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GRNS302 Grains and the Environment

Credit Points 6
Offering
Responsible Campus Teaching Period Mode of Study
Armidale Trimester 1 Off Campus
Intensive School(s)
Start Finish Attendance Notes
N/A N/A Mandatory For northern NSW and Qld students, school will be held in Tamworth in late March/early April, with exact dates to be advised. For southern NSW, Victorian and SA students, school timing will be similar, but the location has yet to be decided.
Supervised Exam There is no UNE Supervised Examination.
Pre-requisites None
Co-requisites None
Restrictions GRNS502
Notes None
Combined Units GRNS502 - Grains and the Environment
Coordinator(s) Craig Birchall (craig.birchall@une.edu.au)
Unit Description

This unit provides students with an understanding of the environmental, sustainability and legal issues surrounding the Australian grains industry. Topics include the ecology and sustainability of grain production, crop and pasture rotations, environmental impacts and their management, legal issues associated with landuse, and property management planning. Students will be required to attend the equivalent of a 3-day intensive school to cover practical aspects of the unit. GRNS502 is based on the undergraduate unit GRNS302 with additional load consisting of extra questions on assignments and examinations and candidates for GRNS502 will be expected to show a greater level of understanding of the unit material than that required for GRNS302.
Materials No text required
Disclaimer Unit information may be subject to change prior to commencement of the teaching period.
Assessment
Title Exam Length Weight Mode No. Words
Assignment 1 40% Off Campus 2000
Assessment Notes
Essay
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1, 3 GA: 1-5, 7
Assignment 2 30% Off Campus 2000
Assessment Notes
Essay
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 2, 4 GA: 1-5, 7
Assignment 3 30% Off Campus 2000
Assessment Notes
Essay
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-4 GA: 1-3 5, 7

Learning Outcomes (LO) Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
  1. describe the sustainability issues of different farming systems and the ways of assessing them;
  2. identify the benefits and problems of different rotations;
  3. describe the environmental impacts of cropping systems and explain some of the methods of managing these effects;
  4. understand planning issues associated with cropping systems, including property management planning and land capability assessment, Environmental Management Systems, and legislative requirements.

Graduate Attributes (GA)
Attribute Taught Assessed Practised
1 Knowledge of a Discipline
Students are taught knowledge of the discipline throughout the unit, and have to use this knowledge during assessment tasks. 		True True True
2 Communication Skills
Students communications skills are practiced and assessed through a variety a assessment task formats. 		True True
3 Global Perspectives
The relationships between the Australian grains industry and the world grain industry are taught and assessed. 		True True
4 Information Literacy
Students are expected to demonstrate research capacity and to obtain information from a wide range of sources. 		True True True
5 Life-Long Learning
Students practice and are assessed on learning skills which will be useful to them throughout their careers. 		True True True
6 Problem Solving
At least one assessment task in the unit involves problem solving using information taught in the unit. 		True True
7 Social Responsibility
The broader social and environmental effects of decisions involved in agricultural production are taught and discussed. 		True True
8 Team Work
 True
   

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