Unit 2 – Area of Study 2: Animal nutrition, growth and reproduction

Outcome 2

Compare animal production methods, explain animal digestion, nutrition, growth and reproduction, and demonstrate practical aspects of managing animals in agriculture.

Examples of learning activities

• Investigate examples of current challenges in Australian animal production, such as climate change, export regulations, animal welfare, allocation of water resources or feral species.
• Watch YouTube video Why meat is the best worst thing in the world (8:48 mins) and read the article (from The Conversation) entitled ‘Yes, eating meat affects the environment, but cows are not killing the climate’ and discuss the facts, viewpoints and conclusions put forward by both resources.
• Investigate the impacts of drought on Australian animal production, explain the challenges it causes and investigate the proposed solutions, including their likelihood of success in solving the problem. The Department of Education’s FUSE resource provides an interactive map of Drought in Australia:100 years.
• Compare resources exploring intensive chicken farming practices produced by animal activists, such as Animals Australia, with those produced by farmers, such as the Australian Chicken Meat Federation. Discuss how the practices are portrayed.
• Download Choice magazine’s augmented reality app CluckAR that provides information about labelling of free-range eggs. Use the app to investigate the farming practices of egg producers.
• Explore the EnviroNorth: Outback mobs learning module as an example of extensive farming practice in Australia.
• View case studies of extensive animal production (for example, sheep grazing) and compare these with examples of intensive animal production (for example, raising broiler chickens indoors).
• View the video Prawn farming (2:15 mins) and describe the practices used to farm prawns (and the industry’s categorisation as ‘agriculture’ rather than ‘fisheries’).
• Create a video or presentation comparing extensive and intensive farming practices in Australia. Use these comparisons to draw conclusions about the suitability of each method for given situations and their possible impact on animal welfare.
• Use the Dairy Australia digital interactive How do dairy cows make milk? to explore the basic digestive process of cattle.
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  Create a physical representation of one digestive system and present this to the class. In small groups, compare the key features of each system in ruminants, monogastrics and avian species, and report back to the class.
• Create side-by-side labelled diagrams of mammalian and avian reproductive systems. Use these diagrams to identify differences in the systems and relate these differences to the manner in which offspring are produced by each type of animal.
• Create diagrams that illustrate the stages of animal growth for a major livestock species. Investigate the key limiting nutrients during development; for example, carbohydrates or specific vitamins or minerals. Present findings to the class.
• Undertake a jigsaw activity in which groups of students are assigned a key nutrient for animal growth and are required to develop an activity to teach the remainder of the class why this nutrient is important.
• Investigate a reproductive technology used in animal production, such as Bovine superovulation and embyro transfer (15:00 mins), and evaluate how effective this technology is at improving levels of reproductive success. Present findings to the class.
• Watch the YouTube video Heredity: Crash Course Biology #9 (10:17 mins) and discuss how traits in offspring are passed down from parents.
• Watch the YouTube video Selective breeding: Biology for all ― FuseSchool (4:23 mins) and write a summary of the key points discussed.
• Explore the processes used in animal breeding programs using Meat and Livestock Australia’s ‘Breeding objectives and selection’ webpage.
• Explore key terms in genetics and breeding programs using the Animal Smart online resource ‘Important terms in genetics and breeding’.
• Investigate case studies of animal breeding programs; for example, by exploring and discussing the selection of increased milk production in dairy cattle, or the increase in size of broiler chickens. Meat and Livestock Australia provides functionality to search and filter for case studies.
• Discuss side effects or unintended consequences of breeding programs; for example, links between selection for increased milk production in Holstein cattle and their decreased fertility.

Detailed example

Physical representation of a digestive system

1. Students choose either a ruminant, monogastric or avian species, and conduct research into the structure and function of their digestive systems.
2. Teachers provide guiding questions and activities for digestive system research, such as:
   
   • What species have you chosen? Is this species ruminant, monogastric or avian?
   • Outline the diet of this species.
   • Identify the key organs of the digestive system of this species, and list the digestive system’s key features and functions for the animal.
   • Create a labelled diagram of the digestive system.
   • Describe the links between the diet of the species and their digestive system.
3. Students use the information they have collected to create a physical representation of the chosen digestive system. A variety of everyday items can be used to represent each part of the digestive system, including tubes, plastic bags, stockings, cloth, cutting or mashing implements and similar. The demonstration can be static or dynamic in nature.
4. Students present or demonstrate their representation to the class, being careful to explain how each item accurately represents the part of the digestive system intended. Class members discuss how well each representation accurately models the intended digestive system.
5. In small groups, students compare a representation of each type of digestive system (ruminant, monogastric and avian). They identify similarities and differences between each of the systems and record this information as dot points.
6. Students use the information collected and developed to complete a Venn diagram (with three overlapping circles) using either MS Word or PowerPoint. They head the Venn diagram 'Comparing animal digestive systems' and label one circle as 'ruminant', another as 'monogastric', and the last one as 'avian'.
7. Completed Venn diagrams can be presented to the class and discussed.