Hydroponics aren’t just a better way to grow food. They are also a fun, hands-on way to engage today’s students in a variety of lessons related to agriculture, culinary and beyond! We asked our Lead Test Technician, Dave Brack, who has years of experience growing plants in a variety of settings, for some of his favorite ways to use educational hydroponics systems. Keep reading to learn his top 5 classroom hydroponics ideas.
No time to read? Watch this video to hear some of Dave’s ideas and an introduction to our Educational Hydroponics Systems:
Idea: Journaling
Journaling is a proven way to help students remember and comprehend information. It also encourages reflection, which is an essential part of retaining information.
As Dave explains in this video, you can use hydroponics to promote journaling in your classroom by:
- Keeping records on how long it takes seeds to germinate and grow into mature plants
- Compare and contrast plant different growth methods
- Track and measure pH levels, nutrients, light and water levels
Idea: Create a farm-to-table program at your school
It is never too early or too late to teach students where food comes from! Better yet, doing so helps prepare students for an increasing amount of jobs in sustainable food production.
Start the discussion on how food gets from the farm to the grocery stores and expose students to a wide range of agriculture careers. Then, use larger hydroponics systems like Realityworks’ Plant Producer Educational Hydroponics System to grow production-level quantities of greens. Depending on your set-up, you could grow enough food to feed your entire classroom – or school.
This Illinois agriculture teacher did exactly that. Click here to read his story.
Idea: Experiment with different growth methods
Although our Plant Producer and Plant Lab Educational Hydroponics System use deep water culture to grow greens, our new Desktop Mini Educational Hydroponics System includes 5 desktop-sized systems that can be used to practice 3 different growth methods: Deep water culture, ebb and flow and even microgreens, which are a wonderful way to sneak nutrients into your diet.
Idea: Help your students become aware of societal issues like food insecurity
With about 10% of our country’s population living with food insecurity, many perceive hydroponics as a potential solution. After all, these systems can be used to grow food without worrying about climate and soil conditions, or a lack of farmable land.
You can use your own hydroponics system to discuss these concepts with your students as they watch healthy food grow outside of the dirt-filled, sunlit gardens they’re used to.
This Louisiana FCS teacher uses hydroponics to address sustainable farming with her students. Click here to read her story.
Idea: Grow fresh, healthy food right in your classroom!
As we detailed in this free, downloadable infographic, you can grow a plethora of fresh, healthy food with hydroponics. Lettuce, Kale and Swiss Chard are great plants to begin with, while tomatoes, cucumbers and radishes are recommended for more advanced growers.
We asked Dave what his favorite plants to grow with hydroponics. His answer? Lettuce – “it grows fast, and you get a lot.”
Use this infographic to get a better understanding of each plant’s germination period in a hydroponics system.
Learn more
Looking for more classroom hydroponics ideas? Consider these resources:
- Our free, downloadable “Educational Hydroponics Systems” infographic
- Our free “Hydroponics: Know How to Grow” guide
- This free, on-demand webinar, “Planting Learning Seeds in a Virtual Educational Environment”