TLF ID M021049
This unit of work introduces students to the potential of digital technologies to manage and conserve water resources in Australian agriculture. It assumes that students and teachers have little or no prior programming experience and provides a series of introductory activities to build students' understanding of the basic skills to create code using the programming language Scratch. Students engage with the issues facing Australian producers via an interactive game that provides a context for students to appreciate the impacts of events such as drought on farming. Students cultivate seeds in the classroom and record the amount of water required to enable the seeds to thrive. This data is used in a design challenge to create an automated watering system. Students apply their understanding of computational thinking and coding to design a program to deliver the correct amount of water to enable seeds to grow.