Community Garden Watering Solutions

Hello, agents! We need your special STEM skills for this important mission. Manny needs your help with a problem in his neighborhood.

Think about these questions as you watch the video. Write answers in your Double-O STEM Club notebook.

  1. What can’t Manny and his friends decide on?
  2. What news does Manny’s dad have?
  3. What does Manny’s dad want him to do? 

Watch on YouTube


After you watch the video, click the activity links below to start this mission.
 
Getting Started
 

In this Community Garden Watering Solutions case, you will use library resources to:

  • Watch the case introduction video and identify the main character's problem.
  • Research and brainstorm garden watering solutions.
  • Design and develop a basic garden watering solution prototype.
  • Gather feedback throughout the process and incorporate as needed.
  • Reflect on the process, findings, successes, and failures of the prototypes.

Below is a link to your agent handbook where you can take notes as you brainstorm and research solutions to Manny's problem with your fellow Double-O STEM Club agents.

Double-O STEM Club Agent Handbook: Community Garden Watering Solutions

Learning Activities

Think

Now that you have seen the video, work with other Double-O STEM Club agents to think about the problem and a solution. 

Guiding Questions:

  • What is the main problem?
  • What other problems did you notice?
  • What research questions need to be answered to help you design a solution?

Learning Objectives

  • The agent will describe the main problem associated with the presented case.
  • The agent will articulate questions suitable for library research based on identified problems in the case.

Next Generation Science Standards - Engineering:

  • 3-5 ETS1-1 Engineering Design: Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or want that includes criteria for success and constraints on time, cost, or materials.

American Association of School Librarians Standards - Inquiry:

  • A.A.1: Learners display curiosity and initiative by formulating questions about a personal interest or a curricular topic.
  • A.A.2: Learners display curiosity and initiative by recalling prior and background knowledge as context for new meaning.

Use library resources to answer your research questions. Talk with your fellow agents about the best places to search for your answers. We can’t risk mission failure with bad information! Write down your notes and share them with other Double-O STEM Club agents.

Guiding Questions:

  • What information do you need to help Manny?
  • Where should you find the information?
  • What search terms would help you find the best information?
  • How do you know your sources are good?

Learning Objectives

  • The agent will identify resources needed for optimal plant growth.
  • The agent will identify fruits and vegetables suitable for spring, summer, and fall growing seasons.
  • The agent will determine parameters for what a successful solution to the problem entails in light of the contextual constraints.
  • Based on findings from conducted library research, the agent will hypothesize one or more solutions to an identified problem in the case.
  • The agent will develop garden and pest-control plans.

Next Generation Science Standards - Engineering

American Association of School Librarians Standards - Inquiry

  • A.A.1: Learners display curiosity and initiative by formulating questions about a personal interest or a curricular topic.
  • A.B.1: Learners engage with new knowledge by following a process that includes using evidence to investigate questions.
  • A.B.2: Learners engage with new knowledge by following a process that includes devising and implementing a plan to fill knowledge gaps.
  • A.D.1-4: Learners participate in an ongoing inquiry-based process by continually seeking knowledge, engaging in sustained inquiry, enacting new understanding through real-world connections, and using reflection to guide informed decisions.

Create a scale drawing of the gardens, paths, compost areas, tool storage, and other areas in your 100 x 80 square-foot space. The drawing should include a key that indicates where gardening features (e.g., raised beds, pots, vertical planting, trellises) will be placed in the space. Share your plan with other agents and incorporate feedback and additional ideas into future plans. 

Guiding Questions:

  • What garden beds will you use?
  • How will those spaces receive water and sunlight?
  • What garden structures might be useful to store and maintain tools, protect plants, and extend growing seasons (e.g., raised beds, green houses, storage sheds, plant cages)?

Learning Objectives

  • Based on findings from conducted library research, the agent will hypothesize one or more solutions to an identified problem in the case.
  • The agent will design an urban garden that covers a 100 X 80 foot space.
  • The agent will identify resources needed for optimal plant growth.
  • The agent will revise work based on analyzed data and feedback.

Next Generation Science Standards - Engineering

  • 4-ESS3-2 Earth and Human Activity: Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.
  • 3-5-ETS1-2 Engineering Design: Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

American Association of School Librarians Standards - Inquiry

  • A.B.3: Learners engage with new knowledge by following a process that includes generating products that illustrate learning.
  • A.C.3: Learners adapt, communicate, and exchange learning products with others in a cycle that includes acting on feedback to improve. 
  • A.D.1-4: Learners participate in an ongoing inquiry-based process by continually seeking knowledge, engaging in sustained inquiry, enacting new understanding through real-world connections, and using reflection to guide informed decisions. 

Use modeling clay and cardboard to create slightly sloped landscapes similar to the community garden case (and any plans developed in previous activities). Next, create irrigation and drainage systems in the clay (with toothpicks, nails, and other instruments) to reroute water. As you experiment, observe, and record the results, improve your models and compare them with other individual/group models.

Guiding Questions:

  • Are there any plans from previous activities you could use here?
  • Is your water rerouting the way you intended?
  • If not, what do you think happened?
  • How could you improve the experiment?

Learning Objectives

  • The agent will identify resources needed for optimal plant growth.
  • The agent will revise work based on analyzed data and feedback.
  • The agent will identify benefits and limitations of their prototype using evaluation criteria.
  • The agent will revise prototypes based on evaluation feedback.

Next Generation Science Standards - Engineering

  • 4-ESS3-2 Earth and Human Activity Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.
  • 3-5-ETS1-3 Engineering Design Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

American Association of School Librarians Standards - Inquiry

  • A.B.1: Learners engage with new knowledge by following a process that includes using evidence to investigate questions.
  • A.B.2: Learners engage with new knowledge by following a process that includes devising and implementing a plan to fill knowledge gaps.
  • A.D.1-4: Learners participate in an ongoing inquiry-based process by continually seeking knowledge, engaging in sustained inquiry, enacting new understanding through real-world connections, and using reflection to guide informed decisions.

Great job, agents! I knew I could count on you to solve Manny's community garden watering problem. Now it is time to share your designs. As a group, present your prototype (make a new one if yours was damaged during testing).

Guiding Questions:

  • Why did you make the package the way you did?
  • How did you improve the design based on your testing?

Learning Objectives

  • The agent will describe their proposed garden area and structures and design decisions used to develop them.
  • The agent will identify benefits and limitations of their prototype.
  • The agent will describe how testing and reflection improved their prototype.

Next Generation Science Standards - Engineering

American Association of School Librarians Standards - Inquiry

  • A.C.1: Learners adapt, communicate, and exchange learning products with others in a cycle that includes interacting with content presented by others.
  • A.D.1-4: learners participate in an ongoing inquiry-based process by continually seeking knowledge, engaging in sustained inquiry, enacting new understanding through real-world connections, and using reflection to guide informed decisions.

Celebration

Excellent community garden watering solutions, agents! Watch the video below to wrap up this Double-O STEM Club mission.

Watch on YouTube


Previous Citation(s)
,,, &(n.d.).Double-O STEM. EdTech Books.https://edtechbooks.org/-spU

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