Meeting the New York State Standards & the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS)
The Malone Middle School Going Green with a Food Computer project is a cross-curricular project that will authentically incorporate the subject areas of science, technology, math, English language arts, and social studies. The following New York State Learning Standards in all of these content areas will be met through this interdisciplinary project:
Science: the science standards to be met throughout the course of the Going Green with a Food Computer project include the learning of science process skills that will prompt curiosity and the investigation of important issues in the world related to the living environment and physical setting. Throughout the project, students will engage in scientific, mathematical, and engineering analysis, inquiry, and design. Students will also access and transfer information using appropriate technologies and information systems. This collaborative project with MIT will host an opportunity for students to understand the relationships and common themes that connect mathematics, science, and technology and apply the themes to these and other areas of learning; such that students will have the required scientific skills to address real-life problems and make informed decisions.
Technology: while engaging in engineering design and innovative technological processes and programming, students will apply technological knowledge and skills to design, construct, use, and evaluate a technological solution to satisfy human and environmental needs. Students will gain a thorough understanding of the impact that technology has on society, and will learn to manage technology within specific constraints.
Math: this project will meet standards in math related to the solving of real-world mathematical problems. In addition, mathematical processes such as making sense of problems and persevering in solving them will be key components of this project. Students will clearly benefit from the interconnectedness between math, science, and technology throughout the course of this project as students collect data, and modify based on results.
Social Studies: in addition to learning about the history and evolution of technology as a driving force in the evolution of society from an agricultural to an industrial perspective, students will also learn about historical perspectives related to agriculture, and current initiatives with respect to global agricultural issues and innovative solutions. Furthermore, students will learn key social studies practices including gathering, interpreting, and using evidence, geographic reasoning, and civic participation in global issues. Finally, students will explore themes related to science, technology, and innovation and the interconnectedness between humans and the environment.
English Language Arts (ELA): throughout the course of the Going Green with a Food Computer project, students will write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. With some guidance and support from peers and adults, students will develop and strengthen their writing. Using technology, students will produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently. In addition, students will use technological tools to interact and collaborate with others. Students will conduct research, drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration. In addition, students will gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively and assessing the credibility and accuracy of each source. Finally, students will engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners to build on their own ideas and on the ideas of others.
National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for students
Creativity and Innovation: throughout the course of the Going Green with a Food Computer project students will think critically about advances in agriculture over time, and how technological advances in food growth can have real-world, human, impacts on societies across the globe. Students will experience creativity and innovation while working along-side some of the top researchers, scientists, and innovators in the world at MIT. Students will be given an opportunity to innovate—as they will be encouraged to create their own designs, programming, and ideas to create a ‘food computer’ that will grow food via hydroponics. Students will also be encouraged to tinker, change, and hack the ‘food computer’ in order to experiment with results; thus, truly experiencing the path of innovation.
Research & Innovation Fluency: throughout the 2016-2017 school year, students will research hydroponic methods through a variety of sources and media. Students will build a food computer that is capable of growing food, and will be required to research hydroponic designs, tools, technologies, and innovative practices to successfully build, program and use a food computer at the Malone Middle School. Throughout the research, design construction, and programming phases of the project, student teams will collect and use data to make adjustments to the food computer. Student design and programming ‘recipes’ will be shared with scientists and engineers at MIT, as well as with other students and teachers nationwide.
Communication & Collaboration: students will have the opportunity to collaborate with teachers and students in schools across the United States who are also participating in the hydroponics food computer program with MIT OpenAg Initiative. The MIT OpenAg Initiative will have online chat rooms available for participating classrooms to share successes, failures, designs, programming, research, and more. This online space will allow students and teachers to ask questions, and collaborate far and wide with respect to food computer experimentation. In addition, students will have access to long distance collaboration (via Skype) with the scientists, engineers, and innovators at MIT’s OpenAg Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Students will share information with professionals at MIT, as well as students in participating schools in other regions across the country.
Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making: throughout the project students will use their own research as well as the research and data from students in other schools to guide their own innovative process. Students will make decisions and solve problems as they work to build, program, test, and eventually grow food using a food computer. As problems arise, students will authentically think critically and explore solutions.