Sophie Lyne, Cordelia Bell and Heidi Montgomery created a video that demonstrated the application of mathematics in agriculture.

The three entered the video in the CHOOSEMATHS Student Awards, run by the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute.

The competition was contested by students from across Australia, with Frensham’s year 10 team competing in the years 10-12 category. 

The film was highly commended and in the top 5 per cent of the 535 videos submitted.

The team turned to Sophie Lyne’s father Phil Lyne and the family farm at Cootamundra for inspiration. 

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“Usually winter rain makes the grass grow but because of the drought, Dad has had to hand feed our sheep,” Sophie said.

“This provided us with a real-world opportunity to see how essential maths is in agriculture, especially at the moment in making sure we calculate the right amount of feed so the sheep are sustained.”

The five-minute video explained the use of maths and the calculations required for the agricultural industry’s contribution to GDP, calculating feed rations, the cost of shearers, crop growth rates, and the agricultural export market. 

Frensham mathematics teacher May Wong said the aim of the CHOOSEMATHS competition was for students to produce a video that explained a mathematical problem or demonstrated an application of maths.

“Students compete as a team in order to foster a positive environment, giving them the opportunity to reason and work collaboratively,” she said.