SILO 4.4 (DRAFT)

Year 4, Term 4: Precision agriculture

Scope and sequence: Precision agriculture

Focus: Precision agriculture

Learning intention: Students explore how agricultural processes are used to grow plants and raise animals.
Overview: Agriculture is another word for farming so it includes growing crops and well as raising livestock. This unit builds on prior knowledge from SILO F.2 'Living things' and SILO F.4 'Ecosystems' and leads into SILO 5.1 'Biology'. The main focus is on introducing children to current farming practices and investigating how problem solving can be used to develop solutions for increased efficiency and yield. The concept of biosecurity is also introduced as another application of problem solving to reduce waste and disease.
NSW Syllabus
Australian Curriculum
"A student describes how agricultural processes are used to grow plants and raise animals for food, clothing and shelter" (ST2-5LW-T).

From 2027: "A student uses evidence to explain how scientific knowledge can be used to develop sustainable practices" (ST3-SCI-01).
"Students learn to explore how plants and animals are grown for food, clothing and shelter" (AC9TDE2K03).


Introduction to precision agriculture

Agriculture is the art and science of farming so it includes growing crops and well as raising livestock. The main idea in precision agriculture is that measurement can be used to improve efficiency and increase yield.

Do plants eat dirt?

The proof that plants do not eat soil is attributed to Jean Baptiste van Helmont. In the 17th century Van Helmont weighed a willow tree before planting it in a known weight of dried soil and then re-weighed the tree five years later. The tree had increased in mass but, after drying the soil, the soil mass had hardly decreased at all. The following video (4:10) titled Where do trees get their mass? probes further into this question.



The Cane Train

The following video (7:20) was made with the assistance of Northview State School in Mackay, Queensland, for National Science Week in 2021. It covers a range of activities for primary school as follows:

Please note: The parents/guardians of the students in this video signed consent forms agreeing to their children being filmed for the online publication of this video. No students are named or identified in this video.


Farming

The main difference between farming and other activities, such as gardening, relates to scale. Gardening is the small-scale, often manual, cultivation of plants for personal enjoyment, food, or aesthetics, typically located near a home. In contrast, farming is the large-scale, mechanised, and commercial production of crops or livestock for profit or widespread consumption. Farm machinery allows farmers to work larger areas of land and produce more food. The following video (2:09) is promoting modern farm equipment education at the University of Maryland, but it provides a good overview of the importance of farm machinery.



Calculating the area of land

For squares and rectangles, the formula for calculating the each is: Area = Width x Length.
Calculate the area for each of the following shapes.
A printable A4 worksheet of the area activity is available here.

Making a thermometer

The micro:bit can detect the temperature so making a thermometer is as easy as using the following code. An alternative to this could be to use a blue 'Forever' block so that the temperature is continually displayed and updated rather than having to press a button.


Sensing moisture

This video (6:43) shows how the micro:bit can be programmed to measure moisture in soil to create a water monitoring system.


You could choose to have the reading displayed continuously or when triggered by pressing a button. The example below displays the moisture level when Button A is pressed. The connections are to Pins 1 and 3V.


As the name suggests, electronic sensors use electronic components. Some of these components are explored further in SILO 5.4 'Electronics'.

Measuring soil moisture

  • Using the code shown above, connect wires to pins 1 and 3 on your micro:bit to take some soil moisture measurements.
  • Add water to calibrate the readings and record the results in your science notebook.


Revision of variables

The different types of variables were explained in SILO 2.3 'Fair tests'. They are revised here in relation to the growth of plants.

 A student wanted to look at plant growth in five different soil samples. She planted the same type of seeds in identical containers containing the different soil samples and left the containers together in full sunlight. She gave each plant the same amount of water and charted the growth of each plant stem. What is the independent variable in this experiment?

a. Seeds
b. Soil
c. Light
d. Container

A variable is a symbolic container, value, or characteristic that can change or represent different information. Depending on the context, a variable can mean stored data in computer code, an unknown letter in mathematics, or a measured factor in science. The following video (3:23) titled What is a variable? explains some interesting applications of variables including how they are used in graphs.


A graph made from plants

The following photo shows five honeysuckle plants creeping up a fence. All of these plants were bought from the same nursery and planted on the same day. The following photo actually functions as a bar graph to show individual variation amongst the plants. Although it is not a line graph, the red line makes it easier to visualise that each plant is a different height with the shortest plant on the left and each plant getting progressively taller as you look from left to right.



Was changing 'one thing' (i.e., the location) really only one variable or a combination of variables?

Greenhouses

Greenhouses are structures which are used to help plants grow during the colder months of the year. The following video (1:46) says that greenhouses are made of glass but other transparent materials such as plastic can also be used.

The following video (5:17) featuring Walcha Central School shows Year 6 students designing their own greenhouse and using sensors as part of their study on sustainable farming practices.

 

Fisheries

This video (2:48) from the UK shows how Salmon are farmed commercially.



Water and irrigation
Flood irrigation

Drip irrigation

Spray irrigation

Regeneration

As early adopters of regenerative agricultural practices, Tim and Karen Wright began looking at a better way to manage their operation way back in the 1990's. This led to gradual changes across their properties as described in the following video (3:12). Their 'Lana' farm was also featured on the TV show Travel Oz (https://7plus.com.au/travel-oz) on 3rd August 2024. For more information see Natural Capital Farming (https://naturalcapitalfarming.com.au/).



Biosecurity


Panama TR4

The following video (4:55) tells the story of Panama TR4 in Queensland titled Charlie goes bananas.



River management

The following video (4:34) by the Murray–Darling Basin Authority celebrates 20 years of The Living Murray project.



Indigenous agricultural knowledge

This video (4:42) featuring Fran Bodkin and Bruce Pascoe shows how Indigenous people have been working with the land for thousands of years.


Discussion: Look at the four elements of scientific traditions listed below and their origins. Should any of these items be favoured above another or are they all important and complementary?


Sustainable Development Goals

Explore the Sustainable Development Goals from the United Nations (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/).



UNE Smart Farms

The University of New England has certain research initiatives relating to precision agriculture such as UNE Smart Farms https://www.une.edu.au/research/research-centres-institutes/smart-farm. Precision agriculture can also benefit from specialised software or web-based applications such as https://ag360-education.une.edu.au/ where farmers can input measurements to make predictions about yield and other considerations. The following video (8:26) by UNE Professor Lewis Kahn titled How to measure your pasture availability is aimed at farmers but it can also be of interest to students as it reinforces the key idea of taking measurements. 




Moderated self-assessment

Discussions with students around the key components of conceptual topics and how they fit together can generate insights into student achievement.


 

We welcome your feedback and suggestions

The chief investigator for The SILO Project is Associate Professor Brendan Jacobs, Head of Department STEM Education, University of New England. The SILO Project thrives on incremental improvement so constructive feedback is greatly appreciated. Please contact Brendan via email at bjacobs7@une.edu.au to share your thoughts and recommendations.



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