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Sample work Agricultural Technology Stage 5: Vegetable Production Enterprise - Experimental Design
Description of activity
Students are required to identify a limiting factor associated with a vegetable production enterprise. Common limiting factors include pests, disease, climate, management and plant nutrition.
After identifying a limiting factor associated with a vegetable production enterprise students are to suggest a management practice to overcome its negative effects. They then design an experiment to test the proposed management practice.
Students will be assessed on a written report that outlines the hypothetical experiment and the predicted results.
Context
Designing, conducting and analysing experiments in agricultural production systems are important skills. Students are using the Vegetable Production Enterprise to develop the concepts of experimental design. The Vegetable Production unit requires that students develop an understanding of the factors that limit the growth of vegetables and some management practices that may be employed by farmers to overcome a limiting factor. In this activity, students use their knowledge of experimental design to write a report on how to design an experiment that could test a limiting factor of plant growth.
Outcomes
A student:
5.5.1 designs, undertakes, analyses and evaluates experiments and investigates problems in agricultural contexts
5.5.2 collects and analyses agricultural data and communicates results using a range of technologies.
Criteria for assessing learning
(These criteria would normally be communicated to students with the activity.)
Students will be assessed on their ability to:
- identify and describe the impact of a suitable limiting factor
- design a suitable experiment to test a possible management practice, using appropriate experimental technique
- design a suitable experiment using appropriate experiment format (aim, method, equipment, results and conclusion)
- predict results for experimental work.
Graded Students Work Samples
Work sample assessment
HuongHuong has demonstrated sound knowledge of interactions between plant production and environmental management. One limiting factor has been identified and a sample experiment has been designed. The required format has been used but without the necessary depth of analysis. Huong has not demonstrated an understanding of a variety of limiting factors and has simply selected water. However, adequate skills in research, investigation, collection, analysis and presentation of data have been demonstrated. This work sample demonstrates characteristics of work typically produced by a student performing at grade C standard.
Lindsay
Lindsay has demonstrated basic knowledge of interactions between plant production and environmental management. A limiting factor has been identified and its impact has been described. There is evidence of limited skills in researching, investigating, collecting, analysing and presenting data. Lindsay has conducted a simplistic experiment without replication and with considerable design flaws. Knowledge of the predicted results has been shown but the experimental design section requires more detail. This work sample demonstrates characteristics of work typically produced by a student performing at grade D standard.
