West Hollow students Noah Berlin and Noah Kay have completed their work on the Growing Beyond Earth Maker Challenge. Their work on C.A.M.I. has spanned over two years and has now been submitted as a finalist in the high school division of the challenge sponsored by NASA and Fairchild Botanical Gardens. I am incredibly proud to have been their advisor throughout this endeavor and wish them the best of luck moving forward.
C.A.M.I. Officially Launched!
Over the last five years, students in the Half Hollow Hills CSD have been working on ways to automate the process of growing food indoors (See previous posts). They have helped to build and care for a vertical hydroponics garden in the back of their science classroom as well as a CNC farming machine that resides adjacent to their cafeteria. The goal was to integrate engineering design, electronics, and computer science with plant science, aquaculture, and alternative forms of agriculture. The projects that have come from this endeavor have been nothing short of spectacular.
While COVID-19 has certainly shelved a number of these endeavors, a small group of students saw this as an opportunity to change the dynamic of their lab space. We’ve always affectionately referred to our collective growing environment as our “Mars Farm” and now we are looking to bring mission control into the living rooms of every student in our classroom.
Beginning in early April, I was able to fashion a simple grow cube out of some reclaimed pallet wood and some reflective sheathing we use in the lab. I inserted a small 10 gallon aeroponic cloner and a grow light. Typically this is all that would be needed to grow some plants indoors as we have done in our classroom. The original goal was to continue observing plants from home using a Wyze cam and filming remote lessons for my students. After receiving word that we were awarded a grant from NYSCATE to build out our research capabilities, I saw this as an opportunity to rethink the way all of this great technology could be used.
Our data collection process is guided by our participation in a NASA funded citizen science program run through Fairchild Botanical Garden. Using a MARSfarm growth chamber supplied in this Growing Beyond Earth challenge, a Raspberry Pi and the Adafruit IO+ IoT platform, we quickly realized that we could host our sensor data online for students to see in real time. Our incredibly talented students from our after school Code Club called Hack the Hollow were recruited to imagine where this could go. Their feedback was that it couldn’t only be something they looked at. It had to be something they could interact with in order to gain student buy-in. We went to work on developing a UI that could do both. Her name is C.A.M.I. (Computerized Agriculture Monitoring Interface). Here is a little more about what she can do.
Using our grant funds, we now have the ability to observe atmospheric and root zone variables using lab grade sensors purchased from Atlas Scientific. Variables include air temperature, humidity, CO2, O2, light intensity, water temperature, pH, nutrient level by way of EC, ORP, dissolved oxygen, and water volumes. Students are able to view these in real-time 24/7 as well as historical data on our Adafruit IO dashboard. Students can even participate in calibration sequences for the various probes while in guided mode during live lessons. This would allow students to work as remote lab partners to analyze the data and construct potential research projects for studying plant growth from afar.
In order to allow for some interaction, we incorporated the use of MotorHATs, transistors, and IoT relays that allow for students to exchange air in the environment with DC cooling fans, adjust the photoperiod and color frequency of our grow lights, and even dose the water reservoir with pH adjustment and nutrient solutions using peristaltic pumps. Not only can these be turned on and off, but they can be modified for selected time periods, dosage volumes and fan speeds.
In order to check in and observe qualitative plant health metrics, the cube is equipped with a Raspberry Pi NOIR Camera module and IR flood light that posts pictures to our Adafruit dashboard, captures time-lapses of the plants, and allows for observations of plant behaviors when the lights are off. Additionally, the cube incorporates a Wyze V2Camera for live video feeds during remote lessons.
While we are still documenting the electronics and code behind the project to share outward with interested partner schools, the ultimate goal is for this prototype to allow us to convert our entire lab space into a remote learning and research opportunity. If you cannot come to class, we will bring it home to you! Stay tuned.
The 20-21 School Year: New Challenges Bring New Opportunities
Welcome back to the 2020-2021 school year! I’ve been looking forward to being back in the classroom since we broke back in March. I know that this is a very different atmosphere for a multitude of reasons. There will certainly be challenges as the year unfolds, but I am hopeful that we will successfully conquer these obstacles together. We must be patient, flexible, and willing to be good to one another when things get difficult. We are in this together, be it in person or remotely. Instead of focusing on the uncertainty, let us take a look at some of the ways your students will be working in the labs and collaborating with one another.
Science students at West Hollow will be working in the 214 STEAM Lab. This space has been designed for digital collaboration as every lab station in the room is capable of screen mirroring. Students requiring assistance with technology can move to their own workspace to receive guidance from my screen while maintaining social distancing. You can see an example of one of these work stations in my “Welcome Back” video below. There is also a group instruction screen in the room that is shared with our students at home as we live stream each day on Zoom for our students in a remote setting.
We have recently sown fall crops for our vertical hydroponic Mars Farm and soil-based FarmBot. Our aquaculture wall has also been started and is ready to receive a stock of tilapia. These systems will be used throughout the year as we infuse the “Future of Food” theme into the curriculum. Students will be able to monitor and collect data from each of these systems whether they are in class or participating from home. You can read our August post to learn more about how we will accomplish this.
Virtual communication and collaboration is going to be a point of emphasis this year. Students have already introduced themselves to one another using FlipGrid and will give their families a view into our learning spaces using Seesaw. They will also be creating digital portfolios to document the skills they acquire using Badgr.io. This year may bring an unfamiliar instructional model, but learners will ultimately walk away with a digital competency that will lend itself to making them successful in many of today’s workspaces.
Students taking our PLTW Introduction to Engineering Design Course at High School East will be working in the building’s Maker Space. The lab has been modified for social distancing, but will continue to give students access to an array of 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC machines and a host of other tools. There are many necessary modifications built into our classrooms, but none of them will inhibit the creativity of our student engineers.
Lab Spaces in the Middle and High Schools
Automated Aquaponics to Become the Newest Pursuit in the 214 Mars Farm
Student engineers test water quality to establish beneficial bacteria colonies in the bass tanks
2020 is bringing with it an exciting design challenge to the student engineers of room 214 thanks to the generosity exhibited in our Donors Choose campaign. We have been studying the future of food as a central theme that is threaded into our 7th grade science curriculum. We have spent the last several years converting the back of our science classroom into a fully operational vertical hydroponics farm where we can grow and study various edible plant species. We have cultivated everything from micro-greens and herbs, to bountiful leafy vegetables and fruiting plants like peppers, cucumbers, and strawberries. We had been wanting to experiment with aquaponics for some time, but didn't have the resources for growing the fish needed in the nutrient reservoirs. We have now been given that opportunity.
We replaced some outdated cabinetry with eight 10 gallon fresh water aquaria that were provided in the first phase of our campaign. These have since been stocked with large mouth bass for the purpose of understanding various elements of aquaculture and food production. Students will learn about the nitrogen cycle, how the fish convert their food into biomass, and how indoor closed-system aquaponic gardens can sustainably produce both fresh produce and protein sources in out diets all year round.
In keeping with our commitment to learning electronics and coding for the purposes of monitoring and automating our farm, we are currently designing a water quality control system. It will measure pH and temperature, serve the data to an IoT platform, and automate the adjustment of aquarium conditions according to student-written algorithms. Additionally, design teams are working on CAD created enclosures and actuators that will be 3D printed and laser cut for the system. This project will be featured at the Suffolk ASSET conference later in March where students will present their work to educators and administrators from around Long Island.
You can support these student engineers on our Donors Choose Page.
A New Year Brings New Growth to Our MarsFarm
David, Sal, Russel, Noah, Alex, and Daniel stayed after school to help construct our new Ebb and Flow tower in the MarsFarm. Their first crop of the year is Quinault strawberries.
Cultivating Today's Makers into Tomorrow's Problem Solvers
It was my pleasure to participate in Pi-Top’s “Learning By Making” event in New York City earlier this spring. It was an opportunity to share my philosophy about teaching our youth as well as share the great things the students of West Hollow Middle School are doing. The event was held ahead of the launch of their new product, the Pi-Top [4], which is launching a kickstarter campaign tomorrow. You can be an early adopter by accessing it HERE.
FarmBot to Table
The New York winter has been long, but that hasn’t stopped West Hollow’s “Farmers of the Future.” A big thank you to Red Hat Open Source Stories for featuring our work in their most recent release. You can view it HERE.
Our student engineers have worked long and hard to construct their very own community garden just inches away from their cafeteria. Each day students watch as the CNC farming robot that they built with their own hands seeds, waters, weeds, and photographs the crops they have coded it to tend to. Over the last 100 days, students have designed algorithms that tend to one dozen different species of plants. This week we were finally able to harvest our first yield of fresh vegetables that were weighed, packaged, and donated to the Island Harvest food bank based out of Hauppauge. In total, we collected 20 pounds of produce that will find its way to the dinner tables of those suffering from food insecurity in nearby communities.
In the coming weeks, we will be restocking our garden with nearly 75 new plants that span almost two dozen species. The goal is to use the automation capabilities of our FarmBot to raise a new crop of donations during the summer vacation. We will code and monitor it from remote locations to truly see what our future farm is made of. Check back next week when we will be updating the progress of the new plantings and welcoming some high school students from Kuopio, Finland into our farming community.
Just Another Day on the Farm
West Hollow’s FarmBot is in full swing as it efficiently tends to our spring crops. No need to worry about the weather outside when you have a climate-controlled, automated farm right next door to your cafeteria! Part student, part machine, FarmBot executes coded sequences written by 11-13 year old farmers to seed, water, photograph, weed, and test soil variables. We’ve recently added remote video capabilities so that we can monitor the health of our farm from anywhere on Earth that has an internet connection. Crop yields will be donated to Island Harvest, a Long Island food bank, later in the spring. Is this the true future of food? Only time can tell, but the engineering and problem solving skills being developed are certainly moving the future of education in the right direction.
Preparing for Suffolk ASSET 2019
Ryan works on his design of a smart paper recycling bin that will allow him to track the collection efficiency and relate it to its placement in the building. Our current paper recycling program is part of a pilot that is allowing us to understand the paper disposal needs of the building. With only four bins that have been green lit for collection, it is Ryan’s goal to maximize the collection capacity of these bins by placing them in our building’s most highly trafficked areas.
His design incorporates a load sensor that collects the weight from a hacked bathroom scale, an ultrasonic sensor that can detect the volume of the paper in the bin, and a temperature and humidity sensor that can detect if materials other than paper (such as food and drink containers) have been placed in the bin. He is using an Arduino micro controller to collect the sensor data. The data is being passed on to a Raspberry Pi via serial communication where it is then being hosted on an online IoT dashboard that can be remotely monitored and analyzed from his smart phone.
Ryan has developed a communication system that will send him email and text message notifications if the bin is in need of being emptied or if it suspects there may be materials other than paper in the bin. The bin is also equipped with two methods of data visualization that includes an onboard LCD and Neopixel strip acting as a capacity bar graph.
Future iterations of his design will include the ability to maneuver itself to new locations according to learned algorithms of paper collection and foot traffic. He will also be incorporating a PiTop [4] as the device’s brain which will help provide on board power for greater autonomy.