Author: krcooper

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Paddock to Plate – The Journey of Food

Paddock to Plate: Where does my food come from resource 

This inquiry based resource to food and fibre production and food technologies allows students to investigate the journey of food production in Australia and all over the world. Students understand where their food comes from, how it is processed via farming contexts and how producers/ consumers respond to and influence each other in supply and demand of today’s growing society. This resource provides teachers with a step-by-step learning outcome and activity booklet, questioning and responding power point package and farm to factory printable flashcards. The final presentation will require students to present their own paddock to pate journey using Prezi, power point or any digital resource. Students then reflect on how sustainable their process was, and discuss how they can create a more sustainable food process.

Target year level: Year 3-4

Learning area: Technologies

Strand: Technologies/Design and technologies

Content Description: Design and Technologies Plan a sequence of production steps when making designed solutions individually and collaboratively (ACTDE018)
English Listen to and contribute to conversations and discussions to share information and ideas and negotiate in collaborative situations (ACELY 1676)

Learning Outcomes:

  • Explore the journey of paddock to plate and the food production industry.
  • Investigate the role of past and present production and food technologies.
  • Learn about the different roles of individuals in the food production industry.
  • Develop an understanding of the sequence of production and processing steps.
  • Consider the difference between short and long food journeys and different foods.
  • Create more sustainable and productive paddock to plate journeys for food items.

Teaching strategies used in resource:

  • Think, pair and share
  • Class brainstorm
  • Class discussion
  • Student reflection
  • Classroom games (Quiz chef)

Resource includes:

Resource snapshots

Teacher resource booklet

Power point resource snapshot 

Flash cards resource

Digital resources to accompany Paddock to Plate resource

  • http://splash.abc.net.au/res/teacher_res/3-paddock-plate.html
  • http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/media/106432/vegetable-gardens

You can find the whole resource readily available online here: http://www.primezone.edu.au/item_details.php?item_id=170&item_type=resource&content_list_id=2

 

 

Scratch – Coding to learn!
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Scratch – Coding to learn!

Scratch

Scratch is a click-drag-and-drop programming environment that is exceptional for introducing students to programming concepts via Windows and Mac OS X . Students can use Scratch to code their own interactive stories, games, and animations. In the process, they learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively, which are essential skills for society and the classroom.

Target year level:  Year 3-6 (Also recommended for high-school students)

Curriculum learning area: Digital Technologies

General Capabilities: Literacy, Numeracy, ICT, Critical and Creative Thinking

Developed by: Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab

Why use scratch in your classroom? Scratch introduces students to programming without the daunting pressure of understanding coding/programming language. Beginners are often ‘put off’ when faced with errors in coding, as many programmers are quite abstruse in their language, however scratch aims to overcome this barrier by using a drag-and-drop technique that is readily available to young ages. Scratch uses visual programming language that can be used to construct games, presentations, tutorials, animations, interactive stories and more to create a conceptual understanding or digital materials.

About this resource: Scratch has provided a educational resource for teachers that provides a digital platform for teachers to engage in and share stories, experiences, resources and meet fellow educators via the Scratch Educator Meetups. Note: These meetups are USA centralized.  Scratch also provides teachers with an educator account to help manage classroom projects and student programs.

Links to other learning areas: 

  • Art – Drawing experimentation with colour
  • Mathematics – Plot, graph, demonstrate and application of mathematical concepts
  • Science – Simulation and experimentation
  • Languages – Simple quiz input/output, including the recording of sound for feedback
  • English – Develop a narrative, plot points, characters and actions
  • All learning areas – Demonstrate a deeper, conceptual understanding of fundamental ideas

Mitch Resnick – Computer Scientist

Mitch Resnick is the director of the Life Long Kindergarten Group and LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research at MIT Media Lab. Resnick aims to engage students with technology, encouraging them to create and experiment using coding with digital resources. You can find more information about Mitch Resknick here: https://www.media.mit.edu/people/mres/overview/

Scratch program snapshots

Scratch interface home page

Scratch background editor

Scratch character script

Scratch game/ challenge programming code

Programming in Schools using Scratch: A CS4HS: Iterate Workshop by Bruce Fuda

Download this resource to view a complete written document that maps out the Scratch program layout and how you can download/use it in your classroom