We’re off to see a restaurant inside of a garden!
Grade five learned a lot about Hydroponics and organic food culture when they traveled to “The Crop Circle” on February 19th. This is an organic farm-to-table restaurant experience. The proprietors were eager to answer the children’s questions about their unique hydroponics system. They discussed some of the unique challenges of running this technology in Thailand.
Students learned that they can use paper as a cheap organic solution to many problems such as cooling. They also discovered that locally produced Thai clay pebbles make excellent grow media. As well as the fact that there is no need to acquire anything from outside of this country. Thailand already has a 100% sustainable aquaculture environment that the students can plug right into online. Students came away with many new ideas for their own project designs, including the use of frogs over fish in an aquaponics setup which surprised everyone, including the teachers!
Towards the end of the trip, the students enjoyed the food made from the very same vegetables they watched grow in the greenhouse. When asked if they would recommend it for other students and families, the answer was a resounding “Yes!” all around. When asked how this trip would influence their class projects, grade 5 agreed that, having seen how it works in real life helped bring their projects back to reality, and reminded them that they were trying to solve real food issues that affect the everyday lives of normal people.
Written by Mr. Russell Coffin (grade 5 teacher)