Let's Take a Trip to Mars PBL Project Completion!

This was a fun PBL Project!  After gathering feedback from Farmer Brent and our local farmer, Mrs. Carey Poole from P-6 Farms (local farm), the students began to work on their 1-3 minute video to NASA.  Our plan was to post these videos on Twitter and ro tag NASA in the post.  We also wanted to include our new friend from the Cosmosphere Museum on Kansas.

In a previous blog post, I spoke of getting connected with this space museum, Cosmosphere, in Kansas.  We were able to organize a Skype call with one of the employees, Tracey Tomme, the Vice President of Education for the company! She visited with my kids about Mars, martian soil, and the future of gardening on Mars.  We learned so much!  After her visit, the students got to work on their videos.  They were expected to include details about how they would construct a self-sustaining garden on Mars that would allow them to survive for 5 years.  It was through this entire process that they learned all about soil!  Love what PBL does for my kids!  It allows the teacher to step back and give the students room to have voice and choice in their learning.  All of this without the use of a worksheet or test!!  It is such a beautiful thing!

Our Interview with Farmer Brent

Let's Take a Trip to Mars-Soil Investigation PBL Project Continued...

My kids have been hard at work researching how to build a self-sustaining garden on Mars!  For their "Flipped HW" this week, they were tasked to interview a farmer or someone who was knowledgeable about soil and farming, and then report their findings to Edmodo.  To help them out, I reached out to my cousin, Brent, to see if he could come visit with my students this week.  He is a trained chef, a farmer, and a member of the Houston Rockets' Launch Crew! A jack of all trades!  He helps to run Donna's Farm in Fannett, Texas with my aunt and uncle, Donna and Steve.  He knows a thing or two about soil and farming!  

The students, as well as myself, learned so much about farming and soil!  The conversation about hydroponics and aquaponics was super interesting as well as the conversations about building and using greenhouses.  My kids were like little sponges, and took wonderful notes on all that he had to share!  I know that this experience will add so much to their PBL project, "Let's Take a Trip to Mars-Soil Investigation"!  We have also set up a back channel on Today's Meet with a local farmer in our area at P-6 Farms here in Montgomery, Texas.  We are looking forward to her answers!!