Agriculture – the ultimate STEM subject!

Are you looking for a stimulating and thought-provoking context to teach your students science inquiry skills and science as a human endeavour? Then agriculture is your solution! Food and fibre provides instantly engaging content – we all eat and wear clothes so the end products of the ag supply chain are all around us. However, many of us are quite disconnected from how it all happens. Research shows that students are not aware that ag is a tech-rich, innovative sector and that there are amazing career opportunities for them, no matter what their skill set is. Currently, there are six jobs for every graduate from a Bachelor of Agricultural Science and because of this big shortfall, the roles being offered are well-paid and resourced. And the work they are doing is important – feeding the world, protecting the environment and dealing with challenges like climate change.  

There are excellent curriculum-mapped teaching resources available that do not require you to have experience with ag. Hosted by the Primary Industries Education Foundation of Australia (PIEFA), Primezone has a great search function and education resources for all ages and Career Harvest is a student-friendly website showcasing the diverse pathways and career options in agriculture. Did you know that only 30% of jobs in ag are on-farm? And that about 50% of jobs are metropolitan-based? You don’t need to own a farm or have ag experience to work in ag – but you do need to be keen to work in teams, solve problems and be future-focused!

Still not convinced ag would work at your school? Did you know that you can access the support of the Lead Agriculture Teacher for SA for free? This is an industry funded role, supporting food and fibre programs and teachers across the state, in public and private schools. Sue Pratt taught agriculture at Balaklava High School for many years, has extensive involvement with curriculum writing (she wrote the Department for Education’s agriculture Units of Work for years 7-10, housed on Plink under Technologies) and is very experienced with SACE programs. She can visit your site, plan how you can add some agriculture into your program and connect you with industry experts. You can contact Sue via email sue.pratt@agcommunicators.com.au and check out her education resources at Education – AgCommunicators.