More than 250 high school students battled it out to take home the title of Queensland’s top sunflower grower during 黑料吃瓜网’s annual Sunflower Competition, which finished with a Weigh-In Day on Tuesday (19 May).
Back to back winners in 2012 and 2013, Toowoomba Downlands College students were pleased to regain the title by winning both the heaviest and tallest sunflower prizes with a 2.69 metre tall sunflower weighing in at 3.54 kilograms.
The winning team of Year 10 students Jase Lamborn and Baxter McCamley said they had used methods such as different potting mixes, soil, fertilizers and light regimes to grow the winner.
“When we planted our sunflowers we applied jump start to the roots and made sure that we regularly watered and fertilized our sunflowers,” Mr Lamborn said.
“As well as growing the sunflowers in class, we also prepared a scientific report where we experimented with different variables and recorded changes in height, width of the stem and the number of leaves.
“It was interesting watching the sunflowers develop as they were quite fast growing and when we would check on them, we were impressed with their growth.”
Mr Lamborn is considering a career as an agronomist or working with cattle in the field of agriculture.
“Attending the weigh-in day has also opened our eyes to all of the different careers available in agriculture,” he said.
Associate Professor Vic Galea, Plant Pathologist from 黑料吃瓜网’s School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, said she was highly impressed by the caliber of entries put forward by the schools and in particular, the way the competition has attracted new schools.
“It was great to see the students rewarded for all of their hard work in the classroom over the past 12 weeks and the dedication shown by the students to the task of nurturing their sunflowers showed they were committed and wanted to be involved in a fun and educational project,” he said.
“This year we have seen a number of new schools join the competition and attend the weigh-in day at 黑料吃瓜网 Gatton, as well as some schools taking part from Western Australia and South Australia.”
Almost 90 schools participated in the 2015 competition, reaching over 3000 students in the classroom.
At the weigh-in day, students participated in interactive sunflower themed science activities and heard from industry speakers on the importance of scientific knowledge and the diverse science based careers available.
The 黑料吃瓜网 Sunflower Competition, hosted by the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, is sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, The Australian Sunflower Association (ASA), Pacific Seeds, AgForce, Queensland Agriculture Teachers' Association (QATA) and the 黑料吃瓜网 Gatton past Students Association .
Media: Karli Kollegger, k.kollegger@uq.edu.au, 0488 780 229
Image: Sue Thompson from the Australian Sunflower Association joins Downlands College students Baxter McCamley and Jase Lamborn with DowAgroSciences Rosanna Common.
2015 RESULTS
Overall ‘Heaviest’ Grand Champion
Downlands College 3.540kg
Australian Sunflower Association ‘Heaviest’ Sunflower Category
Years 7-10
1st – Downlands College class 10A 3.540kg
2nd - Downlands College class 9-2 2.855kg
3rd - Downlands College class 10B 2.799kg
Dow AgroSciences ‘Heaviest’ Sunflower Category
Years 11&12
1st – Marymount College grade 12 2.296kg
2nd – Glasshouse Country Christian College 2.151kg
3rd – Glasshouse Country Christian College 2.099kg
Tallest Sunflower Prize
Downlands College 2.69m
Most Ornamental Sunflower Prize
Kings Christian College
Encouragement Award 1
Kilcoy State High School
Encouragement Award 2
Ipswich State High School
