Design and technologies / Year 5 and 6 / Design and Technologies Knowledge and Understanding

View on Australian Curriculum website Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority
Curriculum content descriptions

Investigate how and why food and fibre are produced in managed environments and prepared to enable people to grow and be healthy (ACTDEK021)

Elaborations
  • investigating and experimenting with different tools, equipment and methods of preparing soil and the effect on soil quality and sustainability including conserving and recycling nutrients, for example when designing a sustainable school vegetable garden or cropping area
  • describing the relationship between plant types and animal breeds and their environmental suitability when selecting suitable plants or animals for an environment
  • sequencing the process of converting ‘on-farm’ food or fibre products into a product suitable for retail sale, that is, the ‘paddock to plate’ supply chain, or when making yarn or fabric from fibre
  • using current food guides and government-endorsed food policies to plan food choices
  • experimenting with tools, equipment, combining ingredients and techniques to design and make food products or meals for selected groups for healthy eating taking into consideration environmental impacts and nutritional benefits
  • considering traditional and contemporary methods of food preparation used in a variety of cultures, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander methods
  • identifying work practices that show an understanding of nutrition, environmental considerations, hygiene and food safety when designing and making a food product, for example washing fruit and vegetables carefully to remove residues, safe disposal of cooking oils to avoid environmental damage, refrigerated storage of highly perishable foods
General capabilities
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
ScOT terms

Agriculture,  Farming systems,  Food miles,  Fibres (Materials)

Video

Introduction 'Technology' in AgriBusiness (Animation)

This is a video about how Australian farmers embrace technology. Using animation, photographs and commentary with occasional puns and jokes by a primary-school--aged boy, it sets the scene of the overall impact of technology, describes why Australian farmers have always been innovative; provides a definition of technology; ...

Video

Introducing Agriculture - from the paddock/ocean to the plate

This is a video about where food comes from and how it is produced. The video is presented by Amy and uses cut out animation and a spoken commentary with numerous puns and riddles to introduce and explain the concept and purpose of agriculture. Amy then details the steps in producing milk and honey. The video lasts for ...

Text

Engineering from farm to table lesson

In this lesson students are invited to become food and fibre engineers to research how wheat, the largest agricultural crop in Australia, gets from the farm to the table. Students take an in-depth look at the wheat industry in Australia exploring how wheat is grown, harvested, processed, utilised, and exported. Students ...

Video

Fast agriculture facts

This is a video giving statistical information about Australian farmers and the food and fibre they produce. It is presented by Will, a primary-school-aged boy, who points out that farmers are innovative, tech-savvy and responsive to research. The video uses scenes of Australian farms and text and graphics on screen to ...

Video

Australian Curriculum - Agriculture in education (a teacher's point of view)

This is a video about the value of a unit of work focusing on agriculture and food production as part of an integrated approach to Implementing the Australian Curriculum. It is presented by year 6 teacher Tathia Shield Wells and includes footage of her students making butter and growing vegetables. She explains how the ...

Video

Lunchbox Legends - the people behind your lunch (Animation)

This is a video about the various occupations involved in developing and producing the food used in a ham and salad lunch roll. The video is presented by Will, a primary-school-aged boy, who identifies and describes nine occupations in several broad groups including researchers, growers of plant food; producers of animal ...

Video

Becoming a Wine Maker

This is a short clip in which a winemaker describes his job and industry including some of his daily tasks, the location of the winery in south-east Queensland’s Granite Belt Region, and the role of that winemaking plays in the agrifoods industry. The winemaker, Peter, works at the Queensland College of Wine Tourism and ...

Video

What do authors do besides writing – they farm truffles?

This is a video about author and farmer SD Gentill and how she combines writing with growing black truffles. It consists of an interview in which she answers questions posed by Will, a young boy. To a background of scenes from her Snowy Mountains farm and a Brisbane restaurant she supplies, Gentill explains how truffles ...

Interactive

Chicken farming in the living world: Stage 3

Chickens are fascinating animals and provide students with an interesting subject matter to discuss the many aspects of our living world. This interactive course for students explores the question 'Why is it important for food and/or fibre to be produced sustainably?' and comprises a series of modules and supporting videos. ...

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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 ...

Text

Biodiversity and farming for a healthy planet

This is a digital resource containing information and resources, such as printable games, that relate to biodiversity and farming, and how food and materials can be produced while protecting the Earth's natural resources. It includes an extensive glossary of important terms, and external links to teacher and student resources ...

Online

Finding Farms

This is a teacher resource containing a series of inquiry teaching sequences about life on farms in Australia. It contains material to assist the planning, implementing and assessing a study of five primary industry sectors involved in food and fibre production. The tasks in this resource are based around illustrated maps ...

Video

Exploring sustainable practices in food and fibre production:producer video

This is a video about how trees are grown and harvested by Green Triangle Forest Products and how facial tissues are made at Kimberley-Clark's South Australian mill. In the first part of the video, Linda Maddern Marketing Manager for Green Triangle Forest Products describes the size and importance of Australia's forestry ...

Video

Finding farms: producer video

This is a video about how lobsters are harvested and processed in South Australia for live export to China. In the first part of the video, Mark Denton, a professional rock lobster fisherman describes how the sustainability of the lobster fishery is ensured; compares and contrasts his work with farming any other form of ...

Online

Discovering past methods of food and fibre production

This is a teacher resource containing a sequence of activities for investigating the production of food and fibre in Australia’s past. It contains material to assist planning, implementing and assessing a study of past methods of food and fibre production in Australia including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Peoples’ ...

Video

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 ...

Video

Farm Diaries: producer video

This is a video about pig production at the Tintinara property of the Mount Boothby Pastoral Company in South Australia. Pigs at various stages are shown, including nursing piglets, weaned piglets weighing between 7 and 10k, and pigs close to a live weight of 100k. Pig producer Alastair Johnson gives statistics about the ...

Online

Design and Make a Financial Plan for a Market Garden

This is a teacher guide providing suggestions for Maths activities based on designing a sustainable market garden and developing a budget for creating and maintaining the market garden as a profitable enterprise. It highlights the need for researching factors such as crop growing conditions and sales potential, and provides ...

Interactive

Kitchen gardens – sustainability action process (Years 3–6)

This resource guides students through an extended school-based or local investigation focussed on kitchen gardens using the five-step sustainability action process. The resource supports the investigation of a real-world issue or problem. Students develop and implement a chosen sustainability action and then evaluate and ...