Go Bananas

This free, downloadable photo-pack aims to help learners aged 7-11 make links between the local and global by exploring where the bananas we eat in the UK come from. Developed in partnership with the Fairtrade Foundation, it is a revised and updated version of the original Go Bananas resource developed in 2007. Learners develop their questioning and inference skills by using photographs to investigate the journey of a banana, from being planted in Colombia to being sold in the UK. They then learn about some of the countries where the bananas we eat in the UK are grown; locating these countries on a world map and exploring the distances bananas travel to reach our supermarkets. By researching these countries in more detail, learners will appreciate that different crops grow best in different regions of the world. Learners then play a simulation game to consider some of the challenges that banana farmers face, as well as the positive impacts that fair trade can have on people’s lives. Finally, learners think critically about possible actions that they could take at school to promote fair trade.