Environments - HORTICULTURALIST

Can you really be poisoned by green or sprouting potatoes?

Middle

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Personal and social capability

1. Have you ever been told not to eat green pototoes? Is it really true?

Read the following article from The Conversation 3 August 2016 by Caroline Wright, Senior Lecturer in Horticulture from Nottingham Trent University:

What does Caroline say? What evidence does she provide? What do you think? Was there anything in this article that you didn't know before?

2. Dr Karl from ABC Science goes a little deeper. Listen to the audio file while reading the script of "Poisonous potato lacks appeal"

What further information did you learn?

3. As a "budding" horticulturalist, you are to give a 2 minute explanation to the food studies students at your school.

How will you explain green potatoes and their effects? How will you teach these food studies students about the use of green potatoes in a restaurant?

Plants in Space? How does that work?

Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

Australian Curriculum Cross Curriculum Priorities: Sustainability Priority

1. Scientists are doing amazing research into plants and space. NASA sees this as an essential part of their space program.

Read the following article from The Conversation 7 August 2015 about plants growing in zero gravity!

2.

What did you learn about the Biology of Plants that you didn't know before? Discuss with a partner.

3. Are you up for a real challenge? NASA has asked high school students to come up with a Lunar Plant Growth Chamber. It takes 4 lessons and a lot of thinking and reading!

Work in teams to complete this challenge. What did you engineer and design?

The Women behind our famous apples

Middle 

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Ethical Understanding

1. In pairs, you are to listen to the stories of two Australian women who helped the Apple Industry: Maud Williams aka 'Lady' Williams and Maria 'Granny' Smith. "The Pink Lady apple, popular around the world,  can trace its origins to the orchard of one Maud Williams – aka ‘Lady’ Williams – in Western Australia. 

Maud Williams, and Maria 'Granny' Smith, from NSW, are among the many women in agriculture whose stories are under-appreciated, and under-documented. 

Guest: Professor Susan Broomhall, historian at the Australian Catholic University"

After listening to this podcast below, write down, in dot points, as many interesting facts as possible.

ABC Late Night Live 30 January 2023 16mins

2. Together write one paragraph about Maud Williams and the Lady Williams apple.

3. Find a picture of the following apples:

a. Lady Williams

b. Sundowner

c. Pink Lady

d. Bravo

4. Prof. Susan Broomhall talks about women in agriculture. She later states : "Documenting Australian women’s activities in agricultural innovation faces considerable challenges. Remarkably, only 30 years ago [1984], women were not able to be recognised as farmers in their own right on Australian census forms."

Discuss together the ethics of women's roles in innovation in agriculture. Jot down your points for further class discussion.

5. Combine with another pair of students, read the following article from The Conversation 18 January 2023

6. Add another paragraph to your original one about the new facts in this article.

7. As a group of 4 students, listen to the State Library of Western Australia podcast:

She'll be apples: The Western Australian women shaping the orchard industry. 25mins

a. What was Maud Williams' character?

b. What was going on in the world around Maud?

c. How much money did Maud get for her first lot of apples?

8. What are the puns within the podcast? Name 5 puns.

Class Discussion.

Why isn't Maud Williams an Australian recognised name? How can her name be acknowledged now?

What about Maria Smith and the Granny Smith apple? You are to research this woman and her apple. Write up 200 words about your discovery.

Websites, Games & Apps

Australian National Botanic Gardens: Horticultural activities   Primary Middle  Australian Curriculum General Capability: Personal and social capability Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy	Experiments & Fun Activities   Primary Australian Curriculum General Capability: ICT Capability
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