Hydroponics brings gardening to the classroom
Linda Pinz-Valdez wants all of her fifth-grade students to end the coming year with a salad.
They just need to grow the vegetables first.
Pinz-Valdez, a teacher at Oscar Howe Elementary in Sioux Falls, will have a hydroponics system installed in her classroom, thanks to a $5,000 Lowe's Toolbox for Education grant. The 8-foot structure allows plants to grow without soil.
"The purpose for this is so students can understand that plants get so much more of what they need from the air and the sun than from the dirt," Pinz-Valdez said.
Her inspiration for the project came from a student, who in a final report this spring explained that "some" plants can grow without soil. The report followed an experiment in which students grew a lima bean plant in a cup of water.
Pinz-Valdez didn't want her students to think that just the "weird" plant can grow without nutrients. She wanted the experiment to resonate closer to home.
"I wanted that demonstration that many different plants can grow that way (without soil)," Pinz-Valdez said, adding that she wants students to see plants they recognize and eat grow through hydroponics.
The structure is made from PVC pipe zigzagged around two wooden posts that stretch from the floor nearly to the classroom's ceiling. A 40-gallon tank rests below the structure, and a pump pushes water up through the pipes to water the plants.
Seeds are planted into small cups filled with clay or a sponge-y rock material, and the cups are placed in the dozens of small holes drilled into the tops of the PVC pipes. Water travels through holes in the cups, and the plants receive light from a classroom window aided by several lamps.
With the help of the Oscar Howe PTA, Pinz-Valdez found out about the Toolbox for Education grant and applied in February. Janna Farley, a PTA member whose son was in fifth grade at Oscar Howe last year, helped write the grant application.
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Both women were thrilled in May to learn the application was successful.
"It's just so exciting because there are so many things that teachers want to do for our students, and funding is unfortunately limited in everything," Farley said. "It's amazing that companies like Lowe's ... can give back to our communities and our kids."
Lowe's awards the Toolbox for Education to schools nationwide.
“Lowe’s knows education is the foundation to building bright futures and stronger communities,” said James Frison, Lowe’s community relations director. “That’s why it means so much to us to support K-12 education through our Toolbox for Education grants program.”
In Sioux Falls, Pinz-Valdez has seen support far beyond the initial grant.
While ordering supplies from Hydrofarm, a hydroponics business, the company decided to donate several of the materials necessary to put the system together.
Additionally, the uncle of a former student heard about the project and decided to donate an aquaponics system to Pinz-Valdez’ classroom, she said.
Aquaponics is similar to hydroponics in that it doesn’t use soil, but in an aquaponics system, plants receive nutrients from fish swimming in the water. Through aquaponics, Pinz-Valdez joked that her students can grow a “fish poop” salad.
Parents and former students have also joined in to help.
Former student Jackson Brunick knows he won't get to experience the hydroponics as a student, but he’s happy to help assemble the system as a volunteer alongside his father, Kyle Brunick.
“I like doing this because it’s fun, and I get to see my teacher again,” Brunick said.
Brunick said his classroom erupted with applause when Pinz-Valdez announced she'd received the grant this spring.
The 11-year-old sees his former teacher as a trendsetter when it comes to hydroponics.
"I feel like it'll start something new across the U.S.A."
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