The Human Body: How Can I Maintain and Care for Myself?
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The Interrelationships of Soil, Water and Fertilizers and How They Affect Plant Growth
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Program Overview
The Hydroponic Instructional Package introduces students to the history, science, and technology of hydroponics. The unit is intended to be used in conjunction with and as a supplement to textbooks in general science, introductory plant science, and technology for grades 7 through 9.
Teacher's Guide
Recommended grade level:
7-8+.
The Hydroponic Instructional Package introduces students to hydroponics--what it is, how it works, and what role it might play in the future of agricultural production. During the unit, students read about and discuss important points in the history and development of hydroponics. They also review the requirements of plant growth, and they construct a replica of an Aztec chinampas (a floating island) and explain how it works.
In other activities, students construct a wick hydroponic system, build a simple subaeration hydroponic unit, and observe the growth of plants in water with and without nutrients. They prepare a nutrient solution for use in a hydroponic system and monitor the pH and nutrient content of the solution. They also discuss the operation of the 7 basic hydroponic systems (subaeration, wick system, aeroponics, gravity-flow feed, nutrient-flow technique, drip system, aquaponics). They discover the importance of different growing mediums and artificial pollination in a hydroponic system, and they explore the advantages and disadvantages of using a hydroponic system for agricultural production. In the final activity, students design, and may construct, a custom hydroponic system for the classroom.
The complete instructional package for this 11-lesson unit includes a teacher's guide with color overhead transparencies, a student workbook, and a "hydrokit" for building hydroponic gardens in 3 of the lessons. The workbook and hydrokit are also available separately.
Key to Content Standards: 5-8 (see app. C)
UNIFYING CONCEPTS AND PROCESSES: Evidence, models, and explanation; form and function.
SCIENCE AS INQUIRY: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry; understandings about scientific inquiry.
LIFE SCIENCE: Structure and function in living systems.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Understandings about science and technology.
SCIENCE IN PERSONAL AND SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES: Science and technology in society.
HISTORY AND NATURE OF SCIENCE: History of science.
Prices:
Teacher's guide, $45.00. Student workbook, $5.50. Complete package, $70.00. Hydrokit, $22.50.
Publisher/supplier:
Cornell Instructional Materials Service.
Materials:
Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.
