Lesson Activities / Tasks

• VIDEO: 'Are all cows black and white?'
• Video Dialog
• Animals of the same type or species are not all the same
• Just like we have different breeds of dogs we also have different breeds of cows sheep pigs
• The cows are all the same species but because they are so different we call them breeds Hereford Aberdeen Angus Friesian Stabiliser Highland
• Domestic animals like sheep pigs and cows have been breed by man to give us all these different breeds
• This breed of cow is a Friesian and is good at  producing milk
• This breed of cow is an Aberdeen Angus it is good at producing meat
• You know where calves come from
• A bull and cow mate and 280 days later the cow gives birth to a calf
• If the cow and bull are brown then all the calves are likely to be brown - but not the same brown.... or perhaps with white patches
• Farmers are not too worried about the colour of the calves though
• What do you think farmers want from their cows?
• Well they want lots of meat if the cows are kept for meat
• Or lots of milk if the cow is kept for milking.
• Just like calves with brown parents are  not quite the same brown colour
• or piglets in the same litter with the same parents are not all the same
• Not all cows produce the same amount of milk.
• So if a farmer measures how much milk each of his cows produce he can tell which cow produces the most milk
• The calves from the cow which produces more milk will produce more milk
• than calves from cows who produce less milk
• So although the farmer mates all his cows with the bull so they all have calves and produce milk
• he will only keep the calves from the cows who produce the most milk to replace old or sick cows when they stop producing milk
• Those calves from cows who produce less milk will be sold and go for beef. 
• By only keeping calves from cows who produce the most milk farmers have breed cows that can produce 20 litres of milk in a day - that's this many cartons of milk in 1 day!!! 

• Complete relevant section of pupil workbook.

• Plenary

• Do quiz for first section answers