How do we solve world hunger?
Science
We took a very literal approach to the driving question. We first dove into what plants need to grow and photosynthesize. After learning that it's not the soil that plants need, but rather the nutrients found within the soil, students were introduced to Hydroponics. Hydroponics is an up-and-coming method that could greatly benefit cities with high-density populations. These cities are running into the problem of not having enough fertile soil as they continue to increase in size; however, they do have plenty of buildings that could be converted into a mass vertical farming unit through the implementation of Hydroponics. In our setting, students dove into experimenting on which nutrient solution (complete, nitrogen-deficient, iron-deficient) would be the best for growing plants in a Hydroponics setting. Students concluded the project with a final report discussing their results.
Corn grown in an Iron Deficient solution
Tomato grown in an Iron Deficient solution
Pea grown in a Nitrogen Deficient solution
English
The Hunger Games
Students read Susan Collins' book The Hunger Games. Then, drew parallels to factors that affect food insecurities around the world.
Hunger Photo Essay
After learning about food insecurities in the United States through informational text and documentaries, students were tasked with creating a photo essay in which they depict what hunger in their communities look like to them. They had free range on their interpretations of hunger in the community.
Recipe Plate
The students took their favorite dishes and depicted them through art pieces. Also included, were the recipes to those dishes; requiring students to understand all the ingredients and the process behind their favorite dish.
History
In History we discussed and debated Globalization during Medieval History to the Present and how Globalization plays a part in the world today.
Students came up with driving questions that relate to Globalization and how it might impact multiple facets of their lives. Furthermore, they worked to predict an answer for the questions they came up with.
Students came up with driving questions that relate to Globalization and how it might impact multiple facets of their lives. Furthermore, they worked to predict an answer for the questions they came up with.
Math 2021-22
Students used the concepts discussed in their Hydroponics unit to model a scaling situation in math and how it could help solve world hunger.
1) The students made scale models of a future school to practice scaling. These models are shown below as examples.
2) The students drafted pictures of their vertical farming facilities and determined how much they could produce using this facility.
3) The students then made 3D models of their vertical farms after drawing scaled 3D pictures.
Future School - Scale Drawing Practice
Vertical Farming Facility Scale Drawing
