Design and build a hydroponic micro-farm on a school campus
Students studied, designed and built hydroponic micro-farm on their school campus as a solution to the lack of local, affordable, and fresh produce. Students received a Congressional Certificate of Special Recognition for their work.
Overview of work students completed:
- Researched food apartheid historical practices in their community, food sovereignty, and culturally relevant food practices.
- Reviewed obesity rates in their local community and charted closest grocery stores in their areas.
- Interviewed food experts who have designed/supported food sovereign systems to understand best practices.
- Used best practices to determine how and what to distribute.
- Polled school community to understand the type of food/recipes most valued.
- Studied how to build a hydroponic garden on an available campus space and created sketches of the garden, rendered as a CAD drawing by local company.
- Under the supervision of master gardener, built the garden using donated materials sourced and donated from local vendors.
“My students were truly moved by the experience of designing for someone in need. This course is the first class of the day – a time slot that has notoriously low attendance, yet, attendance and on-time arrival improved as the project evolved, even among students chronically truant. This class generated quite a buzz on campus among other students. More girls want to take the class next year so we will expand enrollment.“
–Christa H., Director of STEM
