Science KS 3 Unit 9D Plants for Food

In this unit pupils:

• learn about humans as part of a complex food web.
• learn about factors affecting plant growth.
• learn how management of food production has many implications for other animal and plant populations in the environment.
• consider some of the issues involved in sustainable development of the countryside.

In scientific enquiry pupils:

• present information in tables and graphs.
• investigate the effects of fertiliser on plant growth.
• survey weeds growing in a habitat, using an appropriate sampling technique.

This unit is expected to take approximately 7.5 hours.

OTHER RESOURCES

• secondary sources to explore food production, farming and pests, eg CD-ROMs, photographs, video clips, gardening reference books and other literature such as information leaflets produced by environmental, farming and government organisations
• samples of a wide range of crops or plants
• microscope slides showing starch grains in plants, eg potato
• food webs showing animals and plants associated with a crop, eg cereals
• duckweed and/or wheat for growing
• examples of packaging or advertisements for fertilisers, weedkillers, pesticides
• data about crop yields with, and in the absence of, weeds
• case studies about the use of pesticides, eg effect on bird populations, effect on locusts, malarial areas
• texts about use of pesticides and insecticides from different perspectives, eg 'Silent Spring' by Rachel Carson