This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
About My Students
Hi there! I have a class of awesome students who are studying sustainability in my AP environmental class. These students are also members of our afterschool club The Urban Agriculture Club. This group of innovators have an exciting project they are piloting.
Over the past two years, our students have been growing food in our garden. Through our class, they began studying alternative methods of growing food. This fascinated them so much so, they now want to compare 4 different growing techniques in an experiment. 4 of the students have taken it a step further and want to monitor all of the variables over the next 3 months and enter their findings into our city science fair!
The students have designed a way to build the system. This required research. They will be building the system themselves with the help of a parent who is a carpenter. Their design is unlike any other system on the market. The students will have to design the experiment and monitor the system throughout the 3 months they run the experiment. This will require all of the scientific skills used at the college level. They will have to do chemical water testings, soil testings, monitor the fish, and monitor the growth of their plants. They will have to create charts and graphs and keep the system calibrated so nothing dies. They will also keep a written and electronic journal as they walk through this experience. This project requires extreme patience and teamwork skills. My students are aware that the problem facing us in the next decade is water and food. They want to come up with some real solutions for this human problem.
In Their Own Words
I'm Nyire and I am worried about how this Earth will look by the time I am grown if people do not begin to understand how we are using resources. The goal of my part of the project is to see which type of growth method is most sustainable. I want to do this project to see which growth method uses the least amount of water and energy yet produces the best food. We are the future leaders who need to lead the way so that we do not have massive drought and hunger in our future like we have now
Myself along with other students get an opportunity to do science afterschool and actually see science in real life. We have visited many colleges and seen the work they are doing around innovating in agriculture and sustainability. We don't want to wait for college, we want to do this now. I feel like we are the leaders at our school because we care about our environment, we care about others, we try to teach others about what we learn, and we are always building and trying new things.
My community has a high rate of people who have diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Alot of our classmates and our family members are sick and do not know how to eat properly. We grow food at our school and take it home to our families, and we give it away to community members. We are even trying to put our food in our cafeteria. If we could find a way to grow more food and better food, we could share more with our friends, family, and community. This will impact our overall health
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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. Gray and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.