More than 200,000 pupils from primary schools across the country are learning first-hand from farmers about British food production, and how the core science topics they learn in school are integral to farming. The programme includes:
- How are tractors connected to space? NFU next generation forum chair Eveey Hunter looks at what materials a tractor is built from and how her tractors can drive themselves using GPS.
- How are pigs connected to jumbo jets? Pupils will meet NFU next generation forum member Flavian Obiero and his pig dog Rex and learn how he keeps his pigs happy and healthy.
- How are sheep connected to seaweed? Shepherd Susie Parish, sheep farmer Emma Boyles, wool innovator Kate Drury, and Steve Allnutt from the Sussex Seabed Restoration Project follow the journey of wool from the sheep to the seabed to help restore sea kelp populations.
"I hope this week will inspire students and ignite an interest in a future in science, especially in our fantastic British food and farming sector."
NFU President Minette Batters
The free lessons are taking place between 14-16 March and brought the exciting world of British farming into the classroom, giving students a taste of what life is like as a farmer. Resources have been made available to teachers alongside the live lessons to enable them to extend the lessons to learn more about how science and farming work hand-in-hand.
Science Farm Live 2023: watch live – see the lessons in action.
NFU President Minette Batters said: "Our Science Farm Live programme has been an incredible success, with more than 10% of schools in England and Wales learning about science first hand from farmers this week.
"The fact that this is the highest number of students and schools who have registered in the programme’s history shows that teachers are increasingly recognising the value of teaching science through the lens of food and farming.
“Science is engrained almost every aspect of agriculture, and by bringing farming into classrooms across the country, these lessons help bring often stale subjects to life.
“I hope this week will inspire students and ignite an interest in a future in science, especially in our fantastic British food and farming sector."
This year marks the third year of NFU live lessons. This year's lessons are reaching record numbers of students, more than doubling from the 90,000 students that followed the first edition in 2021.