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Hydroponics With Soda Bottles: A Good Way To Get Schoolchildren Interested In Hydroponics
There are a number of things that can be done in a classroom where teachers can give schoolchildren experiments that may involve hydroponics with soda bottles. This is a fun and easy first step that will help children learn about hydroponics, especially if they are new to the subject. Such experiments help in teaching the children what is to be fed to plants rather than teach them what the medium in which plants grow is.
Elementary Mathematics
This simple experiment of hydroponics with soda bottles starts with requiring the students to do a little bit of elementary mathematics in which they learn how to mix the nutrient. After the experiment has been conducted, the schoolchildren may want to write down what they have observed and may even make drawings of their observations. Another important point is that these schoolchildren that are learning hydroponics with soda bottles will realize that soil is not essential to making plants grow.
When learning hydroponics with soda bottles, the schoolchildren may want to grow Swedish Ivy or Creeping Charlie because it will grow under any conditions. All that they will need are empty two liter soda bottles, wick and fertilizer as well as some plant, baking soda and also lemon/lemon juice. The soda bottles can store the liquid nutrient and one of the soda bottles will also require a wick which can be purchased, or made from pieces from cotton T-shirts. Next, there is need for baking soda as well as lemons/lemon juice which will be able to keep the pH at right levels and thus help grow the plants.
Every student will be required to bring along empty soda bottles as well as some material for the wicks. Before they begin with hydroponics with soda bottles, it will be necessary to cut off the top of the soda bottles and place the bottles cut off part back into the bottle within the bottle upside down. Make sure to also adjust the pH level of the liquid that is to be used to the right amount and to ensure that the plants get water, it is necessary to keep the water level where it touches the bottles neck that had been placed in the cut-off bottle.
Thus, to teach schoolchildren about hydroponics with soda bottles there is need to have some media in which the plants are to grow, nutrient solution, and the proper environment including correct temperature, air as well as light and the cut off portion of the soda bottle which can be considered as being the container, while the remaining part of the soda bottle is the reservoir.
Such a simple experiment should help get the children started off on hydroponics and they will know just how to feed the plants and keep track of the changes that they notice in this simple experiment. |
