Students answer tough questions

WEDNESDAY, 01 SEPTEMBER 2004

by SARAH BARNETT

Do cows have friends? Is there a buried forest at Opunake?

Such burning questions prompted award-winning exhibits from Opunake High School students at this year's Regional Science and Technology fair.

Year 10 student Janine Mullin had always wondered about the social life of cows, and whether the yearly herd split had an adverse affect on the bovine psyche.

"I wanted to know if cows had friends, and if they missed those friends when they got split up," she said.

Every night for a month, Janine recorded the interaction between cows on her parents' farm.

"I took notes on which cows they were standing with, and who they preferred to hang out with, their breed and their age," she said.

"I discovered that although they didn't exactly have friends, they prefer to be with the same type of cows," she said.

The three breeds she studied – Friesian, Jersey and Ayreshire – liked to be around their own kind.

Janine's project, entitled What's Dat Cow Hangin' Wit, gained a first placing at the fair, as well as the L. A. Alexander special prize.

Her advice to all dairy farmers was to keep calves in the same group from birth until they were put in with the herd.

Fellow student Sharon Hornblow was inspired by pieces of wood scattered on Opunake beach for her investigation of a possible buried forest.

The year 11 student took samples and photos of gravel from around the coast before coming to the conclusion that the pieces of wood were probably scattered when the mountain erupted.

Sharon was awarded six prizes for her efforts, including a $1000 Dow Agro Scholarship.

For 14-year-old Andrew Tippett it was a more practical problem that prompted his Shut Away project.

He and classmate Robert Maltby created a self-closing Smart Gate, to save time for farmers.

"We found that farm workers liked the idea because they wanted to get home and watch TV and that, but 50/50 sharemilkers preferred to go and check on their cows," he said.

Activated by any remote control, sensors in front of the gate count to 50 seconds after the last cow has gone through before releasing the gate.

The pair won first place in the year 9-10 technology section, and the NZ Radio Transmitter Special Prize.

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