Yearbook 2021

Year 8 Agriculture

During Technology Agriculture in Year 8, we studied the Australian Hamburger. Learning, growing and developing skills in the Agricultural enterprises needed to produce a Hamburger. We have learnt how to grow vegetables. This started off with us having to learn the garden tools that we may be using down at the Ag plot and animal safety for when we handle the chickens, duck and Guinea Fowls. As a team, we planted corn, in rows, with recycled paper buried in the soil to feed the worms. As our learning teams chose our own garden bed, we started to weed around the beds, dig trenches to then bury old paper/booklet for the worms, we could not find the paper other classes in the past had buried. From seeds, we planted a wide variety of vegetable seeds and sunflowers. In the classroom, we learnt about Australian export industries and trade around the world and the importance and impact Australia Agriculture has on these countries. We also learnt the different breeds of sheep and the consumption of sheep meat throughout the world. As the world of farming advances, drones and Autonomous tractors are becoming more and more common, especially for herding sheep and cattle and cropping. On the school grounds garden beds, we harvested beetroot, leeks, parsnips and a lot of herbs that have been grown throughout the year by all year 8 classes in Tech- Ag. In the Glasshouse we used plant cuttings from a variety of plants to recreate new plants. This process is called propagation, we removed the bottom leaves, and dipped the stems into root hormone or honey to promote root growth. There are many ways to germinate seeds which we did in the classroom. That consisted of placing a moist paper towel into a plastic container and pushing seeds into the paper towel. We then placed the containers in a plastic bag up in BD2 where the plastic bag acted as a mini-greenhouse. Within a week the seed had germinated. At the end of the term, we made delicious hamburgers that included local meat and produce including lettuce, cheese, tomato, beetroot, beef, eggs and bacon supplied by IGA. In agriculture, there are many different opportunities and careers that are available all year round near Young that could be your occupation in the future. Fun Fact: In 2020 alone, it was the biggest harvest on record with 31 million tonnes of grain.

Izabelle Cartwright & Reagan Griffin