The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

Growing Plants with Mycorrhizae Hydroponic Tower Gardens

Soilless Gardens and the Future of Food

A 9-12th Grade STEM Lesson

Author: JABV

January 2023

Notes for Teachers

Background Information:

Improper irrigation and Increasing Soil

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Role of Mycorrhizae:

The seemingly magical properties of mycorrhizal fungi (aka ‘mycorrhizae’) are already fairly well known to soil growers. Thi

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Hydrosphere

About The Hydrosphere | MyNASAData

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Salinity (Land Degradation)

Explainer: Desertification and the role of climate change

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Hydroponics:

The Future of Farming Takes Root | University of Arizona News

List of Materials

• (2) Hydroponic Towers 5 feet: Amazon.com Shopping Cart

OR (2) Hydroponic Tank Amazon.com: Aunifun Hydroponics Grower Kit DIY Self Watering Indoor Hydroponics Tools DWC Hydroponic System Planting Container Include Aquarium Air Pump Buoy Planting Box

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• Rockwool cubes:

SKINNYBUNNY Rockwool Cubes 1 inch, Rock Wool Planting Cubes with Holes, Rockwool Cubes for Hydroponics, Perfect for Soilless Culture and Transplanting, 4 Sheets of 200 Cubes

• A variety of seeds: Amazon.com : Survival Garden Seeds Home Garden Collection - 30 Pack with 18,500+ Non-GMO Heirloom Vegetable, Fruits, Herb Seed Varieties for Planting
• Kelp fertilizer: Organic Liquid Seaweed and Kelp Fertilizer Supplement by Bloom City, (8 oz) Concentrated Makes 45 Gallons
• Mycorrhizae Additive: Amazon.com : Organic Root Stimulant, Salmon and Kelp Formula, Rich with Microbes and Mycorrhizae by Bloom City, 1/2 Pint (8 oz)
• pH / salinity/ temperature/ EC Water

AZ Standards

Core Ideas of Knowing and Using Science:

Earth and Space – E1: The composition of the Earth and its atmosphere and the natural and human processes occurring within them shape the Earth’s surface and its climate.

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Crosscutting Concept:

The sustainability of human societies and biodiversity that supports them requires responsible management of natural resources.

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Earth Science

Plus HS+E.E1U1.5 Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information on the effect of water on Earth’s materials, surface processes, and groundwater systems.

HS.E1U3.14 Engage in argument from evidence about the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, changes in climate, and human activity and how they influence each other.

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Science and Engineering Practice:

Engaging in Argument from Evidence Reasoning and argument based on evidence are essential to identifying the best explanation for a natural phenomenon or the best solution to a design problem in science and engineering.

Ed Technology

Computational Thinker

9-12.5.b. Students collect data or identify relevant data sets, use digital tools to analyze them, and represent data in various ways to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making.

Mathematical Practices

P.MP.4 Model with mathematics.

P.MP.5 Use appropriate tools strategically.

P.MP.6 Attend to precision.

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Agenda (4-5 weeks)

Video Introduction: Alone-zone: Quick Write (Warmup) Prompt/ Picture “Reflection into science notebook” Write a T- chart to compare and contrast pros and cons of hydroponics. Take Notes on these videos:

Can we create the "perfect" farm? - Brent Loken versus One Of The World’s Largest Indoor Farms Is Using Advanced Tech To Build A More Resilient Food System

Partners: think, pair and share and peer-review. Decide together and answer the question: Do you think future societies will grow food using tower gardens or in soil and why?

Small Group: (Brainstorm): Have students together set up lab- What are the parts to an experiment? What is changing in the experiment? What are the independent and dependent variables? What is the question? Where will you collect data? How will data be measured?

Whole Group: First discussion after brainstorm and decide the flow of the lab talk about what is expected, a discussion at the end of each week highlighting the best example and then after to review meaning of data that was collected and analysed to be described.

Partners: think, pair and share and peer-review; Have students work together to share what they wrote, ask students to brainstorm: Would results be different in different systems, example aquaponics (fish) and growing in soil with mycorrhizae? Do you still feel the same about how food will be grown in the future after completing the lab?

Alone-zone: Quick Write (Cooldown) Prompt/ Picture “Reflection into science notebook”: revisit original thinking to compare and contrast pros and cons of hydroponics. What went well with lab, what could have gone differently to make it better, what would you test for next if continuing this study?

Intro/Driving Question/Opening

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Why would it be beneficial to switch to soilless systems like hydroponics?

Lab: When we grow plants in hydroponic systems, does the use of the fertilizer and mycorrhizae combination application show increased yield from fertilizer alone?

Hands-on Activity Instructions

• Groups of 3 are ideal.
• Students will be growing their own plants in tower gardens.

One tower garden will have the appropriate amount of fertilizer solution added to it, while the other will have both the fertilizer and mycorrhizae added.

• Students will obtain rockwell cubes and seed.
• Students will tag their seeds, place one into the tower with just fertilizer and one into the other tower.
• Students will watch the seeds germinate over the next few weeks, measure growth on a consistent basis, then graph the measurements using Microsoft Excel.

Assessment

After 5 weeks, have students explain their graphs and conclusions verbally or in a written format depending on the student.

Questions for students to answer:

What did your results show, did they go as expected, and how do you predict that the availability of resources will affect our food supply in the years to come and why? Do you think that growing food in water or soil is a more sustainable option and why?

Questions: Would results be different in different systems, example aquaponics (fish) and growing in soil with mycorrhizae? Do you still feel the same about how food will be grown in the future after completing the lab?

Alone-zone: Quick Write (Cooldown) Prompt/ Picture “Reflection into science notebook”: revisit original thinking to compare and contrast pros and cons of hydroponics. What went well with lab, what could have gone differently to make it better, what would you test for next if continuing this study?

Differentiation

Fill in the blanks with a word bank for the lab write up and/or final assessment.

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Writing prompts with pictures can provide assistance.

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Data tables and graphs already setup to fill in Excel to fill in with numerical data. You can also provide step-by-step directions on how to create a graph in Excel by using a screen sharing tool like Loom.

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Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

Students are to brainstorm future laboratory experiments collaboratively.

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Also, students can investigate things like pH, salinity, conductivity, and temperature collectively as a class or individually.

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Students can create a presentation or video to document their work with explanations and their thinking.

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References:

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Hassani, A., Azapagic, A. & Shokri, N. Global predictions of primary soil salinization under changing climate in the 21st century. Nat Commun 12, 6663 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26907-3

Hsu, H., Dirmeyer, P.A. Soil moisture-evaporation coupling shifts into new gears under increasing CO2. Nat Commun 14, 1162 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36794-5

Stegelmeier, A. A., Rose, D. M., Joris, B. R., & Glick, B. R. (2022). The Use of PGPB to Promote Plant Hydroponic Growth. Plants (Basel, Switzerland), 11(20), 2783. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11202783

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