Dairycraft Lesson 5: From Pastures to Processors

Technology is transforming the modern dairy farm, and students get a front-row seat.

In Lesson 5, students explore how innovation supports every process on the farm, including milk production and animal well-being. From robotic milking machines to GPS ear tags, they discover how smart systems make farming more efficient, ethical and responsive.

The journey begins at the milking shed, where NPC (non-playable characters) Lena introduces students to rotary, parallel and robotic milking parlours.

After learning about each system and completing a short quiz, it’s time to act: students help pump milk into storage tanks and deliver unpasteurized milk to the processing facility, giving them a hands-on view of how the supply chain connects and the role of a milk truck driver.

From there, the learning goes deeper. Students examine wearable tech used on cows, from GPS trackers to smart collars and ear tags. They see how data helps farmers monitor herd health, movement and nutrition in real time.

Automated feeding systems come next, showing how technology keeps cows healthy, well-fed and stress-free.

Each step of the lesson builds not just scientific understanding, but real-world systems thinking. Students learn how technology and animal care work hand in hand, reinforcing the idea that innovation isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about doing things better.

Rewards along the way keep engagement high, including a virtual scoop of ice cream straight from the very processing plant students helped supply.

In the optional extension task, two cows have wandered off, and students use GPS data to track them down and guide them safely home. It’s a moment that blends digital problem-solving with something very human: care and responsibility.

Lesson 5 brings together science, technology and ethical agriculture in a fresh and relevant way. Students begin to see how tech doesn’t replace care, but amplifies it, helping farmers work smarter and with greater insight.

Wearables for cows? Absolutely. Not for counting steps, but for smarter farming - where real-time care, and herd health meet innovation, and we lead with both heart and brains.

This lesson aligns directly with the Ontario Grade 8 Science and Technology curriculum, supporting key learning goals around technological systems, energy flow, efficiency, and real-world applications in agriculture.

Watch the lesson overview trailer here: