** HL Ag Science Before/After **

Daniel7740

How likely would ye say pig production is to come up?

weirdspider

Daniel7740 wrote: »

How likely would ye say pig production is to come up?

It came up last year in questions 1 and 9 so I'd imagine its pretty likely as long question! Sheep came up as a long question so I doubt they would come up. The old dairy and beef seems to crop up every year so I'd be learning them inside out!

Daniel7740

weirdspider wrote: »

It came up last year in questions 1 and 9 so I'd imagine its pretty likely as long question! Sheep came up as a long question so I doubt they would come up. The old dairy and beef seems to crop up every year so I'd be learning them inside out!

Ill give sheep a quick run through anyway, might get a question on then in question 1

blingx

I completely think the whole project for ag science is a joke! Only 4 people got picked out of our class out of about 18 which is completely unfair! The course is very broad, it needs to be simplifyed in terms of the experiments!

johneugene

blingx wrote: »

I completely think the whole project for ag science is a joke! Only 4 people got picked out of our class out of about 18 which is completely unfair! The course is very broad, it needs to be simplifyed in terms of the experiments!

Only. 1 in 5 are supposed. To be interviewed. Stop complaining and get on with it

mossy95

Learn any Catch crop and thank me later

blingx

johneugene wrote: »

Only. 1 in 5 are supposed. To be interviewed. Stop complaining and get on with it

Ya but it's not fair, it should be treated like a French/Irish oral..the examiner should give you the marks not the teacher, that would be much fairer

TorpidCat

I'm semi-confident but I'm just wondering, how in-depth should you go for questions? Like if a question asked "Describe 3 conditions necessary for a healthy calf after birth" or something like that, and I said:

Clean, well-ventilated housing
Put iodine on the navel to prevent navel ill
Feed colostrum for the first 3-4 days to increase body temperature and supply antibodies

Would that be enough? I'm sorry if it's a silly question, but I'm paranoid I won't write enough for the marks, our teacher just gave us points and said to expand a bit on them.

Daniel7740

TorpidCat wrote: »

I'm semi-confident but I'm just wondering, how in-depth should you go for questions? Like if a question asked "Describe 3 conditions necessary for a healthy calf after birth" or something like that, and I said:

Clean, well-ventilated housing
Put iodine on the navel to prevent navel ill
Feed colostrum for the first 3-4 days to increase body temperature and supply antibodies

Would that be enough? I'm sorry if it's a silly question, but I'm paranoid I won't write enough for the marks, our teacher just gave us points and said to expand a bit on them.

I'd say so. I think the marking schemes are generally just key words anyway. Go on examinations.ie to doie check. But I'd say that would be enough. A few weeks back there was a thing in the farmers journal saying what they were looking for in each question

DavidDaly

For the genetics questions where you have to differentiate between Mitosis and Meiosis, even though they say use diagrams and don't mention explanations, do you have to write a few lines about both?

weirdspider

DavidDaly wrote: »

For the genetics questions where you have to differentiate between Mitosis and Meiosis, even though they say use diagrams and don't mention explanations, do you have to write a few lines about both?

I'd explain a little bit just incase! You won't lose marks but you may if they just expect you to explain without saying so

Aksa94

Can anyone give me a useful website for ag science notes. Some prick stole the notes from my bag this morning

mossy95

Nervous for this exam didn't realize how much I need to do at least iv 2 days now to do somthing

Daniel7740

Really wish bringing in the cattle on your own after they broke out counted as studying for it. I'd have done a nice bit of study today if it did !

Manunited12

Do wheat , oats and maize ever come up? It only ever seems to be barley !

doogybag

mossy95 wrote: »

Learn any Catch crop and thank me later

why is catch crop expected 2 come up?

johneugene

Aksa94 wrote: »

Can anyone give me a useful website for ag science notes. Some prick stole the notes from my bag this morning

Try eircom study hub if you have it. It has some decent notes

doogybag

any predictions please?

TorpidCat

doogybag wrote: »

any predictions please?

There's not much to predict for ag science, almost the same stuff every year. I'm hearing dairy and pigs are likely questions. Make sure you know genetics, considering there's not THAT much to learn for a guaranteed question. Soils is also guaranteed, but I'm not covering it since there's a lot in it. Know you're experiments too, there is a lot but many of them are straight forward and easy to remember.

Know beef, know dairy, know pigs, know barely and know potatoes. Silage/Grass and fertilizers after them.

If you have a basic covering for all them just eat the exam papers for the next two days, good luck!

(Also lodge pH levels, phylums, gestation/oestrous lengths/weights and yields into your mind if you haven't already for pretty common short questions.)

If you want a more professional opinion, I'm sure Eoin Jackson's ag video will be up later today or tomorrow!

weirdspider

Manunited12 wrote: »

Do wheat , oats and maize ever come up? It only ever seems to be barley !

I've done the papers countless times and this is what I recall: In 2003 they gave pictures of wheat, oats and barley and you had to distinguish between them judging by awns/hairs. In 2012 they asked why the area of wheat growth in Ireland was much lower than barley. Maize came up in 2007 I think where they showed the system of growing crops under biodegradable plastic and you could choose a plant like strawberries or maize, they sometimes ask in question 9 why maize is grown under plastic. They also ask why maize is becoming a more common choice for farmers for their ruminants over silage.
But yeah the reason barley comes up more than the rest is because its a more important part of Irish agriculture. Much more farmers grow barley than any other cereal in Ireland so at least they're asking whats relevant to us

weirdspider

doogybag wrote: »

why is catch crop expected 2 come up?

Presumably due to the fodder crisis? Its been one of the biggest stories in agriculture in a long time so something about it has to be on or I'd be surprised!

Denis322

weirdspider wrote: »

Presumably due to the fodder crisis? Its been one of the biggest stories in agriculture in a long time so something about it has to be on or I'd be surprised!

The papers are finalised in around November, so there wouldn't have been as much going on about it, it was moreso in Spring that it became such a big deal

weirdspider

Denis322 wrote: »

The papers are finalised in around November, so there wouldn't have been as much going on about it, it was moreso in Spring that it became such a big deal

Ohhh you're right! Forgot. Well I have it learned just in case

Manunited12

weirdspider wrote: »

I've done the papers countless times and this is what I recall: In 2003 they gave pictures of wheat, oats and barley and you had to distinguish between them judging by awns/hairs. In 2012 they asked why the area of wheat growth in Ireland was much lower than barley. Maize came up in 2007 I think where they showed the system of growing crops under biodegradable plastic and you could choose a plant like strawberries or maize, they sometimes ask in question 9 why maize is grown under plastic. They also ask why maize is becoming a more common choice for farmers for their ruminants over silage.
But yeah the reason barley comes up more than the rest is because its a more important part of Irish agriculture. Much more farmers grow barley than any other cereal in Ireland so at least they're asking whats relevant to us

Thanks for that! Why would farmers choose maize over silage ?

weirdspider

Manunited12 wrote: »

Thanks for that! Why would farmers choose maize over silage ?

You're welcome!
-High in digestible energy (starch)
-Palatable-leads to higher LWG in animals
-Less effluent produced

Reon

if you cover all the exam papers would you have a fair chance of getting a d1? :P

weirdspider

Reon wrote: »

if you cover all the exam papers would you have a fair chance of getting a d1? :P

At HL or OL? Eitherway, most certainly! They are the key to an great grade. Yes, there will be unfamiliar questions thrown at us on the day that might not have appeared in the exam papers before such as that wheat question last year but about 90% of the stuff repeats itself! So try and get as many done as possible between tonight and thursday morning and learn the answers in the marking schemes, its better than sitting blankly at a 300 page book full of waffle thinking FML!

Reon

weirdspider wrote: »

At HL or OL? Eitherway, most certainly! They are the key to an great grade. Yes, there will be unfamiliar questions thrown at us on the day that might not have appeared in the exam papers before such as that wheat question last year but about 90% of the stuff repeats itself! So try and get as many done as possible between tonight and thursday morning and learn the answers in the marking schemes, its better than sitting blankly at a 300 page book full of waffle thinking FML!

sweeeeeeeeet thanks v much well best of luck to us all!!!!!! for thurs

mossy95

Reon wrote: »

if you cover all the exam papers would you have a fair chance of getting a d1? :P

If I were you I would just focus on Soil, Genetics and the experiments and remember you have some percentage already from the project.

PS Each year 1 Soil and Grass experiment always come up!

Reon

mossy95 wrote: »

If I were you I would just focus on Soil, Genetics and the experiments and remember you have some percentage already from the project.

PS Each year 1 Soil and Grass experiment always come up!

sweet i hate genetics though but i'l cover all exam questions on that today aswell as soil wish me luck :P, and thanks!