Newsletter

August 2010
www.hatanz.com
HATA is the Teachers Association dedicated to the teachers
and teaching of Agriculture and Horticulture in New Zealand.
Inside this issue:
From the Horticulture President .......................................................................................................1
Approaches to teaching agriculture and horticulture science scholarship students .........................2
The Correspondence School Name Change....................................................................................2
New Zealand DVD Resources..........................................................................................................3
TKI websites.....................................................................................................................................4
Agriculture proving a big hit in classrooms.......................................................................................9
Keeping in Contact...........................................................................................................................9
Contributing to the Newsletter..........................................................................................................9
All the best from the HATANZ Team:...............................................................................................9

From the Horticulture President

Hi All

Apparently there are 65 school days left (after the end of the first week this term) until NCEA starts. Now
with end of year exams, Tournament Week, Cross Country and other sports days, Labour Day and other
Anniversary Days there will actually be less than 50 days of teaching and learning for some kids before the
external examinations. And with some NCEA levels having up to 6 external achievement standards to study
for, they have about 8 evenings in which to commit some time to revise for each of them (which is obviously
a bit of a problem if you had planned to actually use those 50 days to teach new material). I hope your
students have taken this on board and have started revision already, just like mine have. Yeah right!

The weather gods have not been particularly kind to us in Hawkes Bay and it seems that most of the country
has suffered from frequent long spells of rain which does not make for a pleasant experience outside doing
practical activities. For us, the student’s plots are almost unusable as the soil has been saturated for weeks
now and yet still they insist on pouring water onto their veggies.

Over the holiday break, I took attended the PPTA Subject Association Forum which looked at a variety of
aspects regarding the work of associations and allowed for discussion between the many small associations
such as ours. There were also representatives from MOE and NZQA who fronted up to some very direct
questioning particularly in respect to the Standards Realignment Project, which for many other subjects did
not work well at all.
Brent Logan from NZQA spoke about the new Quality Assurance of Assessment Materials (QAAM) which
will be preapproved, assessment resources that can be used for internal assessment and which will not be
checked by the moderator, rather they will only look at your marking. You will still be able to write your own
assessments and schedules which will be moderated as in the past. If you are a bit of an entrepreneur you
can pay NZQA to critique a resource however at $960 per assessment it may too pricy for our subject when
looking at cost recovery. The Maths association seemed quite interested in using this to write their own
material which would then be sold to schools to cover the NZQA fee but would probably not be feasible for
us.
Another workshop I attended looked at teacher training and the lack of sufficiently skilled or knowledgeable
new teachers, of which we will need many with our aging teaching population. It seems that if you agree to
take two trainees from Canterbury University, the university will provide masters papers at half price or for
free for the associate teacher. This may be a good way to both up skill yourself and ensure that the graduate
teachers gain the best experience from their training.
Nigel Evans from the MOE talked about the Senior Secondary Teaching and Learning Guides for which
some subjects have already published. I have written about these before and with luck they will be available
before the end of this term at this website: www.seniorsecondary.tki.org.nz . I really do think that they will
prove to be useful for all as they are designed to bridge the gap between the NZ Curriculum and
assessments by providing ideas and strategies to help improve teaching and learning.
The final workshop I attended looked at something called Network Learning Communities. I had never heard
of this and it seems to be a really good idea where a group of teachers in one region can get together and
decide what is most needed by their students. Their local School Support Service helps out with
administration etc and who will pay $4000 a year for meetings, teacher release time and whatever they can
justify. I will certainly be looking at organizing something for my region next year. If you are interested it was
suggested you contact your local School Support Service such as Accent Learning in Wellington, Massey
CED for the central North Island, Waikato Faculty of Education, Team Solutions for Auckland and Northland,
The University of Canterbury College of Education for the top of the South Island and University of Otago
College of Education for the bottom of the country.

I hope your planning for 2011 is going well and that you are able to construct interesting relevant courses for
your Year 11s next year. If you haven’t yet had a chance to look check out the material on tki it would pay to
familiarize yourself with what is available and on offer.

If you have any questions or comments please do not hesitant to email me:
summerfield.mason@lindisfarne.school.nz

Mason Summerfield
Horticulture President

Approaches to teaching agriculture and horticulture

science scholarship students
Mason asked in the last newsletter if there was any interest in a Scholarship Training Day centred
somewhere in the Central North Island. The following is being organised by Rick Jochem, Ross Redpath
and Mason Summerfield.

Date: 18th Aug

Venue: Palmerston North Boys High School
Time: 9:15am – 4:00pm
Facilitation: Round table format – everyone contributes!

The purpose of this day is to bring teachers who have scholarship candidates together to:
• Unpack the scholarship performance standard and assessment specifications.
• Review the 2009 exam, marking schedule and examiners report.
• Discuss strategies regarding the teaching of students who are considering
entering the scholarship examination.
• Share resources that are relevant to the knowledge and skills required by the
scholarship examination.

There may be a small fee for lunch and photocopying, etc

Teachers interested in attending should confirm their interest with Rick Jochem on
jochemr@pnbhs.school.nz by the 10th August.

The Correspondence School Name Change

The Correspondence School has changed its name and is now Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu, or Te Kura for
short. Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu refers to connecting students with learning, and reflects the role they play
within the education sector, their students and their vision for their achievement.
Their web address has changed to www.tekura.school.nz and all email addresses to Te Kura staff
have changed (i.e. from name.surname@correspondence.school.nz to
name.surname@tekura.school.nz).

New Zealand DVD Resources.

The Film Archive of New Zealand have compiled 3 titles, Viticulture, Aquaculture, and Dairy Industry (an
extensive 3 Disk title) aided by Dave Jackson from the Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu with the funding from the
MOE which was to be used in their lending library. Unfortunately, the MOE pulled their funding, meaning
The Film Archive of New Zealand had to close an enormously successful DVD Library in April. HATA has
been able to secure 2 copies of each of these DVD’s to lend out to their members. This will be a loan
service where HATA member schools can loan the DVD’s to show their classes. A questionnaire will be
provided to fill out for feedback for The Film Archive. We would like a 3 week turn around on the DVDs. All
the clips on the DVD’s have been taken from programmes and advertisements from TV New Zealand over
last 50 years. Below are brief overview of the contents. More detailed contents of each of the DVD’s have
been attached to this newsletter or attached to the email that this newsletter was sent out in. Check out the
content pdfs and you'll see how extensive they are. If you are wanting to loan one or all of these DVDs,
please let Kerry know via email (james.allen@clear.net.nz), which DVD that you are wanting and the
address that you would like it sent to. We hope that you find them useful.

Brief overview of the Dairy Industry:

Part of a new series of compiled material on New Zealand Resources aimed at supporting learning
experiences in Geography, Agriculture and Horticulture and region specific studies.

Part One: History

Looking at the history and the development phases of New Zealand’s dairy industry from its earliest phases
to the major industry shakeup in the 1980s. This includes documentary historical overview and a collection of
historical footage that includes: early government footage; NZ Milk Board footage; examples from early
1980s Country Calendar; and some must see 1960-1990 television commercials.

Part Two: The Modern Industry

An overview of the modern industry including: local and boutique supply; breeding and genetics; pasture and
feed; animal health and milking; organics; and research.

Part Three: Marketing and Industry Structure

Careers and farm ownership: sharemilking, variable (equity, lease etc.) ownership, Māori ownership
structures.
Industry structure: Westland Milk Company, localised operations, Fonterra. Economic returns - the 2007 and
2008 payouts and ramifications.
International trade: dairy exports and Europe 1984, The EEC 1991, DOHA 2005, WTO 2005, Trade and the
EU 2006, US export subsidies 2009.
Environmental Issues: Canterbury irrigation; environmental planting; Environmental Report 2004; Fish &
Game versus the Dairy Industry; Charlie Pederson versus the Greenies; Climate Tax 2006; water catchment
priorities; Fonterra after the Melamine fiasco; Greenpeace and the palm kernel debate; Dairy’s public image
and TV advertising 2009.

Brief overview of the Aquaculture Industry:

This title looks at the history and the development phases of New Zealand’s aquaculture industry: the pre-
farming industry with oysters and lobster, and public collection of paua and mussels; early farming
experimentation and consolidation in the 80s; the modern industry in the 90 and 2000s – mussels, oysters,
paua, hapuka and kingfish; industry issues – the seabed and foreshore legislation, allocations & customary
rights, red tape & industry expansion, environmental concerns.

Brief overview of the Viticulture Industry:

Part one:
This disk begins by looking at the history and the development phases of New Zealand’s wine industry up
until the first major incursions into the UK market, the Cloudy Bay phenomena and the wine glut of 1985. The
second section looks at regions and varietals using the example of winemakers and vineyards.

Part two:
This disk focuses firstly on the vocabulary and characteristics of New Zealand wine and secondly on industry
issues and growth.

TKI websites
There are new assessment resources on the TKI website for Level 1, go to
http://www.tki.org.nz/e/community/ncea/agriculture-lvl1.php
Numeracy and Literacy Activities
Mix and Match Activity for Male Reproductive System

Teacher Instructions
Enlarge and photocopy this table onto card. Laminate before cutting up.

Student Instructions
Match each structure with its description and function

The Testes longish oval shaped structures The structures which make the sperm.
Testosterone the male hormone is made here.

Testosterone A hormone that is made in the The hormone responsible for the male
testis characteristics

The Scrotum A long sac which hangs outside the To hold the Testes and allow the sperm to
body develop at a lower temperature to that of the
body.

Seminiferous A long thin coiled tube inside the A place inside the Testes where the sperm is
Tubules testis made.

Epididymis A long large muscular tube which A place where the sperm is stored and matures.
travels along one side of the testes

Vas The name of the tube that joins the To carry the sperm from the epididymis to the
Deferens epididymis to the urethra. urethra.

Prostate A small gland on the side of the Provides the sperm with secretions which activate
Gland Urethra the swimming motion.

Vesicular A small gland on the side of the Provides the sperm with nutrients to keep it alive
Gland Urethra

Urethra A long thin tube that joins the vas Transports semen and urine to the penis.
deferens to the penis

Penis Organ that becomes erect when To allow ejaculation of sperm into the female
activated by hormones. system.

Sheath Tissue that protrudes from the To enclose and protect the penis
males abdomen

Seminiferous Coiled tubes within the testes Make sperm

tubules

Leydig cells Small cells with the testes Make testosterone

 GENETICS and BREEDING
A) Match these genetic terms to the best description.

Genotype Appearance

Phenotype Contains only on type of allele

Dominant Genetic information for a trait on a chromosome

Recessive Alternative form of a gene

Homozygous Genetic make-up

Heterozygous Allele masked by a dominant one

Gene Formed when egg and sperm join

Gamete Contains two different alleles

Allele Allele expressed when present

Zygote Sex cell

B) Use each of the terms above in a sentence to demonstrate your knowledge of genetics in
agriculture.

Genotype

Phenotype

Dominant

Recessive

Homozygous

Heterozygous

Gene

Gamete

Allele

Zygote
 GENETICS AND BREEDING

TASK
A. Match these genetic terms with the best definition:

i) Genotype A) physical appearance of a gene (eg, horned)

ii) Phenotype B) identical alleles only (eg, DD, dd)

iii) Dominant C) alternative form of the same gene (expressed as a

letter (eg, D or d)

iv) Recessive D) sex cell

v) Homozygous E) units of inheritance contained on a chromosome

vi) Heterozygous F) allele masked by a dominant one (can only be

expressed when both alleles are present)

vii) Gene G) genetic make up (eg, DD, dd, Dd)

viii) Gamete H) contains two different alleles (eg, Dd)

ix) Allele I) inherited feature expressed when at least one allele

is present

x) Variation J) inherited characteristic that can be measured (eg,

coat colour, polled)

xi) Trait K) differences between individuals of the same

species

B. Use each of the terms below in a sentence to demonstrate your knowledge of

genetics in Agriculture: Use polled / horned as the trait

Gamete

Gene

Genotype

Phenotype

Homozygous

Heterozygous

Dominant

Recessive
 Genetics definitions
chromosome Strand of material that holds the genes

Units of inheritance, they are

genes represented by letters

The different forms that a gene can take

allele e.g B or b

The allele that always shows up if

dominant present. It is always a capital letter

This allele only shows up when the

recessive animal has two of them. It is always a
small letter
Having two of the same allele
homozygous e.g BB or bb

These animals have one of each allele

heterozygous e.g Bb or Pp

The genetic makeup of the animal e.g

genotype BB, Bb or bb are for coat colour in Angus
cattle
The appearance of the animal
phenotype e.g BB and Bb angus’ are black but bb
are red
This is when neither allele is dominant as
Co-dominance is the case in roan cattle- a mixture of
red, white and mottling results
zygote Once the egg and sperm fuse

Sex cells e.g eggs and sperm

gametes
Agriculture proving a big hit in classrooms.
(Taken from The New Zealand Farmers Weekly – May 2 2010).

Ten primary schools in North Canterbury are a test bed for improving understanding of the
wonders of science in agriculture. Agriculture in Schools is helping teachers, pupils and parents to
learn more farming’s very real connection to the natural environment.
One of the programme’s supporters, Young Farmers chief executive Richard Fitzgerald, says the
trial is a response to concerns that teachers are not being given enough reason to teach
agriculture as a mainstream subject.
The response has been to create curriculum material that is challenging, scientific and enjoyable
for a variety range of children including gifted pupils.
Fitzgerald says the material is aimed partly at breaking down barriers for teachers trying to access
agricultural resources, with the bonus of farming parents finding a new way to get involved in their
children’s education.
Farming men are finding particularly rewarding, as they are encountering practical, everyday
lessons they can relate to with children. The benefit of a father engaged in a child’s education is
huge, Fitzgerald says.
The material has been put together by a group comprising of Young Farmers, several primary
school teachers and writers, an educational writer, Lincoln and Massey Universities and Taratahi
Polytechnic.
If successful in North Canterbury Young Farmers would continue to partner DairyNZ and Meat and
Wool New Zealand in spreading the word throughout the country.
To that end Young Farmers is part of a DairyNZ led application to the Primary Growth Partnership
which would expand Agriculture in Schools nationally over the next five years.
Meantime Massey is researching the best ways to deliver such material, including analysis of web
based material that could be included in the curriculum.

Fitzgerald says the educational material is in no way a “snow job” teaching children that agriculture
is sweet and light – it is more like an attempt to show how biological and environmental principles
are applied in farming.
Complementing the primary school push is Teen Ag, comprising about 10 clubs which have been
established in secondary schools in the past year. Fitzgerald hopes to double that number over
the next few months.
Young Farmers would naturally likes its involvement to lift its profile and membership but the intent
is more about “whetting appetites” for young people who might later consider farming, Fitzgerald
says.

Keeping in Contact.
Please let us know if you change your email contact, address or job! We love to hear from you and
we want to stay in touch!

Contributing to the Newsletter.

Please feel free to contribute an item of interest, a news item, an interesting website or in fact
anything. If you do have a contribution to the HATANZ Newsletter, please contact Kerry
(james.allen@clear.net.nz).

All the best from the HATANZ Team:

Kerry Allen james.allen@clear.net.nz
Trudy Gee geetr@tbhs.schoolzone.net.nz
Mason Summerfield summerfield.mason@lindisfarne.school.nz