Design and technologies / Year 7 and 8 / Design and Technologies Knowledge and Understanding

Curriculum content descriptions

Analyse how food and fibre are produced when designing managed environments and how these can become more sustainable (ACTDEK032)

Elaborations
  • comparing land and water management methods in contemporary Australian food and fibre production with traditional Aboriginal systems and countries of Asia, for example minimum-tillage cropping, water-efficient irrigation
  • investigating the management of plant and animal growth through natural means and with the use of chemical products like herbicides and medicines when producing food and fibre products
  • recognising the need to increase food production using cost efficient, ethical and sustainable production techniques
  • describing physical and chemical characteristics of soil and their effects on plant growth when producing food and fibre products
  • investigating different animal feeding strategies such as grazing and supplementary feeding, and their effects on product quality, for example meat tenderness, wool fibre diameter (micron), milk fat and protein content when producing food and fibre products
  • recognising the importance of food and fibre production to Australia’s food security and economy including exports and imports to and from Asia when critiquing and exploring food and fibre production
General capabilities
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • Ethical understanding Ethical understanding
Cross-curriculum priorities
ScOT terms

Farming systems,  Human settlements,  Food miles,  Fibres (Materials),  Farms

Online

Balloon car challenge

In this practical activity, students design and build a balloon-powered car and race it to better understand the ideas related to rocket propulsion. The resource includes a step-by-step teacher guide and student worksheets.

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Cotton Australia: posters

This page provides links to 5 posters that can downloaded as PDFs. The posters include: field to fashion process, sustainable cotton farms and a map showing where cotton is grown. Variations of the posters are available for primary and secondary students. The web page also provides a link to order free hard copies if required.

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Cotton Australia fact sheets

This library provides a series of one to two page fact sheets on a range of topics related to the Australian cotton industry including: an overview of the industry, history of the cotton industry in Australia and in the world; economics of Australian cotton; biotechnology; climate challenges and cotton; properties of cotton ...

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Meet the food system

This unit of work consists of two parts, supported by lesson plans, slides and handouts and teachers guides. The first part examines the food system as a complex network that is deeply connected to health, society, and the environment. The second part explores key milestones in the history of agriculture, with a focus on ...

Video

Food security researcher

This is a short clip in which a dietician, Kate, describes a food security research project she is working on and includes details about what food security is, the skills employed by researchers and what she enjoys about her project topic. Kate provides encouragement for undertaking work experience to find out more about ...

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How do you like your eggs?

This is a teacher resource containing a sequence of inquiry relating to egg production systems used by egg farmers in Australia. It contains material to assist planning, implementing and assessing a research task about the egg production systems and the management techniques used to produce eggs, the claims associated with ...

Online

Sustainable Agriculture - regenerating the family farm

This is a unit of work about sustainable farming practices in an Australian agricultural context. The unit uses a case study of a mixed farming operation in southern Victoria. It investigates the steps this farm has made to improve its long term sustainability and the benefits realised in terms of production systems and ...

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Investigating food and fibres: producer video

This is a video about biodynamic grape growing and wine production at Cape Jaffa Winery in South Australia. It is narrated by co-owner and winemaker Anna Hooper, who describes the wine regions in which the vineyard is located, its soil types, and the main wines grown. She goes on to illustrate the winery's commitment to ...

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A Year on a Farm: producer video

This is a video about operation of an organic orchard near Kalangadoo in South Australia and the commitment to biodiversity of its owners Michelle and Chris McColl. Michelle McColl describes and illustrates the annual cycle of work with the trees and fruit while discussing the economic and agronomical advantages of the ...

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Investigating Australian approaches to producing fish, seafood and meat: producer video

This is a video about the Robarra barramundi aquaculture operations at West Beach and Robe in South Australia. Presented by Lance Vater, Managing Director of the Vater Corporation that includes Robarra, it shows the stages of production from an egg to a 100mm fingerling at West Beach; the feeding and grading of fish in ...

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Investigating key Australian approaches to producing cotton, timber and wool: producer video

This is a video about short wool sheep breeds and how their wool is used at the MiniJumbuck factory at Narracorte South Australia to make quilts, underlays and pillows. Sheep are seen on farms as merino sheep producer Thyne McGregor and Southdown breeder Dee Nolan discuss the strengths of each type of wool and how each ...

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From Citrus to Almonds: video

This is a video [6:25 min] about growing almonds on a property in the Riverland of South Australia and why the owners switched from citrus to almond production. The first part of the video illustrates the characteristics of the property and explains the long-term strategy and business reasons for the switch. The next part ...

Online

Soil – more than just dirt!

Explore different soil textures and discover their various properties. Through simple soil testing, children will learn to appreciate the true value soils have in helping plants grow. The learning outcomes of this activity are for children to: - understand how soil texture influences the amount of water and air it holds - ...

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Growing your own pizza

In this hypothetical exercise, young learners will explore what they would need to establish if they were to grow their very own pizza. The OUTCOMES of this learning activity are for children to: investigate where and how food is produced; appreciate the complexities of food manufacturing; expand their knowledge of food ...

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Creating a beneficial garden: planting

Planting flowers with food crops increases biodiversity, and is known as beneficial planting. Beneficial planting not only makes our garden beds look more attractive to us, it also makes gardens look more attractive to pollinators and predators, which in turn, help to fertilise and protect crops from pest invertebrates. ...

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Understanding weeds: life cycle

Weeds compete with native plants in our natural environments, and can dominate both natural ecosystems and areas of agricultural production. This competition limits biodiversity, as well as the economic potential for farmers. This activity will look closely at three different weed forms and children will learn about their ...

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The Conversation: agriculture

This resource consists of a multitude of news articles and analytical pieces under the topic of agriculture. Eight articles address the many challenges of world food security, five explore the impact of predicted water and phosphorus shortages on crop yields and one article analyses the broader impact of organic farming ...

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The Farm Game

This is a resource about the relationship between consumers and producers in the market. It is presented as a teacher guide and includes learning outcomes, a description, setting the scene information and a work task. The work task involves an investigation of different types of farmers and primary producers and a whole ...

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Biomes that produce our food, industrial materials and fibre: producer video

This is a video about the mixed farming operations of Boonderoo Pastoral Company in South Australia. The farm is introduced by owner Lachie Seears who describes its size, family history and how region's Mediterranean climate allows him to diversify across a range of valuable commodities including Angus cattle, cross-breed ...

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Exploring the production and marketing of seafood: producer video

This is a video about how wild-caught lobsters are processed for export and barramundi are farmed in two South Australian businesses. The first part is presented by Andrew Laurie, the owner of Sky Seafoods, who shows the work of the lobster fishermen who supply him and how the lobsters are processed. He describes how sustainability ...