Classroom Activities
History - Day 1 & 2
In the first lessons of this unit, students will be introduced to the history of food deserts in the Chicago area. This will introduce the overarching problem students will eventually be solving in the culminating engineering project. To explore how their neighborhood became a food desert, students will learn about the history of redlining and how it still affects the urban foodscape today. By researching this history, students will gain access to the background knowledge necessary to understand the current issues of food accessibility.
In the following lessons of this unit, students will dive into the history of hydroponics farming. They will explore different ancient civilizations, like the Aztecs, through a jigsaw and learn about their farming and irrigation methods.
Energy - Day 3 & 4
Students will have already had exposure to the concept of energy at the beginning of the year. The purpose of this lesson is to review energy concepts. Specifically, energy transfer and conversion will be covered as students explore different energy stations. The stations can include any setup that shows energy transfer and conversions like balloon rockets, solar-powered toys, heat spinners, bimetallic strips, tuning forks, and more. Groups will have time to explore the items at each station and draw a model showing the types of energy present and how it is transferred. The process of energy transfers and conversion will be helpful in understanding the basics of photosynthesis and what drives plant growth.
Light – Day 5
Students also will have experience with light waves from a previous unit before this one. To review light, students will engage with an investigation of different types of light using a simulation. Students will be able to test different types of light in the simulation, which can help them in the final project by knowing what lights are best and worst for photosynthesis. Fortunately, plants are an item that can be tested in the simulation, so students can run tests choosing any light from the electromagnetic spectrum and test its effects on a plant. Students will also be able to collect data on wavelength and amplitude and explain what happens to the energy from the light as it interacts with the plant material since the simulation makes energy observable. Once this foundational knowledge is reviewed, students will move on to studying the basics of photosynthesis.
Design-Your-Own Hydroponics System – Days 6-10
The culminating project for this unit is the creation of a basic hydroponics system. At this point, students have reviewed concepts related to hydroponic farming and are ready to begin the design thinking process. First, students will consider how their community accesses fresh and healthy food. They will interview family and community members to discern the desire for nutritious food accessibility from those affected by the food desert in which they live. This is the empathy stage, where students will begin to understand the issue at hand and how it impacts those involved. After interviewing stakeholders in the community, students will define the problem. They should develop a problem statement related to the lack of and inaccessibility of fresh food options. Students will continue through the design thinking process and begin to ideate or develop potential solutions using hydroponics systems as a foundation. Before their solutions, students will research and learn about the necessary components to create basic hydroponics systems. Once students understand the types of systems, students will consider the materials they have to work with. The materials will primarily be items found in the school building or from their homes. The materials available will be constraints, which students will need to consider when designing a prototype. They will construct their prototype and enter the testing phase. In the testing phase, students will determine the type of light to use, the composition of the nutrient solution, and the type of plant they would like to grow. Since some plant types may take a considerable amount of time to grow, it is expected that we would move on in the curriculum and revisit the systems weekly to collect data. After 3-4 weeks of observation and data collection on the systems, students will consider what worked and what could be improved. If materials and time allow, students can redesign and retest a new iteration.
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