After learning knowledge about disasters and researching some political stances on the matter, we were asked to do a micro teaching exercise. My group had earthquakes. We worked together to create a powerpoint presentation on the definition, recovery, preventions, responses and then gave our peers some possible lesson plans and E’s and O’s. My section focused on the responses to earthquakes, and relating back to our politics input, I compared earthquakes in LEDC’s (less economically developed countries) and in MEDC’s (more economically developed countries). There was quite a clear different in response and I concluded myself that It was completely dependent on the wealth status of the country. This is because the amount of wealth in a country determines alliances, quality of infrastructure and access to supplies which are all vital when an earthquake hits.

From doing this research and teaching lesson I learned some very valuable skills. One of them being my research skills. As I’ve always been an avid lover of politics, I know that today a lot of media outlets are biased towards a viewpoint. When researching earthquakes, I was careful to use legitimate sources which proved more difficult that I anticipated.

Another skill that this presentation made me aware that I have to develop is my confidence. Going into the task my nerves were alright, it wasn’t until I stood in front of the class that I started to get nervous. This caused me to mess up some words and create paused in my slide. To help solve this, I will practice speaking into a mirror so I am used to hearing myself speak.

This week in sustainable development we had a change of scenery and went outdoors to visit 2 farms. The purpose of us visiting 2 farms was so that we could see the similarities and difference between them. The first farm that we visited was Strandhead Farm in Machine. As soon as I walked in, I observed how advanced and impressive this farm really was – it was like nothing id ever seen before. It used state of the art technology to feed the cows a specifically mixed nutritional feed, and was used to detect and clean any mess in their pens. Another thing I noticed from the beginning was the large amount of cows in the pens. We were then told that the cows don’t get to go outside all year round. It was quite shocking for me to hear this – as an avid animal lover – because these animals were so large and were surrounded by acres of green land. We were then told why they are kept inside and it all seemed less harsh and shocking. Keeping them inside limits infections from the grass and their surrounding environment and allows the farmers to regulate exactly what goes into their diet and how often their eating to produce the highest possible milk yield. In production of the farm, they had even considered how harsh the Scottish weather conditions can be. The walls were essentially steel blinds which were self regulating depending on the weather, so the cows were always kept at a nice temperature.

Another piece of technology which showed us just how advanced this farm was, was the milking process. As shown in the pictures above, the cows were milked by robot. The cows chose at what time they wanted to be milked and the machine milked them and was able to analyse their quality of yield at the same time.

Overall, I was extremely surprised at how advanced a farm could be and was so impressed by how efficiently this farm ran.

The next farm we went to was completely different. It was a family run, organic farm. The farm was called Mossgiel Farm which is also in Machine and this farm had a much more ‘hands on’ approach.

The farmer allowed his cows to go outside despite of the risks of infections in order for the milk to be more fresh. There was no fancy machinery to milk the cows, the are hand fed and are milked by an old traditional machine as shown in the picture.

The farmer told us that he has been under a lot of scrutiny because he does not take the ‘normal’ approach to farming. One of these approaches is letting the baby calves be with their mothers from birth. In the farming world, this is avoided as it can cause a lot of infection and problems, however he has experienced no issues with this and only sees the positive effects.

By going on this trip, my observational skills have developed considerably. In these farms – a bit like a classroom – there was many chaotic things going on round about me. Instead of getting anxious about this, I was absorbing everything around me. Although a strange analogy, I suppose I was watching the cows all around me to make sure they weren’t doing anything strange, just like I have to watch children in a classroom.

As well as this, I learned more about the benefits of active learning which we have previously discussed. Being outdoors, the whole uni group were generally very excitable and keen to learn. I think for one, kids will be so excited to be in a setting outside of the classroom. And when its a setting such as a farm, the kids would learn so much putting their theory into practise and seeing these animals up close in person.

Observational skills and active learning are both something I fully intend to cooperate into my teaching career and I think that class trips are a great way to do this.