table?
What are the environmental costs associated with the farm-to-table process?
What role can you see for regenerative agriculture in addressing some of the environmental costs?

Step 3

Students are then to discuss their findings, first with their table group and then with the class. As a class, decide:

which foods are more labour-intensive?
which foods are surprisingly cheap, considering how many people are involved in their production?
what environmental costs did you encounter, and how can regenerative agriculture help address these costs?

Step 4

Students will then make a case for moving the crop they focused on to a regenerative practice and need to explain how this might benefit people and the planet, as well as production and profit.

They can do this by working in pairs, working together to research and discuss their foods and answer the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

How do you think moving this crop to a regenerative farming practice might help address low crop yields for this crop?
Are there other benefits of moving this crop to a regenerative farming practice?
What might be the challenges of moving this crop to a regenerative farming practice?
Can you find any examples of this crop already being grown using regenerative farming practices?

Students may need further research to answer these questions. Some sources that might be useful here include (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Soils for Life
The Conversation - search for 'regenerative agriculture'
Farmers for Climate Action
Sustainable Table

Take Action: How are people impacted differently?

Step 1

Explain to students they will now look at how low crop yields might affect the different people in the farm-to-table process.

Each student is to take on the role of one of the following (around 2 - 3 students per role):

Researchers/scientists	Secondary buyer (e.g. cafe)	Picker/harvester
Truck driver/transportation	Farmer	Exporter
Supermarket buyer	Food distribution warehouse	Everyday consumer
Supermarket worker	Processing plant worker
Secondary producer (e.g. miller/baker)	Advertiser/marketer

Students are to log on to the class flowchart (e.g. here) and add their chosen person/section of the food chain to the class flowchart from farm to table.

They should make notes on the flowchart that show how and why the person/section they are representing might be affected by low crop yields in these 3 ways:

their business
their income
their lifestyle and family

Ensure that student names are included with their information so the teacher can track who is contributing what information to the classwork.

Step 2

Students will continue to use the flowchart and add notes to at least 3 people on the food chain with what they will predict will occur if current agricultural practices are not altered. Students need to justify their ideas.

Again ensure that student names are added to their comments so that your teacher can track who participates with what information.

Step 3

Students will then continue to use the flowchart and add notes to at least 3 people on the food chain with what they will predict will occur if there is a broad shift to regenerative agriculture. Students need to justify their ideas.

Again ensure that student names are added to their comments so that your teacher can track who participates with what information.

Step 4

Once complete, take a moment to discuss the flowchart with students. Consider the following questions:

what risks have been associated with low crop yields?
what types of impacts have been identified with moving to regenerative practices?

Step 5

OPTIONAL: If time permits, you could share the following videos with students. These videos are taken from the documentary Rachel’s Farm, and they show how regenerative farming practices have improved the environmental condition of the farm AND the yield of crops grown for cattle consumption. These videos can be used to demonstrate a real-world scenario in a hopeful and interesting way:

Video 1:

Regen Farming - Soil Health Password: RF_EDU (https://vimeo.com/841107333)

Video 2:

Regen Farming - Soil Improvement Password: RF_EDU (https://vimeo.com/841108634)

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 the following (also available on the Student Worksheet): What do you think about moving food production to regenerative practices to address rising food prices now and in the future? Explain your answer.

Note: this is a big question, and it is a complicated issue, so you don’t need to have all the answers; have a go at testing a few ideas using what you already know about food production and regenerative agriculture

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.

The Effects of Low Crop Yields

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UN Sustainable Development Goals

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