A sea of sunflowers will face the scales on Tuesday, 19 May at The University of Queensland’s Gatton Campus.
More than 3000 high school students from Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia and South Australia have spent 12 weeks transforming humble sunflower seeds to giant blooms for the annual UQ Sunflower Competition, aiming to beat the record 4.455kg set by Mueller College in 2014.
A record 84 high schools entered the competition this year, planting on February 24 and experimenting with different soils, light regimes, water applications and fertilisers.
Students considered environmental factors like weather and growing conditions in their region and how these affect the sunflowers’ growth.
As well as the award ceremony, budding agriculturalists and their teachers will tour the Gatton campus, hear from industry representatives and participate in science activities.
The UQ Sunflower Competition hosted by UQ’s School of Agriculture and Food Sciences is sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, The Australian Sunflower Association (ASA), Pacific Seeds, AgForce, Queensland Agriculture Teachers’ Association (QATA) and the UQ Gatton Past Students Association.\
Event details:
Where: Multipurpose Hall – Building 8206, UQ Gatton (Map reference AY 22)
When: Tuesday 19 May, 2015. 9:30am to 12:30pm. Winners announced at 11:45am.
Photo opportunity: The winning school or local school alongside sunflowers.
Participating schools: Beaudesert State High School, Bundamba State Secondary College, Corinda State High School, Downlands College, Ferny Grove State High School, Glasshouse Country Christian College, Kilcoy State High School, King’s Christian College, Marymount College, Mt Maria College Petrie, Our Lady of The Southern Cross College, St Aidan's Anglican Girls' School, St Edmund's College, The Ipswich State High School, Toowoomba State High School Wilsonton Campus.
Media and photos: UQ Faculty of Science Engagement Officer, Karli Kollegger 0488 780 229, k.kollegger@uq.edu.au
