T
he I-USE lab in collaboration with Salve Regina University Professor of Biology, Jameson Chace, and Ground Work Lawrence, have received a $221,455 award from the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA). To support this award American Hydroponics, Bontanicare, General Hydroponics, Sunlight Supply, Boston College, and GYOstuff have donated resources totaling over $350,000.
Together this public/private partnership will
- Create a hydroponics program for high-school science classrooms that engages urban, minority students in conducting scientific research investigations in food production.
- Implement a professional development program to support
teachers in conducting scientific and mathematical inquiry around the growth of food with their studen - Scale our program to 90 to 100 new high schools.
- Engage teachers as peer mentors where teachers with more experience with hydroponics will help support new teachers as they join the program.
- Train high-school teachers on the scientific and technological aspects of hydroponics through an intensive one-week summer institute and a set of five follow-up professional development workshops during the year for a total of 45 direct contact hours with teachers.
- Develop a set of hydroponic-based curriculum materials that support teachers in how to conduct rigorous scientific research, support learning about science careers, the chemistry, physics, physiology of plant growth, and economics of indoor hydroponic crop production.
