Hey, Great Neighbours! UFLI Foundations Lesson 114

Hey! Look at the plains. The plains are wide, flat, and green. They stretch out flat as far as you can see. Chicken pecks at the ground by a tall birch tree, hunting for breakfast. Tall trees are not common, so you can see for a great long way. Small yellow flowers grow at Chicken's feet, and white clouds drift by in the sky.

The plains are home to lots of great neighbours. Cow stands in the shade of a big tree, swishing her tail. Pig sniffs at the bare dirt with his round pink snout. He grunts and digs in the soft dirt. They roam free, and they obey no farmer. When you first land in the plains, they will feed you well.

In the plains, Cow and Chicken are a great team. Two cows munch on tall grass over by the trees. Two chickens scratch and peck in the grass, hunting for seeds. Pig grazes off to one side, happy in the sun. Build your home in the plains, and you will never have to walk far to find a meal. Steak, eggs, and pork can be on your plate in a snap!

Hey, look! Horses come to the plains too. Three horses stand by a wooden fence and neigh. One horse is brown, one is white with black spots, and one is jet black. The herd munches on eight hay bales by the fence. You can tame a horse, hold the reins, and ride across the flat land. The plains are the greatest place to build a farm, since the ground is so flat and even.

Blue lakes pop up all over the wide plains. The lakes are full of fish like cod. A child surveys the water, then casts a fishing rod from the edge of one lake. Chicken waits close by, hoping for a tasty bite of fish. Fishing breaks up the day, and gets you food without chasing animals around. You will almost always catch a fish on your first try!

Most of the plains animals are great neighbours. Cow lowers her big head and grazes peacefully on the green grass. Chicken stands a little way back, while Pig roots in the dirt by Cow's feet. None of these animals will pick a fight unless you bother them first. The plains feel safe, like a peaceful neighbourhood you can stroll across at daybreak.

Some plains grow wide patches of bright sunflowers. The sunflowers always face the sun, swaying in the breeze. Other plains are dotted with red and yellow wildflowers. Chicken stands off to the side, away from the blooms. The flowers weigh next to nothing, but you can pick them and grind them up to make dyes in Minecraft. Eight kinds of dye come from plains flowers alone.

In the real world, too many animals on one patch of land is a great big problem. When there are too many animals on the grass, the herd eats it all away faster than it can grow back. Cow stands with her herd on a wide patch of bare, cracked dirt. The grass is all gone, eaten down to the soil. Without grass, the land can not heal. The plains turn dry and dusty.

Big animals like horses and cows weigh a lot. Heavy feet pack down the soil and rip up the grass beneath. The horses snort and stomp on the same trail many times, leaving dark mud paths behind. Cow's feet cut deep tracks in the wet ground. Chicken is lightweight, and her little feet barely leave a print. A flock of chickens does far less damage to the land than even one big horse.

A good farmer surveys the land and counts the herd. The child stands by the wooden fence, holding wheat for Cow and the rest of the herd. Pig waits at the corner of the pen, while the other animals graze on the grass nearby. Too many animals will break the very grass the herd needs to live. So the child keeps the herd small and the land healthy. The plains stay wide and green for them all.