Indoor Gardening In Alaska Schools

1. Indoor Gardening In Alaska Schools

2. National program to assist teachers in making students aware of the role of agriculture in our lives. • Funded in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and each respective state. • Serves students in grades K-12. • Each program presents factual information about farming unique to each state.

3. Why Garden in Schools? Teachers Know ItResearch Shows It 84.3% of teachers exposed to school gardens think gardens help students learn more effectively. (Skelly and Bradley 2000) www.csgn.org/research

4. Academic Gains “Participants in a school garden program experienced significant gains in overall GPA in math and science.” (Murphy 2003) “Students engaged in hands-on gardening lessons showed increased positive attitudes towards content material and learning in general.” (Bell 2001; Waliczek 2003) www.csgn.org/research

5. Core Subject Matter www.lifelab.org/schoolgardensurvey

7. Science Connections Earth Science • Weather • Soil • Water Cycle • Light • Energy • Water and Plant Needs Physical Science • pH • Light Wavelength • Chemical Changes • Water Properties Life Science • Living – Non-Living • Plant Growth and Life Cycles • Plant Structures • Wildlife and Habitats • Food Chains and Webs • Plant Adaptations

8. Mathematic Connections • Developing and Planning out Growing Systems • Temperature Graphs and Charts • Weight and Volume • Growth Rates of Plants – measuring height, length of roots, etc. • Seed Germination Rates • Cooking and Developing Recipes

9. History – Social Studies Connections • Research Agricultural History of Community • Visit Local Farms and Farmers – Oral History • Research History of Plants and Development of Varieties • Cultural Food Practices

10. English – Language Arts Connections • Journals • Read Books about Plants and Gardens • Research Papers on Plants • Writing and Following Directions for Projects • Vocabulary • Writing Letters to Farmers and Merchants • Scientific Nomenclature • Poems or Stories About Plants and Growing

11. Health and Nutrition Connections • Healthy Benefits of Local Foods • Plant Nutritional Value • Plants and Parts We Eat • Comparative Taste Tests • Food Preservation • Grocery Store and Cafeteria Food Evaluations • Learning to Grow Your Own Food • Harvesting Your Own Crop

12. Other ways gardens are used • Survey Slide of other areas that garden are used www.lifelab.org/schoolgardensurvey

13. How Are School Gardens Funded? www.lifelab.org/schoolgardensurvey

14. Community and Social Development Studies show that school gardening increased self-esteem, help students develop a sense of ownership and responsibility, help foster relationships with family members, and increase parental involvement. (Alexander, J. & D. Hendren, (1998) www.csgn.org/research

15. Environmental and Agriculture Literacy Students need to know where their food comes from and how it impacts the environment.

16. Outdoor vs. Indoor Garden Projects Cold Climate Outdoor Garden Projects

17. Ruby’s MerrelineA. Kangas School Pollinator Garden near front entrance 2014

18. Hydroponic Growing System at Ruby School - 2015

19. Soil Gardening Systems

20. Salad Container Greenhouses

21. Recycled Container Grow Wall

24. What is Hydroponic Gardening? Hydroponics is a method of growing plants in water without soil. The water must be enriched with nutrients and the plants need some type of inert medium to support the root system. • Hydroponics comes from the Greek language and it literally means let the water do the work. • "hydro" means "water" • "ponos" means ”work". growgenius.co.uk/ Soil-less growing!

25. Advantages Faster Growth- Hydroponics works by automatically getting the complete nutrient mixture and water to the roots without drowning the plant. Plants get everything they need all the time, so they do not waste growing a lot of roots or searching for nutrients.

26. Advantages No Weeds/ Reduced Pests- Gardening without soil eliminates the weeds do you do not need weed sprays. Also, because there are no weeds, there will be no backache from a hoe or rototiller. Since most pests tend to live and breed in the soil, you rarely need to use pesticides or other toxic chemicals.

27. Disadvantages • Cost of initial investment on hydroponic systems is somewhat high. • Hydroponic production is management, capital and labor intensive. • A high level of expertise is required. • Daily attention can be necessary. • Specially formulated, soluble nutrients must always be used. • Pests and diseases remain a big risk. • Some water born diseases can spread rapidly in recirculation system.

28. 6 Types of Hydroponic Systems • Passive Wick System • Deep Water Culture System – Floating Platform System • Nutrient Film System – Gutter Hydroponics • Continuous Drip System • Ebb and Flow System • Aeroponic System

29. Simple Passive Hydroponic Wick Systems

30. Simple Floating Platform Hydroponic System Using a Fish Tank

31. Simple Floating Platform Hydroponic System Using a Storage Tub

32. Aquaponics

33. Nutrient Film Technique Systems

34. Aeroponic Systems

35. Hydroponic Grow Tower

36. Find Some Help For Your Projects • Local Garden Club • Local Gardeners • Senior Centers • UAF Cooperative Extension Service • Master Gardeners • Local Greenhouses • Indoor Growing Stores • Facebook Groups

37. Melissa Sikes Alaska Ag in the Classroom Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District 590 University Ave Suite 2 Fairbanks, AK 99709 mel.fswcd@gmail.com 907-479-1213 x105