Understanding how different strains of grains contribute to the quality and durability of wheat was the focus of one of the hands-on sessions during the Session A program on day 9.
Facilitated through the NYSF's partnership with the Grains Research & Development Corporation, students conducted a series of experiments that looked at cell structure of plants and the impact of weather on their growth, plant breeding techniques, and soil quality and composition.
Conducting a leaf peel experiment to find out how cells work
Extracting DNA from wheatgerm
Investigating the nematodes in soil
Guess the grain
Then they made some dough! Not the green stuff though ... Students were tasked to investigate the effects of weather damage on dough quality and behaviour through testing the grain for starch quality.
There was also a guessing competition - trying to work out which grain was which!. Even NYSF Director, Damien Pearce, got into the game.
Story by Julie Maynard