Tyner High Academy is using a Public Education Foundation grant awarded this school year for hydroponics projects organized by physics teacher John Cooper.
The money, just under $1,000, bought a 48-square-foot greenhouse to be placed on the roof outside a physics lab classroom where students will first experiment growing tomatoes, poppies and saffron.
Physics teacher John Cooper, right, explains hydroponics growing technology to students in his advisory skills class at Tyner High Academy. From left are Anthony Jones, Elijah Brown, Robbie Mannankara, Kelcey Smith and Andre Abernathy."That's something they can really see," Cooper said. "If they can learn something they can actually use, it makes it a more authentic experience."
The PEF grant is part of $7,000 awarded to educators at eight Hamilton County Schools this year through the Jane Harbaugh Teacher Innovation Fund.
Cooper said the experiment is a good way for students to compare variables since they plant so many of the same plant, and to see where they get their food.
They've already planted seeds in sterile sponge mats and rock wool and will plant leafy vegetables this winter. Strong seedlings will be transplanted to the greenhouse and nurtured with growing solution donated by General Hydroponics, a California-based company that also works with commercial growers.
Hydroponics technology yields more, costs less and doesn't damage soil the way traditional growing does, Cooper said, and the technology is really taking off in the commercial growing industry - all the more reason to teach it at school.
"You're giving the plants exactly what they need," he said.
Cooper said he'd like to find more grant money to fund an aquaponics project - growing plants over a fish tank to nourish the plants while cleansing the fish's habitat. A similar classroom experiment two years ago yielded vigorous tomatoes and basil, he said.
He's also looking for funds for engineering academy students to design their own hydroponics systems.
Cooper said the greenhouse has already been delivered but will not be installed by the Hamilton County school system until January or February.