Leaving Cert agricultural science: A paper of two halves

Half of the agricultural science was student-friendly, but the other half was quite tricky, according to Seamus Hynes, TUI representative and a teacher at Clarin College in Athenry.

“It was a bit more difficult than last year,” he said. “The very opening question, where they were asked about a phylum, is not something they learn on the course, so they may have got a bit of a shock. It wasn’t the best way to ease them in.”

He said that a question on dairy which asked them to identify three breeds based solely on milk yields, fat and protein was particularly tough, while a question on determining soil texture was also a “higher order question.”

While a question on sheep and sheep production was welcome, Mr Hynes said that he hoped the marking scheme would reflect the challenges of the paper.

Donal Power, an agriculture science teacher at the Institute of Education, disagreed, saying that the paper was balanced, fair and completely in sync with previous years.

Most of the short questions had been asked in previous years and other questions on soil, lambing, insect larval stages, cereals and root crops were very fair. He was surprised to see a full question on beef and particularly on the Europ beef carcass classification scheme, which had not appeared before.

The ordinary level paper was quite difficult for students, said Mr Hynes, although there was a wide range of topics including potatoes, sheep, pigs, dairy, grass and silage, and there was good use of diagrams and photos.

Agricultural science is unusual in that question one carries the most marks, but is not compulsory. The syllabus is one of the oldest and has not been revised for almost 40 years.

Students have already completed a folder of work which counts for 25 per cent of their overall mark; a section of each class is randomly selected by an external examiner to give a presentation on their findings.

My Hynes said that, despite the age of the syllabus, the subject is far from creaking and is a good model for other subjects.

“Students have to go out and do research for their folder and presentation, so there is a lot of independent learning and inquiry which is very welcome.

The syllabus also allows us to embrace the changes in agriculture, such as recognising how genetics had led to better milk yields and how grassland production has improved.”

Try this at home: Leaving Cert Agricultural Science, Higher Level

Beef is classified using the EU beef carcase classification system.

(i) Outline the main features of this system.

(ii) Using this system, indicate a suitable score for a highly productive continental beef animal and a British crossbred beef animal.

(iii) Describe a suitable strategy which could be used to improve the classification of Irish beef cattle in the future.