Farmvention
Can your pupils engineer solutions for the future of farming?
Created in partnership with the National Farmers’ Union, the Engineering Educates Farmvention Challenge invites 7–14 year olds to think and work like engineers as they explore real-world challenges in British farming.
Choose from three different pathways, each featuring a sequence of five curriculum-linked sessions. Pupils draw on their learning in science, maths, design & technology and computing to investigate problems, develop ideas and create their own engineering solutions.
Written by teachers, for teachers, the resources provide everything you need to bring an engaging, real-world engineering challenge into your classroom.
Engineering Design Cycle
Think, create, test and improve, just like an engineer.
Each Farmvention pathway takes pupils through the Engineering Design Cycle, challenging them to develop solutions to real problems faced by British farming while exploring contemporary issues around environmental sustainability.
Along the way, pupils are encouraged to question, imagine, create, test and improve their ideas, with plenty of opportunities for creativity, problem-solving and teamwork.
7–9 years
Can your pupils design the future of farming?
Discover the world of British arable farming and explore how engineering and technology can help farmers solve real-world challenges.
Pupils design and build 3D models, develop and test prototypes, and programme micro:bits to automate their creations, putting their engineering ideas into action.
9–11 years
Can your pupils engineer a better future for dairy farming?
Explore the world of British dairy farming and discover how engineering and technology can support animal health and wellbeing.
Pupils design, build and automate 3D models, developing creative solutions that help improve communication between farmers and their animals.
What’s been the impact?
11–14 years
Can your pupils engineer a more sustainable future for farming?
Explore the environmental impact of British farming and investigate the challenge of balancing greenhouse gas emissions with their removal.
Pupils consider how farms can become more sustainable, then design and create innovative solutions for the farms of the future.
This report provides a comprehensive overview of activity and impact from the Engineering Educates Farmvention campaign. By drawing directly on issues raised by NFU members, the campaign focused on creating opportunities for 7-14 year old pupils to investigate the issues challenging UK farming communities with an engineering mindset.
3 separate pathways focused on the technological developments revolutionising agriculture and enabling farmers to make increasingly accurate data driven decisions. This sought to address the fact that too often practical school science learning is superficial and lacks depth, with pupils engaged in prescriptive practical work that lacks purpose (Bianchi et al, 2021).
