science

Running through fields of wheat

Running through fields of wheat is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Running through fields of wheat rather than just read about it. In short: In an interview with Julie Etchingham on ITV's Tonight programme on 5 June 2017, Theresa May, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said the naughtiest thing she had ever done was to "run through fields of wheat" as a child. The comment was the subject of much parody on the internet and became a meme.

Key takeaways

Running through fields of wheat belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Running through fields of wheat to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Running through fields of wheat from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In an interview with Julie Etchingham on ITV's Tonight programme on 5 June 2017, Theresa May, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said the naughtiest thing she had ever done was to "run through fields of wheat" as a child. The comment was the subject of much parody on the internet and became a meme.

Background May led a campaign during the run-up to the 2017 general election she had called less than two months earlier. In an ITV News interview, she gave an insight into what it was like growing up as the daughter of a vicar, admitting she was a "bookish" child, and saying: "I didn't have brothers and sisters who I was playing with and so obviously I had friends but sometimes had to just go out and do things on my own."

Excerpt What's the naughtiest thing you ever did?Oh, goodness me. Well, I suppose... gosh. Do you know, I'm not quite sure. Nobody is ever perfectly behaved, are they? I mean, you know, I have to confess, when me and my friend, sort of, used to run through the fields of wheat, the farmers weren't too pleased about that.

Reaction At a speech at Glastonbury Festival, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn joked that running through fields of wheat was "terrible" behaviour. Elle Hunt of The Guardian said "One has to imagine even the most bookish of children is capable of more noteworthy wrongdoings than causing fleeting irritation to local agriculturalists... But even if the transient displacement of grain was the pinnacle of May’s youthful misbehaviour, her response failed the test implied of the question." Media Mole of the New Statesman argued that May had been much naughtier in her political career.

Impact The 'fields of wheat' comment was widely reported in the media and became a phrase closely associated with May. Concerns began to grow that a large group of people could be inspired by May's comments to also run through fields, potentially damaging crops in the process. Close to 30,000 people signed up to an event scheduled to take place in Norfolk from 23 to 24 June, with a further 59,000 saying they were interested in attending. A spokesperson from the National Union of Farmers told The Telegraph: "We welcome members of the public to responsibly enjoy the countryside, but keep yourself and any dogs to the rights of way and follow the Countryside Code." During the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election, frontrunner Boris Johnson appeared to mock May as he was pictured near his Oxfordshire home recreating May's "naughtiest" moment running through what the media reported as a field of wheat. As May neared the end of her Prime Ministership, she said that "One of the silliest things I ever did was answering that question, but there we are."

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Running through fields of wheat

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Running through fields of wheat claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Running through fields of wheat before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Running through fields of wheat ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Running through fields of wheat

In research: Running through fields of wheat appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Running through fields of wheat in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Running through fields of wheat is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2017 quotations, Agriculture in popular culture, Internet memes introduced in 2017, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Running through fields of wheat outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Running through fields of wheat in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Running through fields of wheat means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Running through fields of wheat out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Running through fields of wheat in simple terms?

Why does Running through fields of wheat matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Running through fields of wheat?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Running through fields of wheat.