Learning to grow food competition brief 2024

Competition for pre-school settings and primary schools

Sponsored by Joyce Wakeman’s legacy

Competition brief: Does pollination matter?

The competition will focus on the role of pollinators and pollination in producing the fruit and vegetables that we grow and eat:

• what pollinators are and the range that exist in our surroundings
• why pollination is crucial for the successful growing of food to eat
• pollinators’ roles in food plant production
• how pollinators can be attracted to food crops and the effects of growing companion plants
• the impact on food production if pollination fails.   

This brief contributes significantly and specifically to children’s experiences and learning, for example:

•  Early Years Foundation Stage, Understanding the World: ‘first-hand involvement in caring for wildlife and the natural world provides children with an appreciation of ecological balance, environmental care and the need to live sustainable lives’ (Birth to 5 matters – Learning and Development)
• Key Stage 1: ‘Pupils should be introduced to the requirements of plants for germination, growth and survival, as well as the processes of reproduction and growth in plants’ (National Curriculum Key Stage 1 Programmes of Study – Science- Non-statutory Guidance)
• Key Stage 2: ‘Explore the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal’ (National Curriculum Key Stage 2 Programmes of Study – Science)

Throughout the project, they will be involved in the development of a wide range of scientific, literacy and mathematical skills as well as learning to work together effectively, co-operate and develop motor skills.

1. In the week beginning 11 March 2024, you will be provided with:

• early pea and broad bean seeds. These varieties produce their flowers and crops early in the growing season, so will mature during the summer.  However, you should sow the broad beans before the Easter holidays to make sure they get off to a good start! Otherwise, you can start the project whenever you like, so long as you are ready for the judging week beginning 8 July.

They are also shorter or dwarf varieties, so they should not need as much support as they grow: the broad beans (The Sutton) grow to about 30 cm in height, the peas (Meteor) reaching 60cm.

• pots (kindly supplied by Farlow Farm Nursery). We suggest you sow 3 bean seeds per pot and 6 peas per pot in each 10-litre pot, and use the two 5-litre pots for your flower seeds. You can also plant your seeds in your garden if you have one.

• two bags of peat-free compost (kindly supplied by Farlow Farm Nursery)

• marigolds and borage seeds. These produce flowers that attract a range of pollinating insects and are called companion plants – some plants repel certain pests and others attract beneficial insects, such as bees, moths and others that help spread pollen from one plant to another.

You can germinate these seeds in seed trays, pricking them out when they’re ready and putting into the 5-litre pots alongside your pots of beans and peas to attract the insects, or you can sow small amounts of seeds directly onto the compost in these pots.

• The aim of growing the flowering beans and peas, as well as the companion plants is to:
• observe and understand how the seeds germinate and the conditions they need to grow well and flourish
• decide when and how the plants need support to enable them to grow taller, better exposing the flowers to pollinators, either using canes or branched twigs to help them climb
• note insect activity as the plants flower – for example what insects visit the flowers, how they behave when moving between the flowers, whether specific insects appear to have preferences for particular flowers
• research how insects carry pollen between plants and the role that pollination has in enabling the pea and bean flowers to grow into the vegetables we eat
• investigate the impact on the growth and productivity of the peas and beans if the flowers aren’t pollinated for any reason
• judge whether companion planting boosts opportunities for the pollination of the peas and beans to take place.

• During the planting and growing period, the children should keep a log of their activities, either individually or as a group. They can use information technology, writing, oral work and any other recording and communication methods they wish. It is important that the log contains as much evidence of children’s activities as feasible, either as individuals or in working groups, to show how the activity has developed their knowledge, skills and understanding, for example through:

• keeping on trying if they encounter difficulties, creating and developing their own ideas and developing strategies for doing things;
• asking simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways; observing closely; carrying out simple tests; using their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions; and gathering and recording data to help in answering questions;
• exploring the different varieties of seeds available, the range of culinary uses they can be put to, and whether or not there are significant advantages to eating them as part of a healthy diet;
• for older children, recording findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts, tables and information technology.

They can decide how to present their log and what to put in it to show: the key events; any problems with growing their seeds and how they solved them; any advice they sought; how the growing conditions influenced their crops; and their overall successes and failures.

• The activity can be broader than the scope of the brief if that better suits the time available, the ages and abilities of the children involved, the incorporation of other aspects of the curriculum that you’d like to integrate with the pollination project, and the teaching and learning goals you’d like to achieve.

• Judging will take place week beginning 8 July, when the judges will visit, look at the logs and discuss the activities with the children who have taken part. We shall focus on four key aspects that arise from the brief, taking account of the children’s and students’ ages and abilities:
• developing knowledge and understanding
• applying knowledge and understanding
• recording and evaluating
• preparing, cooking and eating

• Prizes for winners will delivered week beginning 15 July so you can present them to your children at an event that you feel most appropriate to recognise the achievements of both the children and the adults who have been involved.

Support

• Practical support and advice will be provided as required. 
• Further guidance will be provided after Easter with examples of key points to be covered within each of the four key aspects to clarify what the judges will be considering when making their decisions.

Click here to view and download the Aspects For Judging document. (Opens in anew tab.)