Farms - then and now

Activity ideas

Supplement the reading activities with selected practical tasks:

• Farm visit: Prepare questions with the children about the work, machinery and animal husbandry. Afterwards, they can compare their observations with the materials.
• Interview people: Ask older people to share their own experiences of farming. Have the children note the time and place the memories relate to.
• Try sowing: Sow grain in trays with your class. The children observe how it grows and keep a short growth journal.
• Match the tools: Put together picture cards of tools used in the past and today. Have pupils match each one to its task and function, and explain their choices.
• Trace food back to its source: Use bread, milk or potatoes to investigate the steps involved from farm to table.
• Assessing change: Have small groups identify the benefits and challenges of selected developments. Ask them to explain their reasoning and avoid sweeping judgments about “the past” and “today.”

Bring together comparison charts, question cards, observations, and selected final drafts in a project folder or a small exhibition.