Haltom City students are learning new ways to understand the science of the world we live in and how technology is helping us better manage it.
Students operate a full-scale, highly productive farm in a space the size of a truck.
Air, water, soil: Bob Payne embraces it all, teaching his students about the environment and how it works.
This advanced science class is filled with formulas and equations, but Payne believes that if you’re going to learn about the environment, you should learn about the environment.
Idea Achieve Academy in Haltom City operates an on-campus farm where students learn hands-on biochemistry and engineering.
“It’s basically how it works, how they like it, how they make things work, and basically how they make what we eat,” says the class. said student Eric Mendez.
What looks like a simple shipping container is actually the centerpiece of this outdoor classroom. This is his $180,000 hydroponic farm made possible through a grant.
The students quickly learned that growing fruits and vegetables here is more efficient than traditional farm methods.
“We only use five gallons of water a day, whereas traditional water uses 300 gallons a day,” said Estela Castro, a student in the class.
Now they are collecting data on sunlight and the space taken up by farms to calculate exactly how much food such a small trailer can actually produce.
“You live in a city and it’s an acre of prime real estate, but you could use something like that as a farm, you could be indoors, you could stack it, you could actually It’s that kind of system that allows you to make the most of the space you’re using,” Payne said.
The concept is to help students who aren’t normally interested in this kind of thing understand the real-world value and benefits.
“We go out and experience it and look inside and see how it’s growing, where it’s growing, where it needs to grow, and how it’s growing. We can dig deeper into what is benefiting us,” said student Tatiana Shas Brown.
They not only learn it, but also use it, and the food grown here is given to the canteen. This is used in school lunches and is a real study of all things environmental and how they relate to everyday life.
