Ag Science is a growing subject, pun very much intended, and with Ireland's farming and food sector booming more and more students are sitting the exam.
Today, Brian and Cian tell us how they got on. It was Cian's last subject, so thanks to him for sharing. And, for everyone else who wrapped up today - enjoy the summer!
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With thanks to our friends at the Irish Second-Level Students' Union we will continue the Leaving Cert Diary series throughout the exams.
It's the place where young people tell us what they thought in their own words.
Brian says: "Overall, I am happy with this year's HL Ag Science paper."
Section A was the shorter questions. Accommodations still applied this year and students had to answer 10 questions from 12, with internal choice in some questions. As expected, there were several definitions throughout this section as well as animal breeds students had to identify. Beef and sheep were covered as well. Even though I think Section A was a small bit more challenging than Section B, I still think there was enough choice between questions for students to do well.
Section B in my opinion was a small bit easier for me despite the longer and drawn-out question style. Again, there was choice here for students with 4 out of 6 questions needing to be answered. Dairy came up at the end of the paper with a topical question on carbon emissions also appearing. Students also had to sketch a diagram of the carbon cycle in this question.
If students got their timing right with this paper and used the choice of questions to their advantage, I believe they will be satisfied with this paper and will be relieved to have finished another exam!
Cian finished up with the exam today...
From 2pm to 4.30pm today I sat my Leaving Certificate Ag Science exam. I quickly got through completing 10 short questions which featured some nice topics and one or two more sticky questions (as there always are)! I felt there was nice choice within questions where we were asked to answer on three out of four parts in a question which was helpful. However, I felt there were less of the easier 'comprehending-style' questions than there have been in 2021 and 2022.
For the long questions, each question primarily focused on one area of Ag Science which allowed great choice if you had left out a topic. I was particularly happy to see Q13 on soil which also felt like a very quick question to do. I felt sustainability was a heavy focus of the paper in some parts. This follows trends in recent papers and in current affairs.
Both the long and short questions were extremely focused on the application of knowledge rather than questions on what you do or do not know. I think this shows that Ag Science can be more of a ‘problem solving’ subject rather than a subject focused on just learning theory.
The written Ag Science exam today that accounts for 75% will combine with our project worth 25% to give our final grade. This exam marks the last day of my Leaving Cert. I think that will take a while to sink in!
