Bunbury schools join mildew study

Bunbury schools are participating in a Statewide project to show the impact of mildew on barley.

Bunbury and Cooinda primary schools, Bunbury and Newton Moore senior high schools, and Manea Senior College are among about 70 schools across WA involved in Mildew Mania - a Curtin University-run project.

Curtin science outreach officer Gina Pearse said barley powdery mildew was at "epidemic proportions" and cost the State more than $100 million a year.

"Mildew Mania is a Statewide science experiment that is the first of its kind in WA and is exciting in that it provides benefits both to science and schools," she said.

"It gives students the opportunity to engage with agricultural science and participate in real scientific research.

"It gives our Curtin scientists access to a great number of samples, so they can make some breakthrough discoveries in regard to the distribution and categorisation of barley powdery mildew across the State and help prevent it from devastating WA's barley crops."

The project began in 2011 and has since involved more than 14,000 students.

Bunbury Primary School has already provided samples to be analysed by Curtin scientists, with results to be shared later this year.

School science specialist Katrina Taaffe said Bunbury Primary School's involvement tied in with Year 6 biological science studies.

"At the time, as part of biological science, we were looking at microorganisms including fungi," she said.

"I thought it therefore added a relevant context to what we were learning about in science and allowed the students to participate in something bigger than just at the school level.

"They also get to sample the powdery mildew and at the end, compare their results to other schools involved in the project."