A2 Agriculture and food
Section 1: The food chain
- www.nfuonline.com/nfuwfmlive/
The NFU website has been restructured since the A2 Teacher and Technician Guide was published.
The ‘Why farming matters’ section of the site provides useful background information.
Activity AA2.1 From field to plate
- www.face-online.org.uk
Photographs showing the ‘field to fridge’ sequence for milk, potatoes, and wheat can be seen by following Resources > Gallery > Field to Fridge. - www.flourandgrain.com/
Information on bread can be found by clicking the ‘Knowledge Base’ in the main navigation and then clicking again to ‘launch the Knowledge Base’. - www.activekidsgetcooking.org.uk/activekidsgetcooking/welcome.htm
The Sainsbury site has changed. The information and pictures about the supermarket bread are now to be found at this site: secondary resources>product case studies>bread. - www.brewlab.co.uk/eschools.htm
This site provides fact sheets including: A Brief Overview of the Important Stages of Brewing. - www.staustellbrewery.co.uk/
Many breweries provide online tours; this site is about the brewery featured in the Textbook.
Section 2: Plant products
Activity AA2.2 Where does it come from?
- www.britishsugar.co.uk
Click on ‘Information resource’ and then on ‘School resources’ to find information for students about sugar science and technology. - www.foodtech.org.uk/manmak/case.html
A site with information about the production of pasta. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate
Lots of information about chocolate and how it is made from Wikipedia. - www.goldenwonder.com/about/makecrisps.asp
A site showing, step by step, how potato crisps are made.
Activity AA2.3 Sugar extraction
- www.ukagriculture.com
The ‘crops’ section of this site has details of how sugar beet is grown. - www.britishsugar.co.uk
This site has information about the manufacture of sugar from beet. Click on ‘Information resource’ and then on ‘British Sugar Industry’.
Activity AA2.4 UK cereal and oilseed crops
- www.ukagriculture.com
There is plenty of detail about crops, with many pictures, on this website about UK Agriculture. Click on ‘Crops’ under ‘Key subjects’.
Section 3: Growing plants productively
- www.britishleafysalads.co.uk/
The Snaiths Salads website has disappeared since the A2 Teacher and Technician Guide was published. Instead you can refer to British Leafy Salads Association website which has a section ‘from farm to plate’.
Activity AA2.5 Conditions for good crop production
- www.face-online.org.uk/
Look at this website for photographs and information about glasshouse management. Follow the links Themes > Applied Science > Horticulture. - www.cambridgeglasshouse.co.uk
This site shows examples of commercial glasshouses and their control systems.
Activity AA2.6 Testing soil
- www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0103/soil.asp
The Royal Horticultural Society site gives advice on building soil fertility.
Activity AA2.7 Measuring plant productivity
- http://www-saps.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/
This activity has been adapted from a Science and Plants for Schools (SAPS) protocol. The SAPS website is a rich source of ideas for practical activities involving plants.
Section 4: Plant propagation
Activity AA2.12 Plant production by cuttings
- www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/propagation_index.shtml
The BBC website gives instructions for taking cuttings, with pictures - www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0602/softwood_cuttings.asp
Royal Horticultural Society has advice on how to take softwood cuttings. - www.face-online.org.uk
Find information about cuttings by following: Themes > Applied Science > Horticulture. See the clonal propagation section of production horticulture.
Activity AA2.13 Plant propagation by tissue culture
- www.ncbe.reading.ac.uk/NCBE/PROTOCOLS/menu.html
See the National Centre for Biotechnology Education (NCBE) website for further information. See ‘Plant tissue culture’.
Section 5: Animal products
Activity AA2.15 The cheesemaking process
- www.ncbe.rdg.ac.uk
NCBE (National Centre for Biotechnology Education) supplies milk-clotting preparations. - www.specialistcheesemakers.co.uk
Find out how cheese is made within the ‘Code of best practice’ section of this site. - www.nationaldairycouncil.org/nationaldairycouncil/nutrition
The ‘Nutrition and product information’ section of the National Dairy Council website offers a fact sheet about cheese as one of the ‘Dairy foods’.
Section 6: Rearing animals productively
Activity AA2.18 Welfare of laying hens
- http://www.defra.gov.uk/
The ‘Animal health and welfare’ section of the Defra website includes charts showing the scale of egg production. See Homepage > Animal health & welfare > Animal health & welfare strategy > England Implementation Group > Livestock indicators > Core indicator 5.1 - www.britegg.co.uk
The British Lion Eggs website, which shows how eggs are promoted in this country. - www.rspca.org.uk
The RSPCA campaigns to promote the welfare of farm animals.
Section 7: Animal breeding
Activity AA2.19 Highland and lowland sheep
Useful websites include:
- www.ukagriculture.com
There is an illustrated introduction to livestock farming on this website. - www.face-online.org.uk/
Fact sheets in the ‘Resources’ section of this website cover livestock farming.
Activity AA2.20 Cattle and sheep breeding
- www.ukagriculture.com
This website includes photographs and typical breeding cycles for cattle and sheep in the section about livestock.
Activity AA2.21 Artificial insemination in cattle
- http://www.ruralni.gov.uk/
This site includes advice and information provided for people farming on a small scale.
Section 8: Broducts from microorganisms
Activity AA2.23 Microorganisms in action
- www.bbsrc.ac.uk/Welcome.html
The BBSRC booklet Biotechnology and bacterial friends and foes can be downloaded from this website. See: Bioscience for Society>Engagement>Schools and young people>Resources for schools>Resources to download or order. - www.microbiologyonline.org.uk/posters.htm
Informative posters are available from this website of the Society for General Microbiology.
Activity AA2.24 Yogurt production
- www.microbiologyonline.org.uk/misac.html
Safety advice about working with microorganisms can be obtained from this website of the Microbiology in Schools Advisory Committee (MISAC) - www.cleapss.org.uk/
Members of CLEAPSS can refer to the current CLEAPSS Science Publications CD-ROM or the CLEAPSS Laboratory Handbook, section 15.2.
Activity AA2.25 Bread production
- www.bakersfederation.org.uk/home.aspx
A fact sheet How Bread is Made is available by following ‘Resources & events’ and then ‘Publications’ at the Federation of Bakers website. - http://www.activekidsgetcooking.org.uk/activekidsgetcooking/welcome.htm
The product case studies include bread in the secondary resources section of this website. - www.flourandgrain.com
Click on the Knowledge Base section to launch the ‘Knowledge base’ which is an interactive directory of information about bread, flour, and grains, covering the production and supply chain of flour products from farm to consumer.
Section 9: Growing microorganisms productively
Activity AA2.26 Brewing yeast fermentations
- www.ncbe.reading.ac.uk/
The website for National Centre for Biotechnology Education (NCBE) gives details of the materials and equipment they supply. - www.brewlab.co.uk/eschools.htm
This website provides a downloadable information sheet A Brief Overview of the Important Stages of Brewing. - www.quaffale.org.uk/php/brewery_links.php
Many breweries have useful websites. This link takes you to a directory listing the details of lots of breweries.
Activity AA2.28 Production of mycoprotein
- www.quorn.co.uk
Marlow Foods, the producers of Quorn, provide information about the product online at this website.
Activity A2.29 Streak plate cultures
- www.microbiologyonline.org.uk/misac.html
Safety advice about working with microorganisms can be obtained from this website of the Microbiology in Schools Advisory Committee (MISAC) - www.cleapss.org.uk/
Members of CLEAPSS can refer to the current CLEAPSS Science Publications CD-ROM or the CLEAPSS Laboratory Handbook, section 15.2.
Section 10: Genetic modification
Activity AA2.30 Cheese choices
- www.ncbe.reading.ac.uk/NCBE/GMFOOD/chymosin.html
Details of milk-clotting products can be found in this section of the NCBE site. - www.nationaldairycouncil.org/nationaldairycouncil/nutrition
The ‘Nutrition and product information’ section of the National Dairy Council website offers a fact sheet about cheese as one of the ‘Dairy foods’. - www.vegsoc.org/info/cheese.html
The Vegetarian Society website has information about cheese and rennet for vegetarians. - http://www.cheeseboard.co.uk
The British Cheese Board website has much information about cheese including an information sheet about cheese making. Click on ‘Downloads’, then on ‘Cheese information leaflets’.
Section 11: Food safety quality and value
Activity AA2.32 The growth of microorganisms in food
- www.microbiologyonline.org.uk
This activity has been adapted from: Practical Microbiology for Secondary Schools,
ISBN 0 95368 382 6, available from the Society for General Microbiology:
Activity AA2.34 Safe practice
- www.food.gov.uk
The Food Standards Agency website has an extensive section about food safety. - www.specialistcheesemakers.co.uk/best_practice/Hazard_analysis.htm
The website gives an outline of hazard analysis for cheesemaking.
Activity AA2.35 Sustainable practice
- www.britishsugar.co.uk
Follow the link ‘Our responsibilities’ to ‘Environment’, and then ‘Horticulture’ to find the background to this activity.
Activity AA2.36 Quality marks and marketing
- www.ukagriculture.com/
This is the best site for an overview of the various schemes. Look under ‘Food production’ and then click on ‘Assurance’.
Cover lessons
Activity AA2.37 Support and regulation
- www.fsa.gov.uk/
- www.defra.gov.uk/
- www.mlc.org.uk/
- <www.potato.org.uk/
- www.mdc.org.uk/
- www.hdc.org.uk/
Details about the organizations mentioned in the activity can be obtained from these websites.
Activity AA2.38 Automatic control in a glasshouse
- www.face-online.org.uk/
Photographs and information about glasshouse management can be seen by following the links Themes > Applied Science > Horticulture. - www.cambridgeglasshouse.co.uk
This website shows examples of commercial glasshouses and their control systems.
Activity AA2.39 Methods of animal husbandry
- www.face-online.org.uk/
In ‘Resources’, one of the ‘discovering’ fact sheets covers organic farming.