I’ve been asked to provide updates on our Hanging Garden Project. We’ve got new planters, ‘freshly donated seeds’… and a cost-free watering system. For the ones not (yet!) familiar with the ‘mathematics behind getting cost-free water‘, here’s how it works: Our middle/high school students have been deeply involved in building a system with planters made from recycled PET bottles, as seen on the right.
Besides that, we’ve discovered a great source of clean/distilled water for all the watering needs: the several air conditioning devices, spread throughout the school campus. So, the students began collecting the not-before-managed water… But, how could they find out how much water would be “released” by the AC devices?
The answer to that question morphed into a mini-mathematical project: Math students were asked to develop a strategy to evaluate the volume of water released by the AC equipments, write their assumptions down (hourly rate, number of school days, etc), and today presented their results: on average, an AC device is capable of releasing over 6,000 liters of water during the course of a regular school year.
Way more than enough for keeping the Hanging Garden alive and growing! 😮
Let’s see… once more, science and math can definitely be fun (and rewarding!) 😮
So far, we’ve got seedlings of:
Arugula, rocket (Diplotaxis arucoides) [Rúcula, in Portuguese)
Basil (Ocimum basilicum) [Manjericão]
Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) [Camomila]
Cherry tomato (Lycopersicom esculentum var.) [Tomate-cajá]
Anise (Agstache foeniculum) [Erva-doce]
French onion
Salvia
Spinach
Pepper
Bell Pepper
3rdculturechildren 
Keenly following your updates and feeling like we are part of the project 🙂 Cant wait for those seedlings to grow!
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iI’m so glad you’re enjoying it!:o
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Reblogged this on Greenophilic and commented:
♥
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Thanks for sharing! Much appreciated!
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It’s AMAZING… Thank you very much for sharing! 😀 😀 😀
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Thank you for coming back and checking it out! I’m glad you enjoyed it! Please feel free to use any resource/images from the site… It’ll be a pleasure to share! 😮 Greetings from “green” Recife!
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🙂
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It’s a nice and cool project for the earth. 🙂
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Thank you very much, Cocomino! 😮
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Great project idea. Reuse everything we can!
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Totally agree! 😮
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Wonderful idea! And great for the kids reduce, reuse recycle project!! look forward to follow up pics
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I’m so glad it’s being appreciated! It’s a great reward! 😮
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Reblogged this on Mi Mundo and commented:
Enseñando a los niños
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Muchissimas gracias, Josmanu! 😮
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Very clever use of space and materials. Fantastic!
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thanks! The teaching lesson: reduce, reuse, recycle… And, as a bonus, have fun while learning how to care for our environment! All in all, a great success! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
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It’s also a great idea for someone who only has a tiny patio (like me) who would love to grow more herbs and veggies! I’ll be following along to see the exciting progress.
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So easy, you’d love it! Cut one PET bottle open, like a tub, have some sponge material, or organic fiber at the bottom, to retain humidity (remember to have the holes on the bottom, for drainage!), fill the planter with the mix of soil/top soil, and voilá! 😮 Let me know if you need any help, and keep me posted of your progress on your new garden! 😮
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Will do. Thanks a million!
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😮
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I LOVE this idea! Can’t wait to see how things progress!
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Thank you very much! I’ll make sure to update it with the new steps/stages and results! 😮
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A brilliant idea it will look lovely, be really useful, good use of the dreaded bottles and a great way for the children to learn about growing things!
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Thank you, Gilly! Glad you took the time to come by and check it out.. much appreciated… Always a good opportunity to share knowledge, and learn from the children!
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I hope the problems are overcome and working through them is also a good learning process!
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thanks, Gilly!
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What a great idea! I may try these!
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Great. Very simple, a bit of time invested, but not much… the students seem to be really committed, which is good… Glad you liked it! Come back for updates, the beginning of next week, I’m sure to have new seedlings! 😮
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I’m trying to figure out where I can hang them and not tick off the property owners, but I am thinking there is a metal fence in the back that could use some prettying up! Plus it’d be easy to fashion a hanging system without involving new holes in walls! Great idea! Thanks!
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I’m really glad to know this… Glad it’s appreciated! 😮
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Excellent idea! You’ll have to keep us updated. And make sure to include a cooking class at the end. Would love to see what the kids come up with for their harvest.
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Thanks! I’ll make sure I keep posting updates on the “hanging garden project”… It’s still in its first stages, but we got all modules already built (64); we’ve got hang some more 15, do more planting, and wait for the results… Will make sure there’s at least, a “salad-making class” posted here! 😮 I’m glad it’s appreciated. Just sharing experiences with the students, and taking advantage of any teaching opportunity to share the love for growing things… 😮 Thanks for stopping by and sharing your impressions!
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Wow–LOVE these! Such a great idea. Thanks for sharing! Great blog! 🙂
Cheers!
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Thank you very much! Much appreciated! 😮
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