“Run around the oval. Go for it!” the teacher implored.
The students didn’t hesitate to set off for the experiment, although they weren’t quite convinced of the reason until one of their teachers pulled out an iPad and showed them the screen.
The students had been wearing GPS trackers, and the software program mapped their every move; thus demonstrating the technology used every day on some farms.
The Numurkah Secondary College students were participating in an educational program run by visiting teachers designed to inspire students through demonstrating the science and technology used in agriculture.
The students also dabbled in computer code writing, setting up a desk top model where they had to instruct an auto-steer tractor equipped with a sprayer to follow a programmed pattern to deliver the spray to a paddock.
One of the pieces of technology they were shown was a device that could be placed in a cow’s uterus to warn a farmer that the cow had calved or was having difficulties calving. It has been under development at Central Queensland University.
The Raising Aspirations in Careers and Education Goulburn team of Grace Dendle and Lily Stoyles from Central Queensland University have already run the program at Kyabram and Greater Shepparton secondary schools.
“It’s a way of showing students the different careers and pathways that can be undertaken in agriculture,” Lily said.
They will return to visit more Goulburn Valley schools this week (March 4), including Rushworth, St Mary’s College Seymour and the Shepparton Christian School.
The program is run with the support of Goulburn Murray Local Learning and Employment Network.