On Saturday, February 20th, the Center for Excellence in STEM Education, in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Club of Trenton/Mercer County, held the first training session for the Spring 2010 semester of the Future Engineers of Trenton program, funded by the Edison Venture Fund.

Approximately 30 teachers from around the state attended the training, which was a continuation of the fall, “Go Green with STEM” theme. Topics included organic farming, hydroponics and aquaponics systems, classroom greenhouses and strategies for successful design-based learning in the STEM classroom.

Our first presenter, Chris Anderson-the Design/Technology/Engineering instructor at Gateway Regional High School and President of the New Jersey Technology Education Association (NJTEA), explained the environmental benefit of using hydroponics, and presented the effectiveness of utilizing existing nutrients without using excess water from outside sources.

See his blog for more details:

First Chris Anderson explained the environmental benefit of using hydroponics, and presented the effectiveness of utilizing existing nutrients without using excess water from outside sources. He then demonstrated how a hydroponics system works with the existing set up in our STEM classroom.

He then had each attendee create their own mini-system using a two-liter soda bottle, an scrap of cloth, a nutrient rich seed starter, clay pellets and distilled water.

Our next presenter, Michael Anderson, showed our participants how to build their own passive solar greenhouse. Attendees split up into groups of two, and each pair received a 2×3 piece of corrugated plastic, clear plastic sheeting, duct tape, and cutting and measuring materials. Once the teams assembled their structure, they added variables to it such as tin cans spray painted black or white, and filled with different types of insulation.

Each attendee left the workshop with new tools and activities to use this semester, and a fun new way to approach pre-engineering with an emphasis on environmental awareness.