* Ag. Science *

Digital Solitude · 29-10-2015 1:30pm

It's not massive, I covered enough to get a B in about 4 months, I was working off predictions and a very good project though

Telo123 · 29-10-2015 6:02pm

Thanks for that a B in 4 months that's unreal

Telo123 · 30-10-2015 6:32am

Would it be enough to just study ftom the revise wise book?

hubluh · 30-10-2015 12:18pm

Telo123 wrote: »

Would it be enough to just study ftom the revise wise book?

Generally those revise wise books are rubbish. The best revision book you can get are exan papers. Theres a farmers journal revision book online which is pretty decent.
http://tinyurl.com/p2fupbt

rainbowtrout · 30-10-2015 12:29pm

Telo123 wrote: »

Would it be enough to just study ftom the revise wise book?

hubluh wrote: »

Generally those revise wise books are rubbish. The best revision book you can get are exan papers. Theres a farmers journal revision book online which is pretty decent.
http://tinyurl.com/p2fupbt

I'm one of the authors of the Revise Wise Ag Science book and also Breaking Ground. I'd advise you, no matter what text you go with is to go with a proper text book first.

A revision book is for a student that has completed the course. It won't have all the content of the main text so you may miss out on things that you need to know and won't realise because you haven't gone through the text book.

I'd advise that you start working with a text book and as you finish a section do all the exam questions you can on that topic. When you have worked through the course, if you feel it would be useful to you then go with the revision book.

You already said you don't do a science for leaving cert, however if you are currently doing geography, you'll find there is an overlap in the soil science section. There is always a full question on soil on the paper, and usually an experiment or something turns up in another question.

Telo123 · 30-10-2015 12:49pm

Could I
have a good chunk of the course done by the summer if I start now?

rainbowtrout · 30-10-2015 1:04pm

Telo123 wrote: »

Could I
have a good chunk of the course done by the summer if I start now?

If you work at it. Set aside an hour (or whatever) for ag every evening. Do homework. Answer questions. Treat it like every other subject. Timetable it otherwise you won't get it done.

Answer the exam questions to go with each section and look at the marking schemes to see what is needed or where you are potentially losing marks / misinterpreting questions.

If there is an ag teacher in your school you could ask them nicely for a few grinds even if it was once a month just to make sure you are keeping on top of things. Of course be aware that they may have other commitments and are in no way obliged to do it.

Telo123 · 30-10-2015 1:15pm

Ok so I've made a plan do you think this would be enough?1 hour every Monday,Wedensday and Friday and 2 or 3 hours over the weekend.

rainbowtrout · 30-10-2015 1:22pm

Telo123 wrote: »

Ok so I've made a plan do you think this would be enough?1 hour every Monday,Wedensday and Friday and 2 or 3 hours over the weekend.

that sounds like a decent enough plan. you can always adjust as needed. I only noticed now you are a fifth year, so you have nearly 2 years to do the course. You should be fine. you've only missed 8 weeks realistically. Plenty of people swap subjects at this point in the year and get on fine.

Telo123 · 30-10-2015 7:02pm

Or would I be better off swapping economics for ag science and doing economics outside of school as the course is very short.

spurious · 30-10-2015 7:07pm

Telo123 wrote: »

Or would I be better off swapping economics for ag science and doing economics outside of school as the course is very short.

What is the reason you feel you need to do an extra subject at all?

Telo123 · 30-10-2015 7:20pm

Well I want to do a science so I can keep my options open,thinking about being a vet.I do 6 honours subjects and pass Irish and the best gradeI will get in English is probably a H4.So I want to do an extra subject which I could achieve a higher grade in.

Manufan123 · 30-10-2015 7:37pm

Telo123 wrote: »

Well I want to do a science so I can keep my options open,thinking about being a vet.I do 6 honours subjects and pass Irish and the best gradeI will get in English is probably a H4.So I want to do an extra subject which I could achieve a higher grade in.

I think you need to be doing Chemistry for veterinary.

Telo123 · 30-10-2015 7:41pm

Well I'm not becoming a vet so hate chemistry haha.Still I need a science to keep options open.

Take Your Pants Off · 31-10-2015 5:07pm

I had my experiment day last week and we were given booklets of the experiments and results/conclusions.
I had wrote my experiments up from last year, and by writting up I mean, around 110 experiments.
I wrote them straight out of the book containing the results and conclusions wherever possible, obviously I left the results for many out since I had not done the experiments as of last year, only did it last week.
After figuring out you only need rougly 50 !!!, and that the experiments were carried out differently to what the book had, for example ''test for starch'' in the experiment day we used water and potatoe, in the book however it used oats,wheats,water.
Now I am stuck to get the results?? what can I do now?, and for those extra 50 or so experiments I written up, do I need to include digrams/results/conclusions for them, as we never done them in the experiment day. And theyr all in one copy with the ones that we actually did

rainbowtrout · 31-10-2015 6:48pm

Take Your Pants Off wrote: »

I had my experiment day last week and we were given booklets of the experiments and results/conclusions.
I had wrote my experiments up from last year, and by writting up I mean, around 110 experiments.
I wrote them straight out of the book containing the results and conclusions wherever possible, obviously I left the results for many out since I had not done the experiments as of last year, only did it last week.
After figuring out you only need rougly 50 !!!, and that the experiments were carried out differently to what the book had, for example ''test for starch'' in the experiment day we used water and potatoe, in the book however it used oats,wheats,water.
Now I am stuck to get the results?? what can I do now?, and for those extra 50 or so experiments I written up, do I need to include digrams/results/conclusions for them, as we never done them in the experiment day. And theyr all in one copy with the ones that we actually did

The whole point of the project is that it examines practical work that you have actually done. Anyone can copy a bunch of experiments out of the book. That doesn't prove you did it or understand it and doesn't deserve marks.

Take Your Pants Off · 31-10-2015 7:06pm

rainbowtrout wrote: »

The whole point of the project is that it examines practical work that you have actually done. Anyone can copy a bunch of experiments out of the book. That doesn't prove you did it or understand it and doesn't deserve marks.

What are my options now, does that mean I have to start a whole new copy again with the experiment booklet my teacher gave me?

rainbowtrout · 31-10-2015 7:08pm

Take Your Pants Off wrote: »

What are my options now, does that mean I have to start a whole new copy again with the experiment booklet my teacher gave me?

You should discuss that with your teacher.

Is the booklet that your teacher gave you already preprinted with all the experiments?

Take Your Pants Off · 31-10-2015 7:09pm

rainbowtrout wrote: »

You should discuss that with your teacher.

Is the booklet that your teacher gave you already preprinted with all the experiments?

Yes, it has all the experiments that we did last week, aswell as some conclusions and blank spaces for results.

rainbowtrout · 31-10-2015 7:15pm

Take Your Pants Off wrote: »

Yes, it has all the experiments that we did last week, aswell as some conclusions and blank spaces for results.

What's the point in that? The work was done for you (and your class).

Take Your Pants Off · 31-10-2015 7:17pm

rainbowtrout wrote: »

What's the point in that? The work was done for you (and your class).

Yeah, but we still have to write them up.
Can you also type them ? or does that depend teacher to teacher.

rainbowtrout · 31-10-2015 7:20pm

Take Your Pants Off wrote: »

Yeah, but we still have to write them up.
Can you also type them ? or does that depend teacher to teacher.

that depends on the teacher. Personally I prefer handwritten in a lab copy.

Cheiba · 01-11-2015 5:17pm

Hey, just wondering, what is the purpose of a Farm Diary? We have been asked to write one but I am finding it very difficult as my family has no farm, and I don't really know anyone with a farm. Is it necessary for the Ag Science course?
Also, how should I begin with my Farm map/plan? Once again, I have very little knowledge of farming or what an actual farm looks like and functions.

spurious · 01-11-2015 6:25pm

Cheiba wrote: »

Hey, just wondering, what is the purpose of a Farm Diary? We have been asked to write one but I am finding it very difficult as my family has no farm, and I don't really know anyone with a farm. Is it necessary for the Ag Science course?
Also, how should I begin with my Farm map/plan? Once again, I have very little knowledge of farming or what an actual farm looks like and functions.

Why would you do Ag. Sc. without access to a farm? What does your teacher suggest?

Cheiba · 01-11-2015 6:42pm

spurious wrote: »

Why would you do Ag. Sc. without access to a farm? What does your teacher suggest?

It was the only Science subject that I could take to suit my timetable. The other option was Biology, but then I would've had to drop DCG (Which I like)
Teacher suggests we go to a local farm. Thats it.
I'm sure there are a few farms not too far away, but I would rather not visit them, not only because I wouldn't know the people, but also because I'm not that much of a social person. I don't really like talking too people I don't know and I would feel like I'm bothering them in some way.

rainbowtrout · 01-11-2015 7:07pm

Cheiba wrote: »

It was the only Science subject that I could take to suit my timetable. The other option was Biology, but then I would've had to drop DCG (Which I like)
Teacher suggests we go to a local farm. Thats it.
I'm sure there are a few farms not too far away, but I would rather not visit them, not only because I wouldn't know the people, but also because I'm not that much of a social person. I don't really like talking too people I don't know and I would feel like I'm bothering them in some way.

Your teacher has made a very reasonable suggestion. What do you think all the other students in country do that don't come from farms?

If you want to do the project you'll have to make the effect, social or not. There's nothing stopping you asking students in your class that do have farms if you could visit and do your project on their farm.

Cheiba · 01-11-2015 7:15pm

rainbowtrout wrote: »

Your teacher has made a very reasonable suggestion. What do you think all the other students in country do that don't come from farms?

If you want to do the project you'll have to make the effect, social or not. There's nothing stopping you asking students in your class that do have farms if you could visit and do your project on their farm.

If I were to do my project on a classmates farm, wouldn't our diarys be the same/ very similar? Would that be allowed?
Also one of my original questions was: Is it necessary for the Ag Science course?
And if not what would be the benefit of it?

rainbowtrout · 01-11-2015 7:24pm

Cheiba wrote: »

If I were to do my project on a classmates farm, wouldn't our diarys be the same/ very similar? Would that be allowed?
Also one of my original questions was: Is it necessary for the Ag Science course?
And if not what would be the benefit of it?

You can do it on the same farm. Your diaries are likely to be different, if they live there they are going to write about different things. You'll be writing about what you see on your visits.

Some teachers do a farm diary and some don't. If your teacher wants you to lay out your project to include a farm diary then you'll have to do one. The benefit: it shows you got practical experience of how a farm works by visiting it several times and you get to see what happens at various times over the course of the year, not just basing your knowledge on a two hour visit once in the two years.

Cheiba · 01-11-2015 7:32pm

rainbowtrout wrote: »

You can do it on the same farm. Your diaries are likely to be different, if they live there they are going to write about different things. You'll be writing about what you see on your visits.

Some teachers do a farm diary and some don't. If your teacher wants you to lay out your project to include a farm diary then you'll have to do one. The benefit: it shows you got practical experience of how a farm works by visiting it several times and you get to see what happens at various times over the course of the year, not just basing your knowledge on a two hour visit once in the two years.

And one final thing, from what I understood from my teacher, we should write weekly entries. What I thought that meant was to go see the farmer, ask them what happened over the week and write it down. Should I only be writing what I see or what happened over the week?

Digital Solitude · 01-11-2015 8:18pm

You want to study past exam papers and make a good plan of what topics you are going to cover. 90% of people won't do the full course, I think I had 9 topics or something, so I had a little wiggle room with the exam.

You then want to cover atleast 3/4 of this by Christmas, the only two I hadn't done of my nine were Soils, which I would be covering soon in geography, and the last q on the exam papers (Name eludes me)

You do not want to go into the mocks with half of what you want for Ag, which is likely going to be a laughable amount of the mocks covered.

You come out of the mocks with a real eye opening, and a kick up the arse in a lot of subjects and it can heap pressure on you, a subject in which you attend zero weekly classes is not one you want to panic about, as well as having a project due.

Cover most of it, and get your own Ag course finished ASAP, and you've 4 months of solid revision to keep everything in your head.

As you're drawing up your own lessons off the exam and what you need for it, you don't need to cover 100% of the syllabus like a student with a teacher does, you just need to cover what you want, but be smart about it.

My four months that got me the B were in the run up to Christmas, I'd have failed had I not worked so hard then, I was so busy afterwards I completely neglected Ag until June, but it was just revision thankfully.

* Ag. Science *

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