A lamb being weighed on the farm
In the summer term all Year 7 maths students produce a statistics project in which they primarily investigate which factors affect the growth of lambs born on the farm.
Factors affecting growth rate students compare such as:
- The breed of the mother ewe
- The age of the mother ewe – influence on milk supply
- The breed of the father or tup – we use 3 different breeds each year
- Proficiency i.e. the number of lambs born (could be singles, twins, triplets or occasionally quadruplets
- Feeding – were the lambs fed on supplementary concentrate foods?
- Sex of the lambs – do male lambs grow more quickly?
- Birth weight – do heavier birth weights mean quicker growth?
Collecting Data
During an initial visit, the students are introduced to the basics of rearing lambs. They learn how to catch, hold, identify, sex, weigh and record the weight of a group of lambs. Information about each lamb is gathered over a period of eight weeks (farm data is available on lambs up to 16 weeks of age) and the students then use this to create a computer database which they use in their investigation.
Interrogating and Interpreting Data
During subsequent maths lessons, students develop new information technology skills and learn how to mathematically interrogate and interpret the data so that they can test their own hypothesis and clearly present their findings.
Recommendations
Their recommendations (for example the best breed, the most effective method of feeding, whether prolificacy has an effect on growth) are used the following year to try to improve the growth rates.
Summary
The farm provides a wealth of statistical data and enables statistics to be taught in a practical and relevant manner using actual data. The students find the farm an exciting and stimulating environment. Some students choose the farm as a focus for their GCSE statistics course work.
See the Data
| Year | Data in CSV format | Data in PDF format | Data in Excel format |
| 2002 | 2002 study (CSV file) | 2002 figures | 2002 results |
| 2003 | 2003 study (CSV file) | 2003 figures | 2003 results |
| 2004 | 2004 study (CSV file) | 2004 figures | 2004 results |
| 2005 | 2005 study (CSV file) | 2005 figures | 2005 results |
| 2006 | 2006 study (CSV file) | 2006 figures | 2006 results |
| 2007 | 2007 study (CSV file) | 2007 figures | 2007 results |
