STEM subjects take lessons from farming

Real life agricultural data, providing a snapshot of farm life, has been used to create a learning resource for schools.

The Data 4 Schools programme – a partnership between Scotland’s Rural College and the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET) – has transformed research data collected by farms, into data sets and questions that can be used in the classroom.

The resource was launched at the start of Maths Week Scotland – a celebration of the importance of the subject in our everyday lives.

It aims to facilitate the teaching of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects in the classroom.

Professor Dave Roberts, SRUC’s Head of Agriculture and Business Management, said: “It is great to have our research data being made available as a resource for use in schools to develop maths skills and a better understanding of food and farming.”

As well as graphed data and questions, the raw data is provided to encourage interpretation and debate.

Sara Smith, RHET’s Learning and Development Coordinator, said: “We were pleased to be given the opportunity to work with SRUC on this vital resource aimed at secondary teachers with a STEM remit.

“This information illustrates just how important STEM is to the agriculture sector, so we hope that it makes pupils excited about how these skills can be applied outside of the classroom.”

The Data 4 Schools programme currently looks at data collection for the dairy, beef, upland sheep and arable sectors and is available online.

Posted by SRUC on 30/09/2019