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With green fingers and a love for nature, budding young plant lovers at Vredekloof Primary School created a flourishing hydroponic and traditional vegetable garden on the school grounds, all in the name of science.
Last week learners proudly harvested their third abundant crop that was donated to the school’s aftercare.
As a branch of Steamac learning, agriculture is taught at two ultra-modern Steamac centres at the school.
Encapsulating the subject fields of science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics, agricultural and coding the centres offer learners the opportunity to develop their critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration skills in everyday life.
“This is done through an integrated curriculum where our children get exposure to the latest technology. The learners learn through experimentation, group discussions and discovery of new knowledge, which empowers them to cultivate innovative thoughts,” explains Chris Palmer, head of department for Steamac.
The centres were implemented at the school in 2022, following the Western Cape Education Department’s strategic decision in 2020 to expand their focus from Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) to Steamac.
“Agriculture is a crucial part of our provincial economy, and more skills are needed in that sphere. And it almost goes without saying that digital skills are a sine qua non in the 21st century,” said then provincial minister of education, Debbie Schäfer.
Holistic education
According to Palmer, Steamac fits in with the school’s vision of learners being holistically prepared with the use of modern technology to take up the challenges of an everchanging future.
“We want to implement a variety of skills and apply an innovative teaching approach from which the learners can benefit,” he says.
The traditional gardening and hydroponic project is aimed at teaching children who are environmentally aware to live in harmony with nature.
Here learners get exposure to various agricultural methods, with a focus on planting vegetables and fruit.
“Hydroponics form a very important part of our curriculum and is a fun project that our children can do at home with their family,” says Palmer.
Students were involved in planting, maintaining and harvesting crops, learning about plant biology and sustainable agriculture along the way. Regular monitoring, collaboration, partnerships with local experts or organisations helped ensure the project’s success in terms of educational value.”
Apart from the sheer enjoyment of working with the soil, active learning takes place where agriculture is used to consolidate work done in natural sciences and to improve mathematical abilities as it is used for statistical analysis.
Palmer explains: “The gardening project is integrated with science, for example the process of photosynthesis. We also compare data from the hydroponics versus the vegetable garden and teach learners how to analyse and create data on Excel.”
With the gardening project the school has exciting plans but for now is focussing on perfecting their current setup, looking for ways to be more innovative.
