Abstract:

The study of the growth of a plant in a hydroponic greenhouse has proven to be an excellent teaching tool for improving laboratory teaching. It has been adopted within the Maker@School project to apply an innovative methodology for observing a scientific phenomenon, the "Bifocal Modelling," which has already been successfully evaluated in several country. The proliferation of increasingly inexpensive and versatile electronic devices has led to the idea of complementing the study of the hydroponic greenhouse by "Bifocal Modelling" with an ad hoc developed device to automate the collection of variables. In this pilot study, the impact on laboratory teaching of these innovations was evaluated by the researchers through the administration of questionnaires and interviews. The results show a positive evaluation, extolling their inclusive value, paving the way for subsequent experimentation.

Within a hydroponic greenhouse, plants do not use soil for their growth, but a nutrient-rich aqueous solution on which they "sail" on simple floating supports and within which they grow roots. The lighting can be either natural light or, more frequently, artificial, through a set of LED lights. The hydroponic system that INDIRE proposes can be built through simple and inexpensive DIY (Do It Yourself) models, but there are also numerous commercial greenhouses that can be purchased for the purpose (see, for example, the system called Tower Garden) and projects developed specifically for education. The controlled, easy-to-implement environment of a hydroponic greenhouse has proven to be an excellent teaching tool for teaching science subjects: simple observations and a few amount of variations in set-up allow the identification of the physical variables that determine and describe growth, resulting in students' understanding of the phenomenon. In addition, the proposed setting turns out to have several cross-curricular benefits, raising learners' awareness of the environmental issues of soil, water or pesticide use, whose reduced consumption is intrinsic added value of hydroponic greenhouses, or even stimulating healthier eating habits (fruit and vegetable consumption).

In this pilot study, the aim was to test the feasibility and applicability of a compact and inexpensive system, developed internally in INDIRE, as an aid to the collection and data visualization of a hydroponic greenhouse plant growth experiment, collecting perceptions and reactions of pupils and teachers to its introduction through tests to be administered, both to students and teachers, at the beginning and end of the experiment. Analysis of the experiences gained by the classes, together with the data collected from the questionnaires, will provide important insights into any problems that may have arisen from using an innovative technology and into the goodness of the assessment tools in the perspective of subsequent experimentation.

Keywords:

Innovation of laboratory teaching, dSerra, Bifocal Methodology, Hydroponic Greenhouses.