The Australian Chicken Meat Federation Inc. (ACMF) has launched a series of new, online school resources, Chicken Farming in the Living World. The resources reflect the latest updates to the Australian curriculum and offer unique curriculum content within the ’Living World’ strands of the K-10 New South Wales Science syllabuses. These resources are also aligned with the ‘Biological Science’ strand of the Australian curriculum.

The Chicken Farming in the Living World inquiry teaching resource series explores how humans use chickens for meat. This resource uses videos created by the peak industry body representing the Australian chicken meat industry, the Australian Chicken Meat Federation Inc. (ACMF) with the supporting teaching resources developed by experienced primary and secondary school teachers.

Dr Vivien Kite, Executive Director, ACMF comments, “Chickens are fascinating animals and provide students with an interesting subject matter to discuss the many aspects of our living world, from the interactions between humans and animals, how we create food from animals, how scientific knowledge influences our living world, right through to understanding what a managed ecosystem looks like in the context of a broader natural ecosystem.

As the industry peak body, it is important that such resources are developed – to inform and ensure an understanding of how chicken meat is produced while remaining in step with the shift in classroom teachingover recent years, from teacher-led learning and activities to a student-led approach.”

The content offers teachers new ready to ‘plug and play’ resources from the ‘Living World’ strand and provide curriculum content tailored to each school stage across primary and secondary school. The resources address the following questions:

• Stage 1 – Years 1-2 – How do humans use plants and animals?
• Stage 2 – Years 3-4 – How do we create food and fibre from animals and plants?
• Stage 3 – Years 5-6 – Why is it important for food and / or fibre to be produced sustainably?
• Stage 4 – Years 7-8 – What scientific knowledge has influenced the current agricultural practices of the chicken meat industry?
• Stage 5 – Years 9-10 – How does the closed system of a chicken meat farm model the interactions, flow of energy and the cycling of matter through a natural ecosystem?

To access the Chicken Farming in the Living World resources teachers, educators and parents can visit the ‘School Resources’ page of the ACMF website (www.chicken.org.au) or the educational platform Scootle.