Thousands of kids are getting a first-hand view of the place their meals and fibre is grown, with out setting foot on a farm.
Virtual actuality is transporting the children on to the land from a pavilion designed to coach youngsters at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show.
The VR goggles allowed Sydney woman Chloe, 10, to “visit” her first cotton farm.
“I learnt about cotton. Everything was moving, you could see everything in the camera,” she mentioned.
“It’s about having fun and learning about how our food and clothes are made.”
Duncan Kendall, who heads up training on the Royal Agricultural Society, mentioned even those that labored in agriculture have been studying a factor or two.
“One thing I’ve really observed is how long people are staying in this pavilion,” the previous instructor advised AAP.
“It’s engaging and it’s immersive, and that is the main priority.”
Organisers hope to plant the seed in some youngsters to embark on a future profession in agriculture, sending them dwelling with an “ag in a box” training pack together with a beeswax creation package and cheese judging wheel.
“We want the show to be fun, we want it to be enjoyable, but also we’re really wanting to engage students in regards to the appreciation of agriculture,” Mr Kendall mentioned.
Part of the enjoyable was encouraging youngsters to soil their underwear within the title of science, with one show that includes a garments line pegged with undergarments in varied states of decay.
The smalls have been buried by scientists to check the microbial content material of soil – the extra energetic the microbes, the extra of the cotton clothes they’d eat.
University of New England soil scientist Ivanah Oliver mentioned whereas the underwear put some youngsters off at first, they quickly received concerned.
“They’re really engaged and they actually love learning about what we’re doing,” Dr Oliver mentioned.
Last cease was the invention bus, the place one other interactive show took passengers to carrot and avocado fields.
Participants once more donned digital actuality goggles and have been guided from paddock to plate.
The tour began on the manufacturing unit ground the place fruit and greens have been packed, together with these with an irregular form.
“I learnt that it doesn’t matter what they look like, they all taste the same,” mentioned eight-year-old Magnus.
Parents too learnt one thing new.
“I had no idea how they got the carrots out of the ground, I found that very interesting watching them sort and wash them, which was great,” Sydney mother-of-two Kristie mentioned.
“I also didn’t know it took four years before the avocados got a crop.”
Sydney’s Royal Easter Show runs till April 17.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
