Class

Tania Pfitzner

Tania.Pfitzner@education.wa.edu.au

Year 11 ATAR University Trip

On Tuesday the Year 11 ATAR students participated in the annual ATAR university trip. This trip is organised especially for ATAR students from the Agricultural Colleges. Students were accompanied by Mr Harger and Mrs Day.  Visiting the three universities that offer specific Agriculture related courses results in a long but very interesting and informative day. 

First Stop UWA

Soil profiles were on the menu here. Students looked at soil technology and discovered that Electromagnetic scans can scan for salinity, moisture, water tables and a number of other things. Interestingly they can be used to scan both paddocks and trees.

Students then looked at a grain counting machine. This tests for moisture and protein and can differentiate between seed size and type. Congratulations to Patrick Addison who won a block of chocolate for making the closest guess of number of seeds competition.

Students listened to guest speakers including Hayley Ingram, a current UWA Agriculture student who spoke to the group about her experience at UWA. Hayley was a graduate from Harvey Ag in 2016.

All aboard next stop Curtin University

Students decided they liked the menu at Curtin when they were greeted with homemade scientific ice cream which was made with Harvey Fresh cream and liquid nitrogen. Students participated in the lab to make full cream and lactose free milk. Current Curtin students spoke to the group about their experiences at university and the courses on offer.

Third and Final Stop Murdoch University

The groups were taken on a vehicle tour of the university and the residential housing. They visited the Murdoch Farm to look at the new grain research hub. Students also got to explore robotic technology and had a go at driving the robot around.

Shania Willison another ex-student of the College (2017) spoke to the students about the courses offered before students explored the Murdoch Animal Museum. For the final activity of the day they listened to a guest speaker who talked about her PhD proposal and her love of sheep!!

Special thanks to Mr Harger and Mrs Day for making this opportunity available to the students.