In the E-i-e-i Grow project, students will split into groups and go throught the process of building 4 components to create a fully functional sustainable farm. These components include a wood fired oven, a chicken coop, a green house, and 8 compost bins. In our garden we will have infographic signs created by 7th graders so you can learn about what you are looking at in the farm. We will also plant an organic garden and try to find a way to have it influence our lunch program, and use our farm to teach others about the American food system.
What does this have to do with Humanities?
In Humanities we have created 3 minute presentations about the history of farming and are researching specific topics for our info graphic signs. We have also been reading a book called The Omnivores Dilemma. This is a book about the american food system and all that is wrong with it.
We have learned so much about our food. I could go on for hours telling you all of the things I know about that food that you love to eat so much. Like for example how everything you eat is basically corn. Well, the places that corn comes from use a chemical called nitrogen to help them grow more, and the exess of that chemical goes straight into the rivers and way down south, and it is creating a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico that is the size of New Jersey and still growing! Did you know that the cows that are used for your delicious McDonald's hamburger were also fed things like fish scales, chicken poop, and cement dust? Or that at McDonald's the chemical they spray on your Chicken McNuggets to keep it "fresh" (or fresh looking) for a longer period of time, is so toxic that a gram of it could end your life in a snap. Our food system is very damaged but like P!nk once said, "We're not broken just bent." And with some hard work and support, we can make a change. We can solve the omnivore's dilemma.
Math/Science
Brief Project Overview
In the E-i-e-i Grow project, students will split into groups and go throught the process of building 4 components to create a fully functional sustainable farm. These components include a wood fired oven, a chicken coop, a green house, and 8 compost bins. In our garden we will have infographic signs created by 7th graders so you can learn about what you are looking at in the farm. We will also plant an organic garden and are planning to have it influence our lunch program, and use our farm to teach others about the American food system.
What does this have to do with Math/Science
Well, in our math and science class we do a lot of engineering. And to build things there is a lot of behind the scenes work. First, we had to research all sorts of different versions of what we were building. In my case that was a wood fired oven. Then we had to make a Google SketchUp model of the design we chose, create a scaled blueprint, make a scaled model, write a budget/materials list, and then discuss with the other groups with which design we thought would work best. That was our project proposals. I think that they were great because they went hand and hand with the math that we were learning at the time of that. We were learning about ratios and proportions and measurements. And now that we have gotten onto the building and planting food part of the project we are starting to learn about environmental sciences and life sciences, like the 7 characteristics of life and plant biology.