Engineer an Urban Garden

Funded Sep 1, 2017

Thank you again for your generous donation. This week we set up the hydroponic garden in our classroom. The seeds have been planted and now we are just watching for growth.

The students were given the opportunity to plan and design the set up the experiment. They watched a short video on how Kratky hydroponic systems work and then set to work. The students decided to put leafy greens in the big bin. Our first trial has 6 planting cups in the big bin. Some students are worried this may lead to overcrowding of the plants but have decided to wait and see how the plants do before adjusting their experiment. The big bin is now called "Salad" bin because it houses Arugula, Spinach, Lettuce, Kale, Swiss Chard and Basil seeds.

The students prepared 4 mason jars with herbs. They decided to cover the outside with Aluminum over paint. They learned from the video that if the water is exposed to light it may lead to harmful algae. The students hypothesized that the paint may have harmful trace chemicals that could leach into the water which is why they chose to cover the outside with aluminum instead. The students have chosen "thanksgiving flavors" for their herb garden including Sage, Thyme, Oregano, and Dill- because everyone loves pickles!

We have several mason jars left for our next experiment. Once the seedlings are strong the students will be experimenting with cuttings as well. They know that Basil will root from a cutting and will experiment with other cuttings to see if they too will take off. This was an exciting idea to them because it could be a money saving and sustainability tool they could use at home. Buy herbs once at the grocery store, and grow them for months! One plant turns into several!

Once our plants become more established the students will be monitoring the minerals, pH and temperature. This will go along with our Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems units. The students are excited to use the new monitoring kits. Each of these brand new kits give results in 2-5 minutes. The students all heard horror stories from the previous class that indicator test take over 20 minutes each! With quicker and more advanced tests, the students can test the water quality more regularly.

It will be an exciting year. I look forward to watching the students and our garden grow. Thank you for donation.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Clark Schaefer