ag science!!!

imfreein09

hey guys ok well im doing

maths (P)
irish (P)
geo
english
business
home ec
french

im goin to take up ag science i think im not starting school until monday and im gettin really srtessed over the subject choice...i dont really have any other options on subjects to take up ag seems to be my only option
im getting totally different reviews on it some say it a defo A others say its the hardest subject youl come across and not to go near it! i really dont no what to do.,...

i go to a grind school and im not an all a student im average in previous exams im in the 400;s im not good at frech i find it vey hard so i hope to get a D in it im im lucky maybe a c3?

please help tips on ag please needed!!! thanks so much!!


..aine xxx

WaldenByThoreua

Hey,

I went to a grind school last year and took up AG Science and got an A1...

Ya I heard all the stuff you did as well about it being easy and then about it being hard.

My opinion; Ag is a subject thats very easy to do average in without a lot of work, however its not that easy to do very well (broadly the same as Geog, biology business for A's and B's I think)

My Ag class was divided into 2 groups: The people looking for Medicine/Law etc who worked very hard at AG and felt they had no god given right TO get an A1.... and they got an A1....

Then there was the crew at the back of class who were told Ag was easy, they would have to do nothing to get an A/B....missed classes frequently and thought it was ok because it was 'just Ag'...they got C1's.

The same C1's they got in every other subject (which theres absolutely nothing wrong with), but would they have been better off not taking up Ag and just working on their other 6 subjects??

I think Ag suits the better student who does Biology a lot better as it's pure drivel which has to be purely learned off and that suits the driven Medicine candidates.

I suppose you have to ask yourself would you be better off not taking up Ag and working on you French or are you going to immerse yourself in the AG and study hard?

Hope you have a project from someone who did well in Ag as well...it'll save you a lot of time
I think your going to the same school I went to last year..best of luck if you are!!

ChiefBrody

limerickmunster wrote: »

I think your going to the same school I went to last year..best of luck if you are!!

But no luck if she didn't..?

But yeah, I'm in the same boat there... I'm taking up Ag this year, dropped music because it takes up so much time. I'm doing Chemistry and Biology and apparently there's a little bit of overlap with them. I have a friend who got an A1 who's lending me his notes/project/etc, and I'm going to give it a bit more time than my other subjects...

But seriously, the amount of retards who do Ag Science in my school. That's the reason the percentage is so low- as long as you do your bit you'll get your result. What year are you in now?

imfreein09

. What year are you in now?[/quote]


im in 6th yr now well i will be on monday and i dont really like science subjects i did pass science for my jc like

imfreein09

limerickmunster wrote: »

Hey,

I went to a grind school last year and took up AG Science and got an A1...

Ya I heard all the stuff you did as well about it being easy and then about it being hard.

My opinion; Ag is a subject thats very easy to do average in without a lot of work, however its not that easy to do very well (broadly the same as Geog, biology business for A's and B's I think)

My Ag class was divided into 2 groups: The people looking for Medicine/Law etc who worked very hard at AG and felt they had no god given right TO get an A1.... and they got an A1....

Then there was the crew at the back of class who were told Ag was easy, they would have to do nothing to get an A/B....missed classes frequently and thought it was ok because it was 'just Ag'...they got C1's.

The same C1's they got in every other subject (which theres absolutely nothing wrong with), but would they have been better off not taking up Ag and just working on their other 6 subjects??

I think Ag suits the better student who does Biology a lot better as it's pure drivel which has to be purely learned off and that suits the driven Medicine candidates.

I suppose you have to ask yourself would you be better off not taking up Ag and working on you French or are you going to immerse yourself in the AG and study hard?

Hope you have a project from someone who did well in Ag as well...it'll save you a lot of time
I think your going to the same school I went to last year..best of luck if you are!!

yeh i guess so its tutorail??? did 5th there to but realy am not sure abour ag or not and u no tat school its not excatly easy to drop a subject.. so i really am, totally confused?? it is hard??? is the teacher good??? i dont really lik bio r nything lik tat alsoam doin geog with u no who so am completely shiitin it and with hi9mk wilo tat take up most of my study time?

rainbowtrout

To the OP, just a few points of view as an ag science teacher, I also correct the examinations and assess the practical projects....

limerickmunster wrote: »

Hey,

I went to a grind school last year and took up AG Science and got an A1...

Ya I heard all the stuff you did as well about it being easy and then about it being hard.

My opinion; Ag is a subject thats very easy to do average in without a lot of work, however its not that easy to do very well (broadly the same as Geog, biology business for A's and B's I think)



I think Ag suits the better student who does Biology a lot better as it's pure drivel which has to be purely learned off and that suits the driven Medicine candidates.

Hope you have a project from someone who did well in Ag as well...it'll save you a lot of time
I think your going to the same school I went to last year..best of luck if you are!!

yes, it is relatively easy to do average in Ag Science when compared to the likes of Biology. A lot more work is needed to achieve a C1 in biology than it is in ag sci. However it is an advantage to have both as there is some overlap.

I wouldn't describe the material on the course as drivel. That i think is a little unfair, there are many students taking the subject in grind schools because it's now seen as a points subject and they have no interest in agriculture, but to the student that is interested in farming, it can be extremely interesting.. however I digress...

there is a bit of thought needed to interpret the questions and in my opinion those that are aiming for medicine and the like are generally high achiever in the 500+ points category and generally have an aptitude to learn off material for most subjects, whether that be ag, geography or business...


while it's well known that students are recycling projects and it can be good to see how another student has done a project I don't recommend copying, at least if you do it yourself you have a better chance of retaining the information. Also if you happen to be given a high grade for your project and you are called for interview by the examiner(someone like me) and you have an A standard project and give a C standard interview, your grade will probably be changed.

ChiefBrody wrote: »

But no luck if she didn't..?
But seriously, the amount of retards who do Ag Science in my school. That's the reason the percentage is so low- as long as you do your bit you'll get your result. What year are you in now?

that's a little unfair, students are entitled to do a subject regardless of ability, and from my experience of examining ag in schools, many schools are advising the weaker students with something like 'do ag science, it's much easier than biology, you should be able to pass that' or they hear 'ag science is a doss, handy subject' which again to reiterate one of the previous posts, easier to pass than some other subjects but not as easy to get a high grade in.

imfreein09 wrote: »

im in 6th yr now well i will be on monday and i dont really like science subjects i did pass science for my jc like

why put yourself through the misery of doing a science subject when you don't like science? study something you do like instead. if you did ordinary level for JC you will still find ag science difficult and possibly boring if you don't like science. I teach in a regular school and have had many students taking ag that did ordinary level science for JC and have never seen a grade higher than a D in a higher level Ag paper at LC from them. Now I'm sure there's a few exceptions, but generally that's the way it works out. Of course it does depend on what kind of grade you are talking about at ordinary level, if you got an A you would be fine and could have probably passed the higher level paper. But if you got a D at ordinary level you will find some aspects of the ag course difficult I would imagine.

It all really does come down to how much work you are willing to put into the subject at the end of the day, I had a student this year who got a D at ordinary level JC and came out with a D2 at higher level - a really big achievement for him, and then those who should have done a lot better and didn't

WaldenByThoreua

imfreein09 wrote: »

yeh i guess so its tutorail??? did 5th there to but realy am not sure abour ag or not and u no tat school its not excatly easy to drop a subject.. so i really am, totally confused?? it is hard??? is the teacher good??? i dont really lik bio r nything lik tat alsoam doin geog with u no who so am completely shiitin it and with hi9mk wilo tat take up most of my study time?

Yep good ole' Tutorial....
Theres two teachers depending on whether you do it midweek or on Saturdays...Both are good

Don't let Geog take up all your time....So many people did last year and they all regretted because every other subject suffered...It was the biggest mistake I made as well...

WaldenByThoreua

rainbowtrout wrote: »

I wouldn't describe the material on the course as drivel. That i think is a little unfair, there are many students taking the subject in grind schools because it's now seen as a points subject and they have no interest in agriculture, but to the student that is interested in farming, it can be extremely interesting.. however I digress...

Good point....Ya its just with the numbers now taking the subject many don't have a farming background and see the subject as simply information on a page that can get them a good grade.....but you eluded to that yourself to be fair!

WaldenByThoreua

rainbowtrout wrote: »

while it's well known that students are recycling projects and it can be good to see how another student has done a project I don't recommend copying, at least if you do it yourself you have a better chance of retaining the information. Also if you happen to be given a high grade for your project and you are called for interview by the examiner(someone like me) and you have an A standard project and give a C standard interview, your grade will probably be changed.

Thats a risk a lot of students seem to run but the cases of downgrading seem to be very low? It seems to me the department are a little lax on this front? I could very well be wrong

....like to hear you thoughts rainbow trout

ChiefBrody

rainbowtrout wrote: »

that's a little unfair, students are entitled to do a subject regardless of ability, and from my experience of examining ag in schools, many schools are advising the weaker students with something like 'do ag science, it's much easier than biology, you should be able to pass that' or they hear 'ag science is a doss, handy subject' which again to reiterate one of the previous posts, easier to pass than some other subjects but not as easy to get a high grade in.

I never said they weren't entitled to do the subject... It's true. In my school it is mainly the..."undesirables".. who take up Ag. It's a joke of a class and the people who actually want a good Leaving sit up the front and try to ignore the rest of the class's banter.

And that's a fair point about people being told to do it because it's easy, but that just backs up my theory.

I'm not trying to come off sounding like an asshole by the way...:D

WaldenByThoreua

ChiefBrody wrote: »

I never said they weren't entitled to do the subject... It's true. In my school it is mainly the..."undesirables".. who take up Ag. It's a joke of a class and the people who actually want a good Leaving sit up the front and try to ignore the rest of the class's banter.

And that's a fair point about people being told to do it because it's easy, but that just backs up my theory.

I'm not trying to come off sounding like an asshole by the way...:D

Thats exactly what I said in my original post about a divided class....High pointers and the people who take it easy because they've been told it'll be na easy b/c

rainbowtrout

limerickmunster wrote: »

Thats a risk a lot of students seem to run but the cases of downgrading seem to be very low? It seems to me the department are a little lax on this front? I could very well be wrong

....like to hear you thoughts rainbow trout

Not necessarily. I think that some teachers in grind schools are under pressure from the principal or whoever is running the grind school to give good grades because that's essentially what people are there for and that's what they've paid fees for and that's what is expected. That's what grind schools sell themselves on. It's also one of the few subjects where the teacher is responsible for grading the student. Unlike geography and history. They are also under the opinion that 'if I give my student 95 and they're only worth 50, no examiner is going to take 45 marks off them, they might take 10 off and they will still get a high grade'. I must stress that not all grind school teachers are like this so I don't want to tar them all with the same brush, but i do know it goes on. It's shocking to see a student come into an interview with 95 and them not be able to identify a friesian cow and then for them to say 'I did this subject cos i was told i'd get high points in it' and it's not their fault they were awarded an A in the first place.

I can say to a teacher 'you're grades are way too high, regrade them or i'll do it for you'. In my opinion grades in normal schools are far more accurate

The other thing is that if you don't view your script and you don't know what grade you got in your project it can be hard to tell if you were downgraded or not. (Upgrades are not as common, teachers tend to be more generous than stingy with marks). Also say you get downgraded from an 82 to a 70, at the end of the day 12 marks works out at 3% so it may not be apparent that a downgrade took place. 12 marks would be on the more drastic end of things though.

Example: You get a B1 in Ag Science and you don't know what you got in your project. So your total mark can range from 320-339. You find out viewing the script that you get 250 in your written paper. Which means you could have got anything between 70 and 89 in the project which is quite a difference. Also the project cannot be appealed. And while many teachers are not meant to tell their classes their grades I know some do. I don't tell my class, because again as an examiner I can't tell the teacher if I have changed the grades. So your teacher might tell you, you got an A but the examiner might have downgraded you to a B. It may or may not affect your overall grade. in the example I gave above such a downgrade wouldn't matter, so it isn't apparent, but it can.

ChiefBrody wrote: »

I never said they weren't entitled to do the subject... It's true. In my school it is mainly the..."undesirables".. who take up Ag. It's a joke of a class and the people who actually want a good Leaving sit up the front and try to ignore the rest of the class's banter.

And that's a fair point about people being told to do it because it's easy, but that just backs up my theory.

I'm not trying to come off sounding like an asshole by the way...:D

Well it did sound a bit like that

It can be very disheartening for a teacher to have their subject written off like that. I have a class exactly like you describe, i mainly get ordinary level students (from JC) in my classes with a few higher levels, normally C grades in JC, the A and B students usually opt for Biology. This, I don't mind but even i've heard of other staff encouraging the weaker, more disruptive students to do Ag because it's 'easy'. My current class has 11 students: 2 repeats who have just taken it up, and will do quite well in it I think, 2 students who will probably get a C at higher level and 7 lunatics, 4 of whom will definitely fail ordinary level and don't care but are causing havoc for the ones that want to learn, they are in the class because they don't really want to do any subject so ag seemed like the handy option.

It seems to be quite common in schools in my experience just from anecdotal evidence, talking to friends who teach ag and from what I see when I examine, but it's a shame because it could so easily go the other way.. especially when you see students who are struggling to get a C in biology and you know that if they had been encouraged to do Ag they could get an A or B, or people who really do struggle with Biology and have to take ordinary level in the end, they would manage higher level ag in my opinion. It would really be great for the type of student who is more in the 300-400 points band, who could do with the points/honour they would get from ag but not get from biology.

WaldenByThoreua

rainbowtrout wrote: »

And while many teachers are not meant to tell their classes their grades I know some do. I don't tell my class, because again as an examiner I can't tell the teacher if I have changed the grades. So your teacher might tell you, you got an A but the examiner might have downgraded you to a B.

They sure do.

The examiner cant tell the teacher if hes downgrading or upgrading??

Our teacher last year told us he had only ever been downgraded once in 11 years so how does he know that?

And is it not true that if an A student (project) is up to a B standard only in the interview, all the A's get downgraded to B's? Maybe it has to be a few A students at a B standard before this happens but is it not true?

rainbowtrout

limerickmunster wrote: »

They sure do.

The examiner cant tell the teacher if hes downgrading or upgrading??

Our teacher last year told us he had only ever been downgraded once in 11 years so how does he know that?

And is it not true that if an A student (project) is up to a B standard only in the interview, all the A's get downgraded to B's? Maybe it has to be a few A students at a B standard before this happens but is it not true?

No the examiner can't comment, although it's possible that some do. Ag science is minority subject and with examiners also being teachers, people are going to know each other.... it's possible that your teacher hasn't been told outright that he hasn't been up/downgraded but could work it out from the project marks he gave and the grades received by his class. Eg an A1 student will only get an A if they scored an A in both practical and written, if this is consistent he knows his grades haven't been changed.

If an A student gives a B standard interview it doesn't mean everyone gets pulled down straight away, more students of a similar standard will be interviewed. If they all give B standard interviews then a downgrade is likely, however if it was only the one student and all the rest were fine, then no change, the student might just have had an off day/been nervous. it does happen. unless it was a huge discrepancy from A to C, but the teacher might be asked to reconsider that student. It's also quite unfair on the students that genuinely deserve an A to possibly have their grades jeopardised because their teacher is giving out high grades to everyone.

imfreein09

now i am still completly confussed!!! ahhhh also hel freak in geo if u dont no ur stuff im completly ****ing it!!! do i no u to see??

WaldenByThoreua

imfreein09 wrote: »

now i am still completly confussed!!! ahhhh also hel freak in geo if u dont no ur stuff im completly ****ing it!!! do i no u to see??

just learn it to the best of your ability and never spend more than the one hour of study at it....

ya prob..!

TEBHNUM

i took up ag last year on my own outside school.....ag was the best choice i made last year....the reason every1 finds it so hard is because it looks harder then it is and because the course is huge yet only 30% of it will come up.....i got an a1 and im startin to do grinds in it this year......honestly do it and stick with it.....u wont regret it

c'mon the ag

rainbowtrout

TEBHNUM wrote: »

the course is huge yet only 30% of it will come up.....

Well done on doing so well in ag but this hugely underestimated. All the main topics are asked every year, soil, genetics, cattle breeding, sheep, crops and grassland. Plant and animal physiology tend to be asked through shorter questions. I can't see how 70% of any syllabus could not be examined.

The Weasel

imfreein09 wrote: »

hey guys ok well im doing


please help tips on ag please needed!!! thanks so much!!


..aine xxx

Hey.. havnt bothered to read all the previous posts, but said id throw my two cents in anyway!!

I'm repeating, but got an A1 in Ag this year.

MY tips are as follows:
1) DONT freak out about the subject just because you don't think you have any other options- totally the worst mindset to take up anything new with.
2) Do try get access to a farm- will really help. You can do all the reading, but I think for Ag the best way to learn is a more hands on approach if possible.
3) Read the farmers journal.
4) Don't copy somebody else's project- the examiner will see straight through attempts to bull**** your way through an oral with someone else's work in front of you.Also don't just download pages of rubbish, total waste of ink, paper and time.
5) Don't think its a sure thing for a high grade- its not. You have to put the work in.
6) Keep the hell away from Google. It is not your friend.
7) Do as many exam questions as possible- Higher level AND ordinary level.. You wont get all the answers in any text book, some of it is your own farming knowledge, so its no harm to familiarise yourself with what they have been throwing out. In addition questions like soil and genetics are certs, marks for jam if you cover them well.
8) Don't be someone who just does it because its allegedly easy, and just ends up being an asshole who distracts everyone else for the year (not an attack or anything, that's just REALLY annoying!!:o)
9) Do your projects well in time.
10) Try to develop an interest in the subject- from some angle, whether it be crops, animal production or whatever. I want to do Vet, so obviously I already had an interest in the materiel.. I actually think that was my best ally throughout the 2 years.


Hope that was some help to you!:rolleyes:

The Weasel

TEBHNUM wrote: »

course is huge yet only 30% of it will come up.

Totally outrageous statement.. there's just no way like.

rainbowtrout

The Weasel wrote: »

Hey.. havnt bothered to read all the previous posts, but said id throw my two cents in anyway!!

I'm repeating, but got an A1 in Ag this year.

MY tips are as follows:
1) DONT freak out about the subject just because you don't think you have any other options- totally the worst mindset to take up anything new with.
2) Do try get access to a farm- will really help. You can do all the reading, but I think for Ag the best way to learn is a more hands on approach if possible.
3) Read the farmers journal.
4) Don't copy somebody else's project- the examiner will see straight through attempts to bull**** your way through an oral with someone else's work in front of you.Also don't just download pages of rubbish, total waste of ink, paper and time.
5) Don't think its a sure thing for a high grade- its not. You have to put the work in.
6) Keep the hell away from Google. It is not your friend.
7) Do as many exam questions as possible- Higher level AND ordinary level.. You wont get all the answers in any text book, some of it is your own farming knowledge, so its no harm to familiarise yourself with what they have been throwing out. In addition questions like soil and genetics are certs, marks for jam if you cover them well.
8) Don't be someone who just does it because its allegedly easy, and just ends up being an asshole who distracts everyone else for the year (not an attack or anything, that's just REALLY annoying!!:o)
9) Do your projects well in time.
10) Try to develop an interest in the subject- from some angle, whether it be crops, animal production or whatever. I want to do Vet, so obviously I already had an interest in the materiel.. I actually think that was my best ally throughout the 2 years.


Hope that was some help to you!:rolleyes:

+1 Excellent Advice!