Hydroponics in Education

Why teach Hydroponics ?

Growing hydroponically is no longer “the way of the future”. Most of the world’s greenhouse vegetables are grown this way TODAY.

In North America and Mexico, there is a great shortage of people with experience in hydroponic culture and greenhouses are forced to import labor from Europe.

In hydroponics, it is feasible to test the effect of any and all parameters such as a plant’s given nutrient uptake at any stage. Tests such as these allow growers to improve production greatly and consequently help to feed the world’s growing population. As an example, tomato plants grown hydroponically yield almost three times as much fruit as a soil-based crop.

The World Health Organization announced that they consider hydroponics to be the most important subject to be studied in the new millennium, as it is the only way to feed the world and do so in an environmentally friendly way.

A number of countries have already prohibited the use of methyl bromide (a chemical product used for soil sterilization) and the only choice for growers is to grow their crops hydroponically.

In most of Northern Europe, it is prohibited to leach drain water from most crops into the ground in order to preserve the purity of the natural water system. The only choice is to use a hydroponic system in which one can re-circulate drain water. The same situation is likely to spread to other countries.

Last but not least: Hydroponics is a fun way for students to learn practical application of subjects such as chemistry, biology, business administration, art, math and creative construction.

Teaching tools

You do not need to be an expert to be able to teach hydroopnics . The Classroom Hydroponic Plant Factory book is a great tool for teaching the basics of hydroponics and plant biology. The book was in fact written by 3 teachers from Los Angeles and features teachers’ lesson plans and student's work sheets.

It is made, so that you can open the book and start teaching right away.

The book is published by
Foothill Hydroponics, CA http://www.foothillhydroponics.com Tel: 1818 760 0688

Even if you have older students, use some of the simple experiments and lessons to start. This way the students acquire the basic understanding on what hydroponics is and they have a good foundation on which to build on.

We suggest that you, as the teacher, not be the one responsible for the building of growing systems or plant maintenance. Progress at your students’ speed, so that they do most of the work. Combining practical and theoretical teachings also makes it a lot more interesting for the students to participate.

Many of our retailers give an educational discount on their products. Often they will also be happy to come to schools either to teach the educators or to do a show and tell for your class.

There are many many links on the internet for hydroponics. Here a few of our favorites:

http://www.progressivegardening.com/gardeneducation.html
http://www.hydroponicsclassroom.com/
http://www.growingedge.com/
http://www.aquaponics.com/
http://www.ishs.org/
http://www.carbon.org/
http://www.naturescontrol.com
http://www.education.nasa.gov

Harvey Burniston of Johnson County Vocational School in Tennessee was honored as Teacher of the Year for his program with hydroponics and aquaponics:

http://www.etsu.edu/keystone/johnsoncountyinitiatives/tilapia.htm

Below is an excerpt from USA TODAY’s third annual All-USA Teacher First Team:

‘In educating students, Conard, Burniston and Arnold also are changing their communities. And they are among the 20 educators named to USA TODAY's third annual ...... All-USA Teacher First Team as representatives of all outstanding teachers. '....."We honor these teachers for their vision, creativity and ability to inspire the best in their students," says USA TODAY Editor Karen Jurgensen, who will present the awards. "We recognize that their work changes society for the better, one student at a time."

Winners were selected from hundreds of nominees by two panels of educators....... Harvey Burniston is considered the catalyst in turning Johnson County Vocational School's agriculture program into a hub of long-term economic development in Mountain City, Tenn. Students harvest 200 pounds of hydroponic (no-soil) produce a week and 25,000 pounds of fish a year. "To try to change something, you've got to educate everybody," he says. "But it starts with young people."
To learn more about Harvey’s work, go to this link: http://www.usatoday.com/life/teacher/teachburniston.htm

The photo below shows a hydroponic garden on a Sci-Fi movie set. The set-up and the plants was created by Foothill Hydroponics.