Mega machines | Biology - Science of the Harvest

This clip explores how technical innovation and mechanisation has revolutionised the way we farm over the last decades. Subscribe for more Biology clips from BBC Teach on Mondays when we have them in: http://bit.ly/BBCSubscribeTeach If you found this video helpful, give it a like. Share it with someone. Add the video to your own teaching playlists. Create an account, subscribe to the channel and create playlists for different age groups, sets and syllabuses. Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bbc_teach ===================== Presenter Stefan Gates explains how combine harvesters work – combining the jobs of cutting and threshing the crop in order to produce processed grain in a matter of seconds. In minutes, one harvester can do work which used to take an entire community days. With a particular focus on the development of the combine harvester, Stefan reveals how time and labour saving machines have made farming on a much larger scale possible without the need for a huge workforce. This clip is from the BBC series Science of the Harvest. Food fanatic Stefan Gates explores the science behind agriculture's most important event, harvest. To grow good food, and enough of it, farmers need to understand the science behind the harvest. For our Science of the Harvest playlist: http://bit.ly/scienceoftheharvest For our Biology playlist: http://bit.ly/BCTeachBiology For Class Clips users, the original reference for the clip was p01k31b9. ===================== Teaching Biology or Geography? Students could compare modern day farming equipment with the equipment used one hundred years ago (horse drawn ploughs) and several thousand years ago (mainly handheld tools). The increase in this sophistication is an example of evidence of human technical evolution. Can students think of any other examples? Students could be asked what the negative consequences of mechanised farming might be. These could include carbon dioxide production and water usage and pollution and so would link to teaching about global warming. Students could also taste organic and conventional foods. Can they taste the difference? This clip will be relevant for teaching Biology or Geography. This topic appears in KS3 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 4th level and National 4/5 in Scotland. ===================== For more clips from other subjects at the BBC Teach YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/bbcteach More resources for teachers from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/teach More from BBC Learning Zone: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone More resources from BBC Bitesize: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education ===================== Subscribe to create your own customised playlists, and get notified about our latest clips. As we have them, new videos will be uploaded on the following days: Mondays: Biology, Computer Science, Music, Religious Studies Tuesdays: Drama and Performance, English Language, Maths, Physical Education Wednesdays: Languages, Media Studies, Modern Studies and PSHE, Physics Thursdays: Art and Design, Chemistry, Geography, History Fridays: Business Studies, Design and Technology, English Literature, Early Years