A competition which aims to get primary school children designing and creating their own food and farming products has been launched.
'Farmvention', created by the NFU, provides a choice of three problem based challenges to focus children on the everyday challenges farmers in Britain face.
The three challenges to choose from are design a tractor of the future, design an environment for a flock of 100 laying hens and design a new snack product that uses one or more of the following four British foods; milk, beef, beetroot or oats.
Each challenge is supported by curriculum linked resources which the NFU created in partnership with the Association for Science Education (ASE).
The winning school will be announced at the House of Commons during British Science and Engineering Week, with the chance to win the grand prize experience of having the school turn into a farm for the day.
It comes ahead of the next school year to give teachers time to plan for the competition. Applications will be open from 6 September.
'Real life situation'
NFU President, Minette Batters said Farmvention is a "great opportunity" for children to engage with the national curriculum in a "new and exciting" way, and at the same time learn about food and farming.
“Every day farmers and growers in the UK face numerous challenges and so a major part of the Farmvention competition includes thinking of potential ways to overcome them,” Ms Batters said.
“Learning isn’t exclusive to the classroom. Children have so much to benefit from taking their learning outside and putting it in a real life situation, as it makes an impression on them that they will remember for a lifetime.
She added: “It’s really exciting when you think about the skills and knowledge that can be developed from this competition and I can’t wait to see what Britain’s young inventors come up with.”
Other prizes for shortlisted schools include fully funded farm visits, £600 to spend on robotics products for the school, class packs of data loggers and chef visits to the school.
The NFU’s education strategy, which was launched earlier this year and spearheaded by teachers, brings farming into the classroom, fitting in with how schools need to educate their pupils.
The competition follows the launch of a new educational initiative by TV presenter and farmer Adam Henson, which seeks to educate school children where the food on their plate comes from.
