Windowfarms for Classrooms: Crowdsourcing Curricula

“The creativity of the individual “farmer” is the critical component to better environmental stewardship and food system change. We want to get citizens, teachers and kids thinking of themselves as farmers, experimenters, pioneers as much as our forefathers did. Stewardship means designing smart plans for the specific needs of one’s community and environment and making use of existing local resources.” – Britta Riley

Entrepreneur Britta Riley and the Windowfarms team are working with teachers to use Windowfarms as a tool for engaging students in innovative science, art, technology, and mathematics education. The hands-on approach allows students and teachers to participate in real-world problem solving. The Windowfarms platform provides a rich community and support network for teachers to connect with other educators or Windowfarm enthusiasts. As the network grows, the team uses crowdsourcing  to develop tailored curricula.

“We are crowdsourcing our curricula– drawing ideas out of classrooms rather than just pushing the obvious baseline botany and ecology lessons. Windowfarms are indeed unique in that these physical platforms enable urbanites to grow food indoors year round with hydroponics using sunlight and climate control in existing buildings. However, the application is what matters. We are curious to see what kind of growing experiments make sense for a given classroom window’s microclimate, their dietary and environmental preferences, and the goals of that learning community.”

If you are interested in joining the community, now’s your chance to win a free Windowfarm Kit for your classroom! Click here for more details about Windowfarms’  curriculum proposal contest, which ends January 31.