Following last year’s successful Science Farm LIVE digital event, again this year we were invited to step into the welly boots of a farmer and a farm vet to discover, via live video links, how they spend their days, to explore key STEM topics in a real-life context and to gain first-hand experience of the world of work.

KS1 spent some time with Farmer Fiona to learn how she cares for her animals and how she grows food for them. In this session, we learnt about a cow’s digestive system, nutrition, food chains and habitats.

KS2 spent some time on call with Dr Claire, a farm vet. We watched as she carried out an inspection of a cow’s teeth, and headed out on a poo walk to hunt for invertebrates that are an essential part of a farm’s ecosystem.

So, from 11 a.m. on Thursday 14th March, we joined Dr Claire for an action-packed morning of cow care and emergency calls.

In the session from 11 a.m., we observed a cow health check being undertaken and compared a cow’s digestive system to ours. Then we were introduced to some brand new calves to learn how their nutritional needs change throughout their lives before delving deeper into digestion as we headed into the field to conduct a cow poo check and hunt for the fascinating invertebrates that are a crucial part of a farm’s ecosystem.

In the afternoon session, we saw some cows being scanned to see if they were pregnant and learnt how farmers care for their cows’ hooves. We also hoped to catch a live calving and witness how Dr Claire responds to the emergencies to which she may be called.

In addition, we learnt all about animal lifecycles, reproduction and inheritance.

​​Dr Claire will also set lots of extra challenges to complete before, during and after the sessions so that we got a taste immersed of the world of work.