Agricultural Science Book

Mayoegian

Hi,
I just want to ask this question for my sister who is in 5th year.

She started using the green book by Breen and Mullen but doesn't like it at all. She prefers the other Ag. Science book. She also has the Revision book to go with it. However, she is worrying that if she uses this book, she might miss out on material that is in the green book and not in the one that she's using. She's not sure if it's possible to get an A1 because of this.

Also, she's wondering that if she's asked by the examiner to name a plant and its family, would it be okay, for example, to say 'Rose family' instead of the other name 'Rosecrae' or something that she can't pronounce.

Also, can she be asked anything in the oral that she doesn't have in her project, for example, naming a plant that she doesn't have in her project?

Thanks!:)

GVNDNN

The green book is the best book so i don't see why she likes the other one, we have the other one but our teacher end up photocoyping chapers from the green book, the rapid revision is good but only to an extent, theres alot more you need to know, do exam papers and learn off the marking schemes....

And you can say rose family but you will get 0 marks, it's the easiest place to pick up marks so why not just learn the latin name?

Nope, just what was i your project

ajjmk

Mayoegian wrote: »

Hi,
I just want to ask this question for my sister who is in 5th year.

She started using the green book by Breen and Mullen but doesn't like it at all. She prefers the other Ag. Science book. She also has the Revision book to go with it. However, she is worrying that if she uses this book, she might miss out on material that is in the green book and not in the one that she's using. She's not sure if it's possible to get an A1 because of this.

Also, she's wondering that if she's asked by the examiner to name a plant and its family, would it be okay, for example, to say 'Rose family' instead of the other name 'Rosecrae' or something that she can't pronounce.

Also, can she be asked anything in the oral that she doesn't have in her project, for example, naming a plant that she doesn't have in her project?

Thanks!:)

wel our class dont use any books at all, my teacher feels that theres waaay too much waffle in them, so shes written out her own notes with all the relevant stuff simplified... most of my class have the revision book instead, & they have been able to use it to answwer 99% of the answers in the past papers using it

it ur asked for the plant family, they need the latin name,,in the written exam you still get the marks if its spelled wrong but looks like the correct spelling, if you get me..! ..in the oral, you can say to the examiner "i dont know the correct prononciation, but it looks like this ___" & say it phoneticly (cant spell that:P)

yeah, in the oral your teacher will have the room layed out with various different plants & some experients, & if theyr an way decent they'l show you the room layout before hand, & will tell you what everything is

Mayoegian

ajjmk wrote: »

wel our class dont use any books at all, my teacher feels that theres waaay too much waffle in them, so shes written out her own notes with all the relevant stuff simplified... most of my class have the revision book instead, & they have been able to use it to answwer 99% of the answers in the past papers using it

it ur asked for the plant family, they need the latin name,,in the written exam you still get the marks if its spelled wrong but looks like the correct spelling, if you get me..! ..in the oral, you can say to the examiner "i dont know the correct prononciation, but it looks like this ___" & say it phoneticly (cant spell that:P)

yeah, in the oral your teacher will have the room layed out with various different plants & some experients, & if theyr an way decent they'l show you the room layout before hand, & will tell you what everything is

Thanks so much!

Just a few more questions!

So, in the oral, you can't be asked anything that isn't already in your project?!

Also, how long does the oral last?

Also, can they only ask you the plants that they have seen you have already identified in your project?

Thank you! ( My sister allowed me use her account to ask a few more questions! ).

ajjmk

Mayoegian wrote: »

So, in the oral, you can't be asked anything that isn't already in your project?!

you're not meant to be, i dont think..but tha fella doin my oral was trying to catch me out for some reason & brought along some pictures of his own! my teacher told me afterwards that theyr not meant to do that tho..

Mayoegian wrote: »

Also, how long does the oral last?

eemm, i was in for over half an hour! it sounds like bloody aaages,but ya dont notice the time!..your sis mightnt end up gettin called in for the oral either! there were 4 of us picked this year out of 30-ishag science students!

Mayoegian wrote: »

Also, can they only ask you the plants that they have seen you have already identified in your project?

they can ask you any of the plants you teacher has layed out in the room...my teacher had loaaads left out & he just told me to pick 5 & identify them!

rainbowtrout

Mayoegian wrote: »

Thanks so much!

Just a few more questions!

So, in the oral, you can't be asked anything that isn't already in your project?!

Also, how long does the oral last?

Also, can they only ask you the plants that they have seen you have already identified in your project?

Thank you! ( My sister allowed me use her account to ask a few more questions! ).

Go and read the big long thread on Ag Science. I've answered most of those questions in detail. I'm an ag teacher and examiner.

And yes we can ask you questions about anything on the course, it doesn't have to be in the project... you could have done a project on cattle and mentioned nothing about diseases. I will want to know if you know anything.

We can ask you other plants. Some teachers try to pull a fast one and only leave out the bare minimum (5 ) plants. It's quite obvious that students don't know anything else other than the five. An examiner will usually bring a selection of COMMON plants which you should know if this caper is going on.

And you do need to know the Latin family name. that's the point of the assessment.

It's not hard to say Rosaceae - Rose - ay -see - ay

A decent attempt at the proper name will be good enough. Saying Rose family is just a cop out and not fair on students who have bothered to learn the names.

It would be a bit like a medical student saying 'I don't want to learn fibula and tibia, can i not just say leg bones?'

gwenc

hi rainbowtrout,
i read your thread with interest.. i am currently home schooling a leaving cert student and am trying to teach ag sci for the first time, i have a background in biology so am not finding the bookwork or theory too difficult, i am however a little bit confused about the project, i have looked up the project guidelines on the departments website but to be honest i am none the wiser.. is there any help you could give me in this area??? am stuck as to what we should be doing exactly..

any help at all would be greatly appreciated

regards
Gwen

rainbowtrout

gwenc wrote: »

hi rainbowtrout,
i read your thread with interest.. i am currently home schooling a leaving cert student and am trying to teach ag sci for the first time, i have a background in biology so am not finding the bookwork or theory too difficult, i am however a little bit confused about the project, i have looked up the project guidelines on the departments website but to be honest i am none the wiser.. is there any help you could give me in this area??? am stuck as to what we should be doing exactly..

any help at all would be greatly appreciated

regards
Gwen

Hi Gwen

The project needs to be supervised and signed off by a teacher who is currently teaching ag science in a school, so despite the fact that you are home schooling you will need to contact a school in your locality to see where ag science is done and if they will accommodate this student. The reason for this is that the teacher is the one that grades the project, the external examiner is just there to verify that grading is carried out fairly and correctly.

That is the most important thing to get sorted.

Have a read of this thread as well

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055467114

I've posted fairly extensive guidelines on the project (breakdown of marks etc and what needs to be in the project) here so you could be getting on with that end of things until you get a teacher who will agree to assess this project in Leaving Cert. Is the student in fifth or sixth year?

On a practical level, get the student to grow potatoes at home (plant them in Feb/March) in a plot in the back garden or even in a large bucket/bin/flower pot.

Get him/her to get a heart from the butcher's and dissect it at home, as s/he is being home schooled it might be a good idea to take photos to stick in their lab copy as proof they have done the work. They will also need to complete a drawing of a farm plan, minimum A4 size, which has to be an aerial view of a farm, showing the layout of the farm buildings, fields, paddocks, sheds etc. That's stuff you could be getting on with. Also if you live near any farms or on a farm it would be worth their while visiting the farm and gathering information on the animal breeds, feed for animals, housing, diseases and disease prevention (vaccinations), housing, take photos of everything.

If you have any other questions send me a PM.

thetonynator

Theres a lot of shíte in both ag science books thats unnecessery and there are other areas that havent enough detail. That said my brother got an a1 outside of school using the other one ( not the green one).