Learning with the Water Farm – Hydroponics in Education

The increasing droughts and falling groundwater levels in this country are also drawing attention to the topic of water-efficient food production. Nevertheless, schools often lack the opportunity to explore, experience and understand interrelated processes in a practical way. The aim of the ‘WasserFarm’ project is to enable students to engage in these important learning processes and to promote interdisciplinary, reflective and research-based skills in schools in line with the ESD approach.

The central components of the object-related learning concept are the training of teaching staff, the imparting of basic knowledge of hydroponic cultivation and system-specific content with a STEM focus, as well as the support of a participatory, research-based learning process for students on the overarching topic of global sustainability. The focus is on interdisciplinary connections such as sustainable food production, the functioning of recirculation technologies, nutrient and water cycles, resource efficiency, and an awareness of global challenges and solutions in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

The aim is to provide the participating students and teachers with the skills to set up and operate a hydroponic system independently. In addition, teaching materials will be developed with students and teachers during the course of the project that will enable the sustainable and transferable use of hydroponics in education. The project is being carried out at three pilot schools in two federal states (Brandenburg, Schleswig-Holstein).

More information can be found at www.wasserfarm.org