PRIMARY 6 FIRST TERM LESSON NOTES AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

PRIMARY SIX AGRIC SCIENCE FIRST TERM

 

SCHEME OF WORK

 

Week 1: Review of Last Year Work Review of Last Year Work

 

Week 2 And 3: Meaning Of Agriculture Meaning of Agriculture

 

Week 4 And 5:

Importance of Agriculture

 

Week 6 And 7: Problems of Agriculture Problems of Agriculture

 

Week 8 And 9: People in Agriculture People in Agriculture

 

Week 10 And 11: Origin of Farming Origin of Farming

 

Week 12 And 13: Revision and Examination Revision and Examination

 

Week 2 and 3:

TOPIC: Meaning Of Agriculture

BEHAVIOURAL OBJECTIVES: AT THE END OF THE LESSON, PUPILS SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

1 .State the meaning of agriculture

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS: A chart showing the various tools for planting crops and rearing animals.

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Scheme of work

All relevant materials

• Years Basic Education Curriculum Online information

BUILDING BACKGROUND/CONNECTION TO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:

Pupils are familiar with the topic in their previous classes. CONTENT OF THE LESSON

MEANING OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

 

Agriculture is the science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products. Agriculture is one of the oldest and most important occupations of mankind. It is the practice of growing crops and rearing animals for food and raw materials for man’s use. It also includes many other aspects of production, such as processing of harvested crops into food and raw materials; processing of animals into food and raw materials and marketing  of processed crops and animals. The meaning of agriculture as cultivation of land is derived from two Latin words: ager – meaning land and cultura – meaning land cultivation.

Agriculture involves different types of farming practices, such as land preparation, nursery making, establishment of plantations, control of pests and diseases, plant breeding, control of weeds and harvesting. Animal husbandry practices include breeding, housing, feeding, health care, egg collection, culling, meat processing and sales of animal products. Agriculture supplies the three main basic human needs: food, clothing and shelter.

 

It involves:

• Growing of crops,

1. 1. Rearing of animals.
      

• Processing, and selling of agricultural products for the benefits of man

Assessment & Evaluation:

1 .State the meaning of agriculture

(WRAP-UP CONCLUSION)

Teacher goes over the topic once again to enhance better understanding

 

WEEK 4-5

TOPIC: IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE

BEHAVIOURAL OBJECTIVES: AT THE END OF THE LESSON, PUPILS SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

1. List the areas of importance of agriculture to man.

 

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS: A chart showing the various tools for planting crops and rearing animals.

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Scheme of work

All relevant materials

• Years Basic Education Curriculum Online information

BUILDING BACKGROUND/CONNECTION TO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:

Pupils are familiar with the topic in their previous classes. CONTENT OF THE LESSON

 

IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE

Agriculture is important to man in many ways. It provides man with food, shelter, clothing, money or income, employment or job, raw materials, medicine, foreign exchange and recreation. Agriculture ensures a constant food supply.

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It therefore helps in the following ways:

• Provision of food,

• Provision of shelter,

• Provision of income (money),

• Provision of employment /job opportunities,

• Provision of raw materials for industries,

• Provision of clothing,

• Provision of medical herbs,

• Provision of foreign exchange,

• Provision of transportation i.e. the use of horses, donkeys and camels.

• Provision of recreational and sport i.e. the use of animals like rabbits, dogs, cock, etc.

Food

Agriculture provides food for people. Food can be obtained from crops and animals Food gives man the energy required to perform his daily activities.

Examples of food materials from crops and their by-products are yam, rice and maize. Food materials from animals include meat, eggs and milk.

Shelter Agriculture provides materials for building houses. Such materials include forest wood from timber, bamboo, thatch from grass and palm fronds, and leaves.

 

Clothing

The material used for making the clothes we wear, i.e. cotton comes from plants. Hides and skins, which are used to make our shoes and bags, come from animals. Wool, also from animals, is used to make winter suits and wears. All these are products of agriculture

.

Money

Sales of agricultural products are a source of money and income to farmers for meeting their daily needs and expenses.

Employment

Agriculture provides many people with work or employment through which they earn money for a living. Apart from the farmers, many people do works that have to do with agriculture. A good example is your agriculture teacher.

Raw materials

Agriculture provides agro-based industries with the raw materials that they process into goods for consumers, e.g. cocoa for the beverage industries.

Medicine

Many parts of plants, e.g. roots, leaves and barks are medicinal herbs which people use to treat many diseases, e.g. by boiling, crushing or rubbing them.

Materials from plants are also used to make modern drugs, e.g. tablets. Foreign exchange Agriculture is a source of foreign exchange through crops that are sold to other countries as exports, e.g. timber and cocoa.

Recreation

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Agriculture is a source of amusement, pleasure and relaxation for people through game reserves; tourist centers botanical gardens, zoological gardens and horse racing. Huge revenues can also be generated from some of these centers, especially from foreigners who visit.

Assessment & Evaluation:

1. List the areas of importance of agriculture to man.

(WRAP-UP CONCLUSION)

Teacher goes over the topic once again to enhance better understanding

 

WEEK 6&7

TOPIC: PROBLEMS OF AGRICULTURE IN NIGERIA

BEHAVIOURAL OBJECTIVES: AT THE END OF THE LESSON, PUPILS SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

1. List the problems of agriculture in Nigeria.

 

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS: A chart showing the various tools for planting crops and rearing animals.

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Scheme of work

All relevant materials

• Years Basic Education Curriculum Online information

BUILDING BACKGROUND/CONNECTION TO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:

Pupils are familiar with the topic in their previous classes. CONTENT OF THE LESSON

 

PROBLEMS OF AGRICULTURE IN NIGERIA.

 

Agriculture in Nigeria faces many problems. These are:

• Use of crude implements (hoes and cutlasses),unstable government policies

• Bad roads

• Lack of storage facilities

• Lack of improved seed

• Land tenure system

• Transportation problem

• Lack medical facilities in the farm setting

Assessment & Evaluation:

1. List the problems of agriculture in Nigeria.

(WRAP-UP CONCLUSION)

Teacher goes over the topic once again to enhance better understanding

 

Week 8 And 9:

TOPIC: People in Agriculture

BEHAVIOURAL OBJECTIVES: AT THE END OF THE LESSON, PUPILS SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

1. List the people in agriculture.

 

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS: A chart showing the various tools for planting crops and rearing animals.

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Scheme of work

All relevant materials

• Years Basic Education Curriculum Online information

BUILDING BACKGROUND/CONNECTION TO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:

Pupils are familiar with the topic in their previous classes Content

Lots of people are involved in agricultural development. Some of them are listed below:

• Crop farmers

• Animals rearers and livestock farmers

• Soil scientists

• Fishermen
  

• Veterinary doctors

• Horticulturists (gardeners)

• Agricultural engineers

• Agricultural economists

• Market people

• Agricultural teachers

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People In Agriculture PRIMARY 6 Agric First Term Week 10

People in agriculture

Many people are engaged in the many different aspects of agriculture. These people are recognized by the type of work they do. They may be producers, processors, and marketers, teachers of agriculture, extension agents, researchers, journalists and veterinary doctors.

Producers

There are three main categories of producers: crop farmers, animal rearers and fishermen. Crop farmers are the farmers who grow crops such as yam, rice, maize, cowpea Teachers of agriculture These are people who have been trained to train producers, processors and marketers to enable them to make progress in agriculture. Teaching of agriculture begins at the primary level and continues at the secondary level. Some people end up studying agricultural science at the tertiary level of education.

 

Extension agents

These are individuals who have been trained to help farmers to solve their farming problems. They also teach farmers new methods of farming.

 

Researchers

These are people who have been trained to investigate problems of agriculture and find solutions to them through scientific processes.

 

Journalists

These are the people who carry information about development in agriculture and those involved in industrial production to the general public through the media, e.g. newspapers, radio and television.

Veterinary doctors

These are people who are trained to cater for animal health. They treat animals that are sick.

Assessment & Evaluation:

1. List the people in agriculture.

(WRAP-UP CONCLUSION)

Teacher goes over the topic once again to enhance better understanding

Answer these questions

• What is agriculture?

• List any four areas of importance of agriculture to man.

• Name six groups of people engaged in agriculture.

• One of the groups of people listed below is not engaged in agriculture. Tick ( ) the correct answer in one of the boxes provided.

• Producers

• Marketer

Week 10 And 11:

TOPIC: Origin Of Farming

BEHAVIOURAL OBJECTIVES: AT THE END OF THE LESSON, PUPILS SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

• State the origin of farming

• Name the main occupation of the early man.

• List the main activities of the early woman.

• Name two tools used by the early man

 

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS: A chart showing the various tools for planting crops and rearing animals.

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Scheme of work

All relevant materials

9-Years Basic Education Curriculum Online information

BUILDING BACKGROUND/CONNECTION TO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:

Pupils are familiar with the topic in their previous classes Content

Sometime around 12,000 years ago, our hunter-gatherer ancestors began trying their hand at farming.

FARMING SYSTEM

First, they grew wild varieties of crops like peas, lentils and barley and herded wild animals like goats and wild oxen. Centuries later, they switched to farming full time, breeding both animals and plants, creating new varieties and breeds. Eventually, they migrated outward, spreading farming to parts of Europe and Asia

The origin of farming The early people

The history of agriculture is as old as man. Agricultural activities were started by the early people. The early people were wanderers and gatherers of fruits, nuts and roots. They lived in caves and under tree covers in the forest. The early people fed on vegetables, fruits and meat of animals which they gathered from their environment. The early man hunted animals for food and domestication. He made his own tools for hunting and planting crops.

 

The early man as a gatherer

The early man wandered around in his environment in search of food. He collected and ate fruits, nuts and vegetables. The seeds of the fruits eaten were thrown carelessly around the surroundings of the cave. These germinated and grew to fruit trees which later became useful to man as food. This is how the early people began to practise farming.

 

The early man as a hunter

The early man hunted and ran after animals and birds to kill them for food. He killed some, caught some alive and carried everything to his cave. He and his family ate the ones he killed. The early woman tried to rear the young

animals captured alive by way of domestication. The early man also removed the skins of some of the big animals he killed and used them as clothes

 

The early man as a toolmaker

The early man was able to gather vegetables, fruits and kill animals with the tools he made himself. The tools were made of wood, stone or metal.

The early man and farming activities Crop farming

As the early people harvested and ate the fruits of the crops that grew around them, they scattered their seeds which later germinated and increased the population of the crop plants there. In this way, the gathering activities reduced as the early woman settled to try and raise new crops from these seeds and fruits. This was the beginning of settled farming activities by the early man.

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Livestock farming

The young animals and birds which the early man brought home alive from his hunting activities were kept for rearing by his wife, the early woman. The woman fed the animals with the fruits, nuts and vegetable matter harvested from their surroundings. The animals grew to adult age and gave birth to young ones. The mature animals were later to be killed and the young ones left to grow to maturity. They too grew, gave birth to young ones and multiplication continued.

Some of the birds (fowls) did not escape back to the bush. They were well fed and they began to lay eggs which later hatched to young birds. While some of the now old birds were killed for food, others were left to produce more eggs and young ones. This was the beginning of settled livestock farming.

Tool making

The early man, who had by now become a crop and animal farmer, needed better tools for his crop and livestock farming activities. He also needed tools for processing his crops to improve the quality of his food. He discovered stone grinders for grinding grains, and for sharpening stones and wood.

He discovered fire by rubbing hard stones against one another to create sparks that could produce flame and dry materials. The fire enabled him to:

• Cook his food,

• Warm and protect himself and his family, and

• Melt pieces of metal objects for making better and stronger tools, such as spears, axes and hoes.

This was the beginning of primitive technology. Uses of tools by the early man

• The early man used the hoe to till the soil for planting more crops.

• He used the spear for killing wild animals, including big fishes in rivers and lakes.

• He used the axe to cut tree trunks to build boats and make utensils for placing hot food.

• He used knives to make baskets for goods and animals.

• He used the hoe to dig up clay for making pots used for cooking and storing water.

Assessment & Evaluation:

• State the origin of farming

• Name the main occupation of the early man.

• List the main activities of the early woman.

• Name two tools used by the early man

 

(WRAP-UP CONCLUSION)

Teacher goes over the topic once again to enhance better understanding

Answer these questions

• Name the main occupation of the early man.

• List the main activities of the early woman.

• Name two tools used by the early man

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