Seed to Sandwich: where does our food come from?

Lesson Plans - Mrs. Maxine Woods & Dr. Phil Smith

In our partnership we are fortunate to be able to work together for whole days in school and the lesson plans given below are based around activities that we have used and that link together well in our ‘science days’. We accept no liability for accidents or injury arising from others conducting these activities. The majority of the activities are designed so that each child can set-up his/her experiment. We have tried to estimate the time required for each activity in order that you may use them in shorter science lessons.

The lesson plans that are designed to show a relationship between science and the world of farming and thereby show science to be real. The subjects addressed in each topic, parallel what is happening during the farming year, to the seed in the ground. Where possible we tried to run these activities at the appropriate time of year.

Thus, at the start of the farming year the farmer prepares his field – he cultivates the soil in readiness for planting – Lesson 1, Rocks & Soill (September)

Shortly after preparing the land, the farmer sows the seed, not by hand but by using some form of mechanised ‘drill’, inserting the seed into the soil at the required depth. Here, the seed will germinate - Lesson 2, Seeds & Germination. In the UK, most cereals are winter sown (October).

They therefore survive quite a drop in temperature, and are capable of germinating and growing at very cold temperatures. There is also lots of rain during winter, sometimes snow, so Lesson 3 explores Changes in Substances, with an emphasis on freezing, thawing and waterlogging (February).

As the weather improves, there is a period of rapid growth and the plants are sprayed with pesticides to protect against insects, micro-organisms and weeds. Finally, they start to flower and the pollinated flower gives rise to the seed. Some of these aspects are investigated in the final lesson, Lesson 4, Growth. This seed must mature & harden before it is harvested (May).

More processing is required before the seed gives us flour (the harvest process formed part of the Education Activity on the day). During the year we developed our poster board, shown below, building up a picture of the farming year and emphasising to the pupils just how long this process takes.

Download the four lesson plans by clicking here

This project was funded by a BBSRC Nartional Science Week award and a Partnership grant from the Royal Society.