All About Animals: Secondary Teachers: Lesson Plan 3: Pigs versus Apples

 

How does this fit into the National Curriculum? Pupils should be taught to: describe and explain environmental changes and recognise different ways of managing them (5a); appreciate how people’s attitudes and values, including their own, affect contemporary social, environmental, economic and political issues, and to clarify and develop their own values and attitudes about such issues (1e).

Teachers’ Note: Simply read to your class the paragraph below and ask them to take notes about what is required of them.

The British landscape is largely defined by agriculture. The countryside of Kent is dominated by orchards while Norfolk is famous for its pig farms. In Worcestershire you’ll see fields and fields of cabbages while in Devon dairy cows dot the landscape. It may be argued that orchards and fields are more pleasing to the eye than intensive farms but the future of farming is about more than creating a picturesque landscape. It is about market demands, environmental limitations, economic considerations, tradition, political agendas and the views and values of both local and global communities.

Imagine this: a farm is up for sale in your village and there are two bidders for it. One plans to use the land to grow organic carrots and the outbuildings to store farm machinery to sort and grade the crop. The second bidder plans to use the buildings to farm pigs intensively and the fields to grow straw for their bedding. The council is keen to take the views of the local residents into account before agreeing which plan will take precedence.

Research both types of farming and how they are likely to impact on the local area: the landscape, the people, the environment and wildlife. Write a speech that you will deliver to the council about your views on this matter stating why one plan is more suitable than the other.