Growing and Sowing Sans Soil - Hydroponics Gardening
The cost of a plant stand, an indoor garden and a garden kit is $1256, including shipping and <a target="new" href="http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm" onclick="g_openWindow('http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm', 300, 800, 'fulfillwindow');return false;">fulfillment</a>.
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
In 1996, I attended the National Convention of Bilingual Teachers in Orlando, Florida. It kicked off at Disney World and one of the tours I took was of the hydrophonic gardening researched there at WDW. It amazed me and I always thought about doing it with my students. Hydroponics, in its simplest form, is growing plants by supplying all necessary nutrients in the plants' water supply rather than through the soil. The word derives from the Greek root words hydro and ponics, meaning water working. Growing plants hydroponically helps gardeners and farmers grow more food more rapidly in smaller areas (greenhouses, living rooms, classrooms, and rooftops, for instance) and to produce food in parts of the world where space, good soil, and/or water are limited.
When students explore how to grow plants hydroponically (without soil), fruitful questions bloom: How can we provide support for plants without soil? How do plants grown with just water and nutrients compare with plants grown in soil? How can we get the tallest plants using a hydroponics setup? These types of questions can lead to active investigations and problem solving. Record-keeping becomes a natural outgrowth of these endeavors. Concepts related to basic plant parts and needs, nutrition, food production, recycling, agricultural technology and other areas come to life in these soilless growing environments. These studies may even lead to classroom business opportunities or fuel student career interests. Not the least of the benefits is the joy of students harvesting a crop of their own incredible edibles.
A synthesis of information from hydroponics experts and from people who have explored hydroponics with children in classrooms is best. I have found basic how-to information, suggestions for helping students discover concepts through investigations, plans for simple hydroponics setups, and stories from classrooms where students and teachers have investigated this growing technique at the website www.kidsgardening.com .
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Allala King and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
