EDUCATION played a key role at this year's Great Yorkshire Show, with children creating displays and staging scientific experiments.

Farming experts were posted across the showground specifically to give advice to student visitors, and in-depth information on curriculum topics.

In the designated Schools Centre, children from York, Harrogate and Knaresborough created displays, while the University of York presented its research in the Universities' Exhibition.

Education "hot-spots" were set up with experts on hand to give facts and figures, answer questions and explain demonstrations to school parties visiting the show.

These covered cattle, rare breeds, arable crops, forestry, bees and vintage farming machinery. Another expert was on hand to explain the process of taking farm produce from the fields to the shop shelves.

Trevor Rogers, educational adviser for the show, said: "There are strong hopes that this venture will help to focus students' learning and provide them with a unique opportunity to learn more about the countryside in an informal, fun environment. Hundreds of school pupils, teachers, parents and members of the public visited the show's Schools Centre where youngsters carried out projects assigned to them by companies in the cereal crops industry.

Long Marston County Primary School pupils poured water over flour, separating carbohydrates and gluten.

Pupil Julia Barnitt, nine, said: "We are showing the gluten that's left when the carbohydrate is gone. The gluten helps bread rise."

Her seven-year-old brother Stephen said: "I've learned what carbohydrate is."

Mr Rogers said: "The purpose of the exhibition is to demonstrate how practical activities promote acts of learning across various aspects of an important food group."

Students from the University of York showed work that is being carried out to examine factors which influence the number of hoverflies in the agricultural landscape.

The display is part of the show organisers' efforts to encourage development and progress in the agricultural industry.

PICTURE: STUDENTS at Rossett High School, Harrogate, took on a central role at this year's Great Yorkshire Show. The youngsters volunteered to help organisers by circulating show results across the 100-acre ground. They all over the showground to pass the results to different umpires and offices, and post them on scoreboards. The school has a tradition of volunteering to help the show organisers with a variety of tasks, including picking up litter. But their main roles were to deliver messages and lead animals.