Teachers are faced with immense pressures including a lack of time for planning, lots of paperwork and the need to ensure student performance. They also need to balance diverse learning needs, implement new curriculum, and stay on top of health and wellbeing, usually all of this is faced with a with a lack of support and funding which makes it challenging to say the least.
Urban Green Farms has developed an Australian first approach towards the integration and adoption of sustainable farming projects in schools. The programme helps educate students about the benefits of aquaponics and hydroponics whilst making it easy for teachers and educators.
The portal offers teachers the ability to select a range of products from ready to go classroom kits to larger scale outdoor set ups. The bespoke ‘teachers portal’, includes related topics such as aquaponics, hydroponics, vertical farming, regenerative agriculture and more. Once a teacher signs up to the portal they have exclusive access to a complete guide for teachers to use including video resources, tools, a forum, excursions, Government Grant applications and templates, implementation methods, training, support and free education courses to use in the classroom. Everything is built with the teacher in mind, in order to fit right into the STEM and sustainability curriculum for Primary and Secondary schools.
The initiative is set to help Australian schools educate students on the importance of sustainability with non-traditional farming practices such as aquaponics, to provide a focus on environmentally friendly food production. It provides an educational solution that offers a hands-on approach to learning through the STEM curriculum (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) as well as environmental studies, geography, life sciences, botany/plant biology, biodiversity, aquaculture, regenerative agriculture and natural resource conservation ideologies.
"As a teacher, this is the absolute best teaching, it’s real and students can continue to pay attention because it’s there. Discussion is natural and interspersed throughout the day instead of only when it is time. It was interesting listening to the conversations about the health of the fish as well as the opportunity to grow plants. Much discussion was had about the environment and how this process might be a good idea in regards to using our resources wisely. Front of mind, creates reasons to think" St Pauls, Victoria.
A number of Australian Schools, Universities and Tafes have already adopted this into the curriculum including; Swinburne University of Technology, Ruyton Girls School Kew, Gippsland Tech, Barker College, Victory Christian College and many more.
Teachers are encouraged to sign in to the portal and get their school involved in their very own sustainable farming project with some easy steps!
STEP 1:
Sign up to the teachers portal for exclusive access to all resources, free course guides, educational content, tools, grant resources and more.
STEP 2:
Choose what kind of kit or bundle you would like to implement into your schools sustainability project, you can choose from a few options:
INDOOR CLASSROOM KITS
OUTDOOR AQUAPONIC KIT & BUNDLES
STEP 3:
Email or place your order with us and any requirements by supplying a PO and you are on your way to starting your own urban farming project!
Our aim is to make this easy for teachers, and help to simplify the process in obtaining everything they need in one place: materials, products, grant support, lesson planning and more. Everything is classroom ready!
For more information or to contact us please email infor@urbangreenfarms.com.au or visit www.urbangreenfarms.com.au