Tullimbar Public School

Year 4/5 Class Learning JournalPicasso Cow Competition 2008

Energy Efficient DairiesWelcome to our class learning journal. Our topic for the competition was Energy Efficient Dairies. We have learned a lot about this topic and would like to share with you our experiences and show you how we worked together on the Picasso Cow project.

Brainstorming

In our first lesson we sat down as a group and discussed all that we knew about energy efficient dairies. We filled the whiteboard with our ideas.

After that we split into four teams and each group decided on a topic to research as part of the project on energy efficient dairies.

To decide on a name for the cow we all put our favourite names into a shoebox. At the end of the week we voted on them. Some names suggested were Cornflake, Cupcake, Moo Moo Cow, Cookie, Sunshine, Beauty Cutie and Linda. In the end we all voted for the name Milkshake.

Class Teams

Where do we start?

To begin with we decided to name our teams after milkshake flavours. We put a list of flavours on the board and each group got to choose their own name. The team names chosen were Chocolate, Strawberry, Vanilla and Caramel.

After that we used the booklets that Mrs Strong gave us to help us write an information report on how cows turn grass into milk.

We have included a copy of Chris’s report on the next page.

How does a cow turn grass into milk?Cows are different to humans because they have four stomachs. Each stomach has a special job to help turn grass into milk.When cows eat grass they swallow it half chewed. It goes into the first stomach called the Rumen where it gets mixed with water.The grass then moves into the reticulum which forms grass into cuds. Each cud then returns back to the mouth where the grass will be chewed 40 to 60 times a minute.In the Omasum the grass is compressed so all the water comes out and then broken down further.The grass passes to the fourth stomach called the Abomasum where it is digested. Then it goes to the intestines where the cow takes the stuff to get healthy and make good milk.A cow needs to be milked regularly because she makes milk day and night.

By Chris Roberts

Team Designs

Each team was given two large paper cows to stick together and lots of small blank cows to put their design ideas on. Each team member drew their own designs on the small cows and a couple of weeks later the teams all chose from their favourite individual designs to make one large design for each group.

Team Research

Each team was given a topic based on energy efficient dairies to research. The four topics were: How does the milking process work?What is the best environment to milk a cow in?Can farmers feed other things to cows to produce more and better milk? Can farmers use less energy in the dairy?

We researched our topics on the internet. Each group typed their question into a search engine called Ask Jeeves. This provided us with a lot of information. Each group then worked with Mr Best and used highlighters to mark the most important information to use in writing our reports.

In the end each group selected one report to be published in our Learning Journal.

Chocolate TeamCan farmers feed other things to cows to help produce more or better

milk?Cows need a balanced diet so they can keep their bodies working to produce milk. Sometimes cows need more than pasture to help them produce milk.Dairy cows like warm weather, sunshine and plenty of pasture.Before a cow starts to produce milk it needs to have a calf. Cows need to feel comfortable to make good milk.Cows need to eat a variety of grass including bulky fodder which makes the cows feel full. They also need to eat food that is rich in protein and energy.Cow pasture is grass and legume. Legumes provide protein and clover is the main legume found in the pasture. When there is not enough pasture farmers feed the cows hay silage or special fodder crops maize and turnip. Hay and grains are good for the cows when there is a shortage of grass.Farmers can feed high energy grains to the cows when they are being milked to give them energy.Cows are milked for an average of three to four years. Now days one cow can produce as much milk as ten cows in the olden days.Dairy cows provide 90% of the worlds milk supply. Healthy cows can give over 400 classes of milk per day.

By Cameron Thompson

How can farmers use less energy in the dairy?Farmers use energy in the milking shed to run machinery such as refrigerators, milking machines and electric pumps for water. Petrol is also used for trucks and motorbikes on the farm. Milking equipment can use lots of energy on the farm. Farmers need to find out which machines use less energy. Newer equipment has improved technology that can save money and reduce the amount of energy used. There are a few different alternatives to using electricity from coal powered generators.One choice is solar energy. Solar energy is the light and radiant heat that comes from the sun. Solar power is the electricity generated from the solar radiation. Some advantages of solar energy are that solar power is free forever plus the Australian government offers money called a rebate to help pay for installing solar panels.If your solar panels collect more electricity than you use you can sell it to the electricity company for money. Solar energy is clean and renewable; the best thing is there is no pollution from solar energy.Solar power also has its disadvantages. It is expensive to install solar power in your dairy. This means that the cost of solar energy is higher than electricity in the short term because you have to pay for all of the solar panels. Solar panels take up a lot of space. They need to be put in the right place to catch the most energy from the sun. Also if the weather is cloudy solar power is not available and you have to buy electricity. It is safer to have solar power when the sun is out however you need to have mains electricity as a back up for rainy days.Another choice for farmers is wind power. Wind power is created when the wind blows and spins turbines that make electricity. Windmills are good for pumping water on farms. They provide free energy.

Some advantages of wind power are it is clean, free and renewable plus it does not make pollution.It is one of the cheapest renewable energies to create. Wind turbines can be built on farms which can mean extra money for farmers.Wind power also has some disadvantages as it costs a lot of money to set it up on a farm.Wind is not reliable and it is not always windy. If you don’t use it straight away you need to buy batteries to store electricity created by the wind turbines. Good wind sites are often located too far away from where the electricity is needed. Sometimes farmers can make more money from farming than from having wind farms on their land. There are also different ways to save energy in everyday farm life.Heating water on dairy farms can sometimes use up to 40% of farms total electricity consumption.Farmers can do lots of different things to save energy, here are a few examples. Farmers can make sure that they don’t set the thermostats on water heaters too high and ensure that there are no leaks in the hot water system. Insulating the hot water systems and all the pipes can help by saving heat and using less energy.The milk from cows comes out warm. Heat can be taken out of the milk by a machine and used to heat up water. Farmers can use this heat to heat the floors and help make the cows comfortable.When warm milk goes into giant vats for storage the heat can be used to warm up water for cleaning, general washing of the cows, showering and floor heating.Farmers need to check how much energy pumps and machines use before they buy them. The vacuum and milk pumps use the most power of all machinery in the dairy. The vacuum pumps on a milking machine use of 80% of the power.I feel that you don’t have to spend a lot of money on big things when they are lots of small changes that can be made that count towards saving energy on the dairy farm.

By Georgia DeNobrega

Strawberry Team

Vanilla TeamHow does the milking process work?

Cows are milked because their udders get heavy. Cows need milking sheds to feel safe. It is a good idea if a feed bin is in the shed. In most milking sheds there are modern machines.Cows are usually milked in the mornings and afternoon. Farmers can milk from 120 to 200 cows a day. When cows get miked they stand side by side. Usually the oldest cows lead to show the way. If cows don’t have space between each other the farmer can’t milk them. It is a good idea if farmers give a special food to the cows. They put the special food in a bin called a feed bin. It is a good and easy way to milk a cow because if the floor is nice and high for the farmer to reach the udders. If a farmer wants more milk the farmers would have to relax the cow before milking. When cows are relaxed, the farmer cleans the udder so the milk is nice and clean. Most farms today are using modern machines like udder pumps which suck the milk into the machine.It is a good idea that the milking process goes smoothly so the cows can produce more milk.

By Zoe Imisides

Caramel TeamWhat is the best environment to milk a cow in?

There are 1.6 million cows in Australia. To live they need grass, fresh water, sunshine and shade. Australia has a good climate for producing milk especially in the coastal areas of eastern Australia where plenty of rain falls and rich soils grow lush pasture. Dairy farms can also be found inland where there are big rivers and dams to irrigate the pasture.The best way to milk is to do it regularly because other wise the cows get stressed out and don’t make enough milk. Farmers need to be organised because cows don’t make milk every second of the day.

Inside the Milking ShedIn Australia there are three main types of milking sheds, the Herringbone, the Walkthrough and the Rotary. The Herringbone Sheds get their name because they look like fish skeletons from above. The people work in a pit in the middle of the shed so the cows udders are at shoulder height. This saves them bending their backs. The cows get milked in groups. Ten cows on each side mean that one person can milk eighty cows in an hour. Some bigger sheds can have up to twenty to thirty cows on each side.Walkthrough sheds are an older type of shed but there are still many being used in Australia. Cows come into the shed one by one, get milked and then walk straight out to leave the dairy. Walkthrough sheds can hold two to twelve cows and one person can milk forty cows in an hour.Rotary milking sheds are the newest type of sheds. They are called the Rotary shed because the platform turns around. It is like a slow merry-go-round. In the eight minutes it takes the platform to go around, all the cows are milked. At the end the cows walk off and the new cows walk on. A motor is used to turn the platform. The benefits of the rotary platform are that the person milking the cows does not have to move at all. If fifty cows fit on the platform, then up to three hundred and fifty cows can be milked in an hour, which saves time and money.I think the government should convert all sheds to rotary ones to save energy, time and money.

By Grace Sullivan

Draft Design WallWe dedicated a wall in the classroom for people to put up their ideas for the final designs on Milkshake. Over three weeks the wall became very full with ideas.

Design Meeting

The design meeting was held at the end week 3. Each team presented their final two designs to the rest of the class. Then everybody stood up and walked around the circle and chose two ideas that they liked the most.

After that we went around the circle and everybody picked two things that they liked to go onto the final design

The class decided to have a final design team made up of representatives from each team. Their job was to put everyone's favourite ideas onto the final design.

Excursion to Clover Hill dairies

Our class visit to Clover Hill dairies was an exciting day. We would like to share some of our recount writing of the day along with some photos.

Class ExcursionOn Friday 31st October at 10.30pm we went to a dairy farm in Jamberoo to visit Mrs Strong. We went there for the Picasso cow project. The excursion was in Clover Hill.At first when we got out of the car we saw two baby calves in a pen. They were two weeks old. Next we looked at five different foods that cows eat on the farm. After that we looked at last years Picasso cow. Later we visited the milking shed. During that we looked at the silos. Eventually it was recess and we got free flavoured milk. Soon after that we watched the cows’ line up to go to the milking shed. Finally we went for a visit to the rainforest to plant native grasses. Next we split into two groups to watch the cows get milked. Later we had another flavoured milk and found the answers to the quiz. Callum and I won a prize.Then we went back to school to have lunch.It stunk but it was fun and I learned a lot of things about dairies.

By Brandan Bednarz

Recount of our Farm ExcursionOn 31st October, Years 4 and 5 from Tullimbar Public School went on an excursion to Mrs Strong’s farm at Jamberoo. We went there to see a dairy farm and parents drove us in their cars. The first thing we did was look at the calves in the pen. One skinny calf was standing up and the other calf was lying down. Then we looked at the Picasso cow from Jamberoo School.Next we went to look at the five different foods that cows eat. These were in the massive storage silos. After that we went to the cool room to see the huge refrigerator with milk in side.Finally we split into two groups to visit the milking shed. The machines pumped the milk out of the cows’ udders in to a silver container.The time came to go back to school. The excursion was fun and I learned about a dairy farm.

By Finn Goodard

Our excursion to the farmOn Friday 31st of October we went to Clover Hill dairy in Jamberoo. I went with my class as an excursion to learn more about dairy to learn more for the Picasso cow competition.First we went to school and got into cars to get to the dairy. Then we got there and saw calves that were in a pen. They looked so cute. The next thing we did was look at a Picasso cow from last year. It was called Buttercup, it was from Jamberoo School.Then we went and met Mrs Strong, she was very nice. She showed us the five foods that cows on her farm eat. They were mushed corn, mixed cereal, vita wheats, cracked corn and pellets. So she then told us we would be doing a competition and we needed a partner. I went with Kelsey. During that time we went to the milking shed with no cows in it. It looked very big and smelled. I hated the smell I thought it was a disgusting smell, I could not stand it. It could fit 28 cows in it at a time.After that we visited where the food is stored. There was heaps of it. Later we had some recess and Mrs Strong came out with 2 buckets of milk. We sat down and had a rest and worked out some answers.As soon as we had finished we went for a big walk and the cows walked straight past us and Mrs Strong said “the cows lead them selves to the milking shed.” Then we got to plant a tree. Kelsey couldn’t plant a tree and I needed to go with Cameron.I reckoned meeting Mrs strong was really nice.

By Meg Graham

Dairy farm recountOn Friday 31st of October our whole class went on an excursion to Clover Hill Dairy farm in Jamberoo to learn about the Picasso cow competition.When we arrived at Clover Hill Dairy farm we were approached by two baby calves that were six weeks old. Everyone looked and crowded around the baby calves.After that Mr Best realised that the cow that won last year was there with rainbow horns and a bouquet of yellow sunflowers on its head. Jamberoo named her Buttercup.Then Lynne Strong showed us what cows eat. Cows eat five different things like Mushed Corn, Mixed Cereal, Cracked Corn, Crushed Wheats and Pellets are just some of the things cows eat on a farm.After that we visited the Milking Shed without cows. It was smelly but a Milking Shed is where cows aren’t supposed to be stressed.Then we visited the storage silos where they store all the food.Seconds later we visited the feeding room where they crush all the food.After that we had recess. Lynn gave out free milk then we all sat down while we had recess.Then we visited the cooling room where the machine cools down the milk. The milk is 37 degrees Celsius straight from the Friesian cow but then it goes into this important machine. When it comes out it is 3 degrees CelsiusThen we started heading towards the rainforest when suddenly all the cows where heading to go to the milking shed.Then we went to plant the trees. Everyone had fun, everyone found worms and everyone helped the environment.After that we split into two groups and headed for the milking shed. It is fascinating how the cuds get milk from the teat. Each cow has a feed bin so they can eat while being milked.Then we had run out of time so we said our goodbyes and had a look at the view. Then we went home.I learned how cows get milked these days and what cows eat and how small cows are when they are six weeks old. I loved patting the cows and I had a lot of fun.I hope to continue with the Picasso cow. I hope to go back to Clover Hill Dairy Farm again.

By Kelsey Sullivan

Final Design for Milkshake

The design team looked at the ideas on the board from our design meeting and placed them onto the final design plans. Cameron, Grace and Kelsey worked on one cow while Zoe and Georgia worked on the other.

There were some arguments over where to put the ideas so in the end they had a vote to decide. As we drew designs on to the cow Kelsey was in charge of crossing them off the board.

Undercoating the Cow

Drawing on the designs

It was very hard to draw on Milkshake because she was three dimensional and had a lot of bumps. We used lead pencil so that we could rub out any mistakes that we made.

Collaging the CowCreating the collage on Milkshake was a long process that required plenty of patience. There were a number of jobs that needed to be done, from ripping all the coloured paper out of magazines through to gluing them on piece by piece.

We are very proud of the final product and it is a great example of how you can get things done by working as a team.

Painting the Cow

Brandan had the honour of being the first person to paint Milkshake. We started painting the hooves, horns and tail first. After that we painted the udders, the face and the Southern Cross. Then we painted her front legs in school colours and the back legs in pink and red. Georgia and Kelsey did a great job of painting the school logo on, they did it free hand.

After all that we painted the rainbow stripes and glued the cut out letters on her back legs. Finally we wrote our names down the side of Milkshake’s neck. The next page shows a timeline of our progress in painting Milkshake.

Reflective WritingAs a way of reflecting on all the hard work and effort that we have put into the Picasso Cow project our class decided to write an acrostic poem about our experiences. Everybody in the class had a go at writing their ideas down for each letter of Milkshake’s name. Then we got together, read through them and created a group poem.

Sophie and Meg wanted to do a poem using Picasso Cow as the title. They did such a great job that we thought we would include it in our Journal entry.

Magazines for collaging

Investigating energy efficient dairies

Learning about dairies

Kids sharing the workload

Solar powered udders

Hard work for six weeks

Amazing colours all over

Keeping the environment clean

Excursion to Clover Hill dairy

Persistence is needed with this project

It is an amazing experience

Cows get milked three times a day

A great way of saving energy is using water power

Solar panels really help the environment

School has been more busy since Milkshake

Our school is lucky for this opportunity

Clover Hills Dairy was a great learning curve

On the excursion we planted grasses

Watching cows being milked was fantastic

Acrostic Poems

Funny Photos

Finished!