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Envirostories: the farmer changes his ways

Text Envirostories: the farmer changes his ways

TLF ID M015268

This is an ebook about a farmer who changes the way he produces cotton and manages his farm. Intended for a lower to mid primary school audience, the ebook was written by Ethan Campbell, a year 6 student in 2012 at a country New South Wales school. The author uses a before and after storyline, supported by colourful illustrations, to describe how the farmer changed his ways: 'before' he overcultivated, sowed too many seeds and used too much fertiliser; 'after' he changed to low till, used only the minimum amount of seed and fertiliser, and planted trees. The story concludes with a description of the outstanding results the farmer achieved.

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Educational details

Educational value
  • This is a valuable resource for the 3 to 4 year band of the design and technologies curriculum and the year 4 geography curriculum. It addresses the important context of food and fibre production in a way that engages lower primary students. It is of considerable relevance for the content description in the design and technologies Knowledge and Understanding strand that refers to investigating how fibres are produced in modern societies and the technologies used. It is also of relevance to the year 4 geography content descriptions about the importance of environments to animals and people, the value of the resources environments provide and different views on how they could be used sustainably.
  • The ebook is a useful example of a student response to the content description in the year 6 English curriculum that calls for students to plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, choosing and experimenting with text structures, language features, images and digital resources appropriate to purpose and audience. The resource also illustrates how a competitive challenge, such as Envirostories, can be designed to enhance students' development of the ICT general capability, particularly in relation to sharing information.
  • The resource is also relevant to the sustainability cross-curriculum priority, particularly the organising idea that designing action for sustainability requires an evaluation of past practices, the assessment of scientific and technological developments, and balanced judgments based on projected future economic, social and environmental impacts. The farmer is shown reading to learn more about sustainable practices, planning and implementing new practices in his cotton planting and throughout his farm, and achieving significant economic and environmental success.
Year level

3; 4; 5; 6

Topics Creating texts Farming systems Sustainable development Habitats Attitudes Cotton Rehabilitation (Environment) Text types
Learning area
  • English
  • Geography

Other details

Contributors
  • Contributor
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au/
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: Cotton Catchment Communities CRC
  • Organization: Cotton Catchment Communities CRC
  • URL: www.cottoncrc.org.au
  • Publisher
  • Name: Enviro-Stories
  • Organization: Enviro-Stories
  • Description: Publisher
  • URL: http://www.envirostories.com.au/
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Unknown
Learning Resource Type
  • Text
Rights
  • Copyright © 2012 Cotton Catchment Communities CRC. Provided all acknowledgements are retained, this material may be used, reproduced and communicated free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes within Australia and in overseas schools where the Australian curriculum is taught.