LITTLE eyes gained a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the food that ends up on plates yesterday.

More than 100 students gathered at the Hermitage Research Facility for the Schools Plant Science Competition and Ag Science Expo.

Wandering around the grounds to see how dishes start life, the students viewed grain silos, learnt about soil composition and growing chickpeas.

For 13-year-old Brodie Wiseman from Warwick State High School, the most interesting discovery occurred in the grain silos.

"I was fascinated by all the creatures that were in all the grain,” he said.

The day included speeches from keynote speakers including host of ABC's Gardening Australia Costa Georgiadis and University of Queensland head of the school of agriculture and food sciences Professor Neal Menzies.

Awards were also handed to happy students for their efforts in the Plant Science Competition.

Running from January to June, the competition required students from Prep to Year 12 to complete tasks, including designing their own soil experiment.

Thirty-five schools from Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania took part.

Sophia McQueen from Ormiston College took out the Paul Johnston Memorial Senior Science Award, winning a plaque and $1000 towards tertiary textbooks.

The 15-year-old won for her infographic on social for sustainability.

"I wasn't expecting to win so it was a good surprise,” Sophia said.

"The population is going up but the land resources are staying the same so we have to breed varieties of plants that produce more but use the same or less space.”