Teachers TryScience

Engineering Designing/STEM Based Project

Introduction

To start, you may want to watch the - What is AgriculturalEngineering video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7s3lBNr6VI.

And also share some information on genetic Engineering

http://www.scidev.net/global/gm/opinion/integrating-the-gm-approach-to-improve-crop-yield.html

which relate the present topic to Engineering design.

Part – 1 –Planning and Designing the garden

Tell your students that today they all are agricultural engineers who have a challenging project to design a school garden with optimum yield as when compared to the same plantation on a barren land. They need to name it and beautify the given area in whichever way they desire!Show the students the PPT on agriculture

http://www.slideshare.net/icon66rt/agriculture-ppt-15538511

to enable them to understand the importance of agriculture for human sustenance.

1. Let the students sit in the made teams and brain storm and pan out what type of school garden would be a best fit for the campus. They will research the different types of gardens and decide to use given or new materials. Students should be encouraged to use recycled materials since it is most cost effective and will be accessible on the property. The students can use the sought material to fence their gardens and beautify them.
2. Provide them time to draw a design in their workbooks and work backwards on how to prepare the soil, put in a requirement for plant saplings/seeds(other than the ones being provided), nurture the soil and plants in the garden using different methods.
3. Bring back the class as a whole group and show the videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI4MCIZJPxs that gives an overview of the chapter and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b90HmRKPclU that explains different methods/techniques used to increase crop yields. Also take the opportunity to discuss Genetically Modified Food and sum up with the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbKOTRwnDpY.
4. Students will be working for 25 minutes each meeting for two weeks. The first 5 minutes will be used for students to create and discuss a list of “must dos” with their team’s assignment. The last 5 minutes will be used for “catch ups” and reflection on what they will accomplish the next meeting. ( In rest of the 20 minutes of the class, the syllabus can move ahead)
5. A garden takes time and materials. During Planning students will set up a watering schedule and plant maintenance rotation to participate in. Each student will serve as a plant caretaker that make sure the plants are getting sunlight, water and soil to make sure they are able to grow within the two week time frame. A school garden is a daily activity and if carefully maintained, growth will be evident within two weeks.
6. A piece of area in the corner of the garden will be marked as the barren land for each team where the same seeds/seedlings will grow under natural conditions without any interventions.

Part – 2 –Students prepare the soil and sow the seeds or plant the saplings.

1. Instruct and encourage each team to distribute their workload evenly among the members for timely completion of the project.
2. Initiate the discussion within groups to brainstorm and plan on preparing the soil using the tools available. They need to make the garden soil nutritious to initiate good growth. Tilling, loosening the soil, mixing manure are some activities they can distribute among the members. Teacher can take them through video the http://www.verticalveg.org.uk/creating-a-living-soil/ to introduce them to “Living Soil”. If time permits encourage them to surf the net to understand what is perfect soil and the various methods which can improve yields.
3. The students who need assistance with the use of the tools for tilling and sowing seeds can refer to their handouts.
4. The seeds are sown in the garden and the barren land at the same time to enable comparative study.
5. Ask the teams to give their gardens a trendy and interesting name with flagging to highlight the specifications of the plants.
6. Students will record the activities from investigation to planning that they participate in daily towards the school garden in the engineering workbook. A student, at any point, should be able to rehearse what the goal of the activity is and what steps he/she took in order to make the learning outcome happen. Students are planning out a school garden, gathering materials and putting together a school garden, trying to fetch optimum yield using different methods, comparing the yield of the two plantations and then producing food from the school garden with time and maintenance.

Part – 3 – Evaluate and Re- Engineering

1. After plants have started to emerge from the soil, it is important that the students record the growth in the two plantations and discuss what will make the garden plantation more successful and how to get a better yield as time passes.
2. Students can try the methods discussed and shown in videos and the handbook. If one method doesn’t work, they re-engineer their technique to get required results. E.g. Drip irrigation, using sprinklers, transplanting, using manure, weeding etc.
3. After working through the two weeks of gardening, it will be evident what works and does not work for the soil type that is available. Too much watering makes the seedlings wilt or not produce but too little watering will create a “burnt” effect on the plant.
4. The students learn the different methods for improving yield and the importance in increasing production on a global level.

Part – 4 –Summarization and Presentation

1. Have the students to summarize their reports in the form of an essay Students will write a 4 paragraph essay (150-160 words) arguing “Why School Gardens are Important for Learning”. Students will re-tell the procedures taken to create (tilling, sowing, watering, adding nutrients, maintaining), fulfil, and produce the garden that their class has. They will also persuade the reader why and how fertilizers and genetically modified food can be harmful to humans. They can use illustrations/photographs to support their arguments.
2. Again Orient students on the timeline and the roles for each student.
3. Students present their gardens with appropriate tagging and explaining the various methods they used to improve productivity and why one worked better than the other.
4. Culminate the activity by asking students to reflect on the entire design process. Have students fill in the L column of the K-W-H-L.
5. A question answer round is opened to the student which is led by the teacher.
6. To conclude ask the students to fill the summative questions in the workbook.