Lesson Objectives:

Construct food growing systems in our school to provide a source of fresh vegetables for our students and community.

Materials:

Markers
Chart Paper
Non-fiction articles on hydroponics
Non-fiction articles on indoor growing systems
Wool cubes 
Seeds
1 in. PVC Pipe
Heat Gun
Five-gallon bucket
Plastic tubing
Fountain pump

Standards:

6.LS.1 Investigate and describe how homeostasis is maintained as living things seek out their basic needs of food, water, shelter, space, and air.
6.LS.2 Describe the role of photosynthesis in the flow of energy in food chains, energy pyramids, and food webs. Create diagrams to show how the energy in animals' food used for bodily processes was once energy from the sun.
6.LS.3 Describe specific relationships (predator/prey, consumer/producer, parasite/host) and symbiotic relationships between organisms. Construct an explanation that predicts why patterns of interactions develop between organisms in an ecosystem.
6.LS.4 Investigate and use data to explain how changes in biotic and abiotic components in a given habitat can be beneficial or detrimental to native plants and animals.
6-8.E.1 Identify the criteria and constraints of a design to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
6-8. E.2 Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to identify how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
6-8.E.3 Analyze data from investigations to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.
6-8.E.4 Develop a prototype to generate data for repeated investigations and modify a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.
6-8.LST.1.1 Read and comprehend science and technical texts within a range of complexity appropriate for grades 6-8 independently and proficiently.
6-8.LST.2.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
6-8.LST.2.2 Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate, objective summary of the text.
6-8. LST.2.3 Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.
6-8.LST 3.3 Analyze the author’s purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text.
6-8 LST 4.1 Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually.
6-8 LST.6.2 Use technology to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.
6-8.LST.7.1 Conduct short research assignments and tasks to answer a question (including a self-generated question), or test a hypothesis, drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
6-8.LST.7.2 Gather relevant information from multiple sources, using search terms effectively, annotate sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
6-8.LST.7.3 Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research