Hydroponics in the Urban Classroom: Learning geoscience in the classroom while addressing issues on food justice.

Students between the ages of 13-18 are required to take a general Earth Science course either in middle school as part of an accelerated  program or in high school as a requirement for graduation in New York State.  Many students find this material dry, uninteresting and irrelevant to the pressing issues they are facing in their community. Most importantly, they find the global issues discussed in a typical Earth Science class as being esoteric or too large in scope for any individual like themselves to determine solutions.

Enter hydroponics, a useful tool for students to learn valuable lessons on geoscience and sustainability in the classroom while also addressing issues the students in my community face on food justice. This year at my school, Comprehensive Model School Project, we incorporated a fully functioning hydroponics laboratory into our curriculum with the potential to produce over 200 pounds of fresh produce per year. In our hydroponics class we have delved deeper in many areas of geoscience and environmental studies and how they are connected with issues in our school community. Students learned valuable information connected to soil science, the hydrologic cycle and factors that affect plant growth. 

Incorporating hydroponics into our classroom has also been a valuable opportunity for students to learn about the challenges of food justice, as it allows them to explore issues such as food security, urban agriculture, and the environmental impacts of traditional agriculture. Hydroponics in the classroom is more than simply growing your own food without soil, students learn the importance of access to fresh, healthy food and the ways in which urban agriculture can help address these vital issues of food insecurity in their own communities.