Agriculture 2020 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• read the question carefully to ensure that they do not miss important components of the question
• have a clear understanding of key words in the question and recognise the intent of the question and its requirements
• engage with any stimulus material provided and refer to it in the response
• communicate ideas and information using relevant examples
• expect to perform some mathematical functions, interpret data/graphs/tables and assess information for accuracy, reliability and/or validity
• consider using graphical solutions if appropriate
• show full and clear working out for all questions involving calculations
• review their response to ensure that it addresses the question requirements. 

Question 21

In better responses, students were able to:

• outline the named soil degradation problem by giving information about the nature of the problem OR its cause, for example, soil erosion (a)
• provide a clear link between the land management practice and the soil degradation problem, such as that overcultivation was linked to soil structure decline and soil erosion (b)
• make clear links between a sustainable management practice, for example, minimum tillage, and the alleviation the soil degradation problem (c).

Areas for students to improve include:

• making a clear distinction between land degradation problems rather than environmental problems
• making use of ONE management and ONE sustainable practice and then showing clear links to how the practice alleviates the problem rather than giving multiple practices with vague descriptions.

Question 22

In better responses, students were able to:

• describe multiple steps in the marketing chain from farm to consumer including where or how the consumer would obtain the product (a)
• choose two correct methods that governments, including foreign governments – such as trade bans, influence production on farms, describing each in detail and giving specific named examples (b).

Areas for students to improve include:

• clearly showing the scope of the marketing chain including the origin at the farm and the end at the consumer (a)
• being clear on the ways a government can influence production (as distinct from marketing or other broad terms) of a product, with a specific example for each, such as animal welfare laws (b).

Question 23

In better responses, students were able to:

• describe in detail how the pest or disease affected the plant itself directly, rather than any post-harvest yield, including the names of plant parts and what the pest or disease does to them (a)
• clearly explain management strategies that can reduce or eliminate the pest / disease by modifying the plant itself, for example, GMO cotton for bollworm or the environment, for example, pupae busting, without referring to chemicals (b).

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating a clear understanding of a pest or disease of a plant and multiple detailed effects it has on the plant (a)
• develop a better understanding to be able to explain non-chemical methods to control a pest/disease that involve modifying the plant itself (resistant crops) or the environment (including removing alternate host crops, modifying microclimate) (b).

Question 24

In better responses, students were able to:

• describe a way to value add an agricultural product in the marketing chain and demonstrate why this is done (a)
• provide and link more than one management technique for the feedback from an assessment of a stated quality criteria (b)
• assess an advertising and/or promotion campaign for the product and make an informed judgement on the success or outcome of the campaign in terms of impact, for example, 20% increase in sales 1 month after campaign launch.

Areas for students to improve include:

• distinguishing between a production and marketing chain
• familiarising themselves with a product promotional campaign in detail and being able to assess its effectiveness.

Question 25

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide basic details of a process that occurs in the rumen, for example, fermentation from the breakdown of food by microbes produces gas (a)
• clearly show HOW and WHY a feed ration changes for an animal in a production cycle (b).

Areas for students to improve include:

• outlining a process rather than simply stating it (a)
• linking why a feed ration changes, for example, protein and energy content in relation to the animals demands or market requirements.

Question 26

In better responses, students were able to:

• interpret the graph and communicate that a decline occurred in Agriculture compared to other services such as manufacturing or mining (a)
• show distinct similarities and differences between the business structure of a family farm compared to a corporate farm (b).

Areas for students to improve include:

• using the content in the stimulus (graph) to formulate their response (a)
• understanding the differences in business structure between family farms and corporate farms rather than simply describing either structure (b).

Question 27

In better responses, students were able to:

• complete the table correctly for each hormone and its effect (a)
• provide points for and against the use of hormones in embryo transfer and economic factors relating to this (b).

Areas for students to improve:

• improving content recall on plant and animal hormones (a)
• identifying key issues of embryo transfer considering hormones and the link to economic factors (b).

Question 28

In better responses, students were able to:

• define genetic engineering and provide a relevant example (ai)
• explain the use of gene markers in identifying a gene sequence in order to track inheritance in offspring (aii)
• demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the conflict between increasing production and ethical concerns in relation to ONE biotechnology innovation by providing (b):
  • clear links of the biotechnology innovation to production/profitability
  • clear links of the biotechnology innovation to more than one ethical concern
  • clear implications of going to the extremes of profitability
  • clear implications of going to the extremes of ethics
  • a description of the current situation of the balance between profitability and ethics OR a suggestion of a right balance.

Areas for students to improve:

• knowing that genetic engineering is the altering or changing of DNA/genes (ai)
• having an in-depth knowledge of biotechnologies that are explicitly listed in the syllabus (aii)
• developing cohesive responses that clearly provide points for getting more or better production by using a biotechnology innovation (b)
• providing examples that specifically link the use of biotechnology innovation to ethical issues (b).

Question 29

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide an outline of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), referencing the change in sea level pressure between Tahiti and Darwin (ai)
• describe the trends occurring in the graph with particular reference to El Nino events and then go onto describe the implications for Australian Agriculture (aii)
• demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of water storage and water trading and the implications for agriculture in Australia by providing information on (b):
  • different water storage systems/options
  • legislation about water storage
  • the description of issues related to water storage
  • different forms of water trading
  • legislation about water trading
  • the description of issues related to storage.

Areas for students to improve:

• showing an understanding of the measurement of the SOI (ai)
• reading a graph and interpreting trends and then linking these to the implications on agriculture (aii)
• developing cohesive responses that clearly provide different storage and water trading options with their advantages and limitation (b)
• providing examples that specifically link water storage and water trading to issues related and their implications (b).

Question 30

In better responses, students were able to:

• name a funding source and outline how funding is received, for example, government grants or industry body research funding such as the wheat research council (ai)
• provide detail on the purpose of patents in research and development (aii)
• provide clear and comprehensive points for and/or against the impact of a recent technological development in terms of economic AND social factors (b)
• provide an informed judgement which has been supported by content (b). 

Areas for students to improve include:

• being specific on funding sources rather than using broad terms such as government and industry (ai)
• expanding on why patents are important rather than stating what a patent is (aii)
• demonstrating depth in applying their knowledge of a recent technology to social and economic factors (b).