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NY Sun Works COVID-19 Update

Dear Friends of NY Sun Works,

We hope you’re staying healthy, active, and safe. With NYC schools closing this past week, the NY Sun Works crew has been working hard to support our partner schools, in particular our teachers, to temporarily close their Greenhouse Classroom systems and to prepare to teach remotely.

Following DOE and CDC recommendations, our maintenance team acted on a school-by-school basis to either close down labs (remotely or in person), coordinate support with volunteer teachers and custodial staff, or plan for future access to keep labs running, particularly in schools with aquaponic systems/fish-farms in operation.

Our Education team is working diligently to prepare Distance Learning Units for every grade. This includes a selection of lessons from our Discovering Sustainability Science curriculum that do not require interaction with the hydroponic systems installed in the classroom, but connect with them through concepts, images, videos, and NY Sun Works reports. The lessons will be available through the NY Sun Works Learning Center, our online teacher hub. We are initially focusing on K-5th and 6-8th grade lessons, which will be available this week. High school learning options also will be available at the Learning Center soon.

This is “business unusual” and we are here to support our teachers every step of the way.

Times like this underscore the critical need for our students – and our policymakers – to understand and respect science.  A solid science education will allow our students to make informed decisions in the future that impact their lives and the community around them. We hope that our hands-on program will help to inspire today’s students so that they may one day become farmers with technical skills to feed our growing urban population, or the doctors and scientists finding the vaccines and cures for future crises.

From all of us at NY Sun Works, we thank you for your continued support.

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NMUNews: Northern Michigan University Launches Indoor Agriculture Program with NY Sun Works

Northern Michigan University will launch a new, multidisciplinary indoor agriculture associate degree this fall. The program will prepare students for careers in medicinal plant and agricultural food production, as well as the indoor growing system industry. It will also empower them to grow plants year-round in northern climates, addressing potential food insecurity issues.

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NationalHerald: PS 85 Queens Judge Charles J. Vallone School Opens New Hydroponic Science Lab

A new hydroponic science lab is officially open at P.S. 85 Queens- The Judge Charles J. Vallone School- as educators, elected officials, leadership from the New York Power Authority, and the team at New York Sun Works unveiled the state-of-the-art educational tool on March 10.

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SAVE THE DATE: 5.18.20 – NY Sun Works Youth Conference: Discovering Sustainability Science

The ninth annual NY Sun Works Discovering Sustainability Science Youth Conference offers a platform for students to share their scientific creativity while celebrating their
accomplishments as a part of The Greenhouse Project this school year.

We bring together 5th – 12th grade students, educators, innovators, and political figures  to explore the interaction between humans, technology and the environment.

As we prepare for this year’s conference, we invite you to take a closer look at the amazing student work from the 2019 conference:

Ocean Acidity: A Global Problem – PS 333 Manhattan School for Children
Actress Stephanie Hsu at the NY Sun Works Youth Conference
Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul: A message to the students participating in the Youth Conference
NYPA CEO Gil Quinones: Leading the Effort in Responding to Climate Change
Re-Nuble CEO Tinia Pina: Reducing the Gap Between Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers
If You Love the Ocean Make a Commotion! – PS 199 Jessie Isador Straus
The Effect of Carbonic Acid on Blue Mussel Shells – PS 333 Manhattan School for Children
Trash Clean Up & Ocean Protection: Student-made Sustainability Apps – Edward R. Murrow HS
PS199 Recycling Rebels: Putting Plastic In Its Place – PS 199 Jessie Isador Straus
The Sustainable Benefits of Growing Your Own Food – Edward R. Murrow High School
Carbonic Acid Impact On Mussells’ Mass – PS 333 Manhattan School for Children
The Wick Hydroponic Growing System – PS 84 Jose de Diego
Sustainability at CAS: Our Earth, Our Communities – City-As-School High School
No Rockwool? No Problem! – PS 377 Alejandrina B. De Gautier
Using Science To Make Our World A Better Place – PS 121 Nelson A. Rockefeller
Bioplastics From Organic Waste: Replace Petroleum-based Plastics – Edward R. Murrow High School
Draughts: Causes And Effects – PS 333 Manhattan School for Children
Making Our Own NFT System: Challenges and Solutions – PS 84 Jose de Diego
Effect of Thermotherapy on the Shelf-Life of Strawberries! – St. Saviour High School
Growing Vegetables in Our Classroom: Sharing with Our Community – PS 233 Langston Hughes
Magnetism And Its Effects On Plant Growth – St. Saviour High School
Sustainable Materials: A Guide for Sustainable Building – PS 333 Manhattan School for Children
Natural And Effective Ways to Absorb Contaminants From Water – Edward R. Murrow High School
Our Path to A Zero Waste School – Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education High School
Hope For Our Planet, A Poem by Mary Israel – St. Saviour High School
Kenji Williams, Founder, Director, Composer and Violinist – BELLA GAIA: Beautiful Earth

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Bregal/COFRA Foundation funds another NY Sun Works Hydroponic Classroom

On Saturday January 11, 2020, volunteers from the Bregal/COFRA Foundation, NY Sun Works, and P.S. 59 William Floyd came together to build a Hydroponic Greenhouse Classroom…in just ONE day! The Principal and Assistant Principal expressed warm words of gratitude: “Our job is not just about teaching how to achieve on the state exams. We want to help our students unearth their passions. Having a cutting edge hydroponics lab from NY Sun Works here at P.S. 59 will help us provide a fantastic group of deserving students the kind of immersive, hands on learning experiences they need to do just that. We are grateful for the generous donation and volunteer support from the Bregal/COFRA Foundation. From the hydroponic lab they purchased and built for us at P.S. 59, we plan to grow flowers, vegetables, herbs, and a love of science. Thank you!”

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AstoriaPost: Astoria Public School PS 17 Henry David Thoreau Gets New Hydroponic Lab

Students and teachers at an Astoria elementary school celebrated the opening of the school’s brand new hydroponic lab at a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday. P.S. 17 Henry David Thoreau, located at 28-37 29th St., became the fifth school to install a hydroponic lab as part of Council Member Costa Constantinides’ Science 2050 budget initiative.

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Teachers Join NY Sun Works for an Action-Packed Professional Development on Election Day

Have you ever wondered what features of a NY Sun Works greenhouse classroom are environmentally responsible, how a plant might be like a hydroponic system, or, how light energy transforms into chemical energy (food) in plants? 

At this year’s fall professional development workshop, NY Sun Works Greenhouse Classroom teachers from across the city explored and discussed these very questions from the new Discovering Sustainability Science Curriculum for middle school. They worked together to develop plans to implement the new lessons in their own greenhouse classrooms, set goals for themselves and their farmer scientists (students), and even had time to make their very own jar of refrigerator pickles.

The goal of this fall’s professional development workshop was to provide teachers with the opportunity to explore the brand new middle school curriculum. And on the rooftop greenhouse of the PS 333, explore they did! First year and returning greenhouse classroom teachers worked in small groups to brainstorm ways to  implement the new lessons, discussed and worked through potential challenges they might face when trying out these lessons for the first time, and drew strong and clear connections to student activities and learning already taking place in their classrooms. All teachers navigated through the NY Sun Works Learning Center – the online platform that stores all of the Discovering Sustainability Science Curriculum, multilevel learning materials (including our colorful, engaging, and information NYSW Reports), as well as resources and tips for teachers on how to grow crops in their GHCs and maintain the different hydroponic systems.

Finally, a NY Sun Works teacher workshop would not be complete without the introduction of a simple way for students to prepare the crops they grow, for eating. This time, the focus was using chemistry, or the process of pickling, to preserve cucumbers. At the end of the day, the teachers left the rooftop greenhouse having made valuable connections with fellow GHC teachers over shared experiences including first year butterflies, curriculum implementation strategies, and student farmer scientists goals and successes.  They had new ideas for how to bring the hydroponics systems into their lessons such as, “use the vine crop system to teach about photosynthesis and cellular respiration”, “[this is an] awesome lesson [for] preparing students for the regents exam” and “I love how this topic [GMOs] applies to something meaningful to students.” They set clear goals for the rest of this year ranging from “use my knowledge of the crop system to develop a cross-curricular lesson that can be discussed in multiple subjects” to “implement at least 5 lessons” to ”have a huge harvest party with students and parents!” And, they left with a jar of freshly made refrigerator pickles.

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NY Sun Works Launches NEW Middle School Science and Sustainability Curriculum Aligned To The 2019 NYC Science Scope and Sequence and Amplify 

NY Sun Works Launches NEW Middle School Science and Sustainability Curriculum aligned to the 2019 NYC Science Scope and Sequence and Amplify 

Our middle school curriculum asks students to take charge of their own learning, become actively engaged in the NYSW mission, and develop a personal connection to their GHC. Students are invited to take on different roles — activists, engineers, researchers, scientists, botanists, etc — as they journey all over the globe and even into space in order to explore the plight of the planet and how scientists (like themselves) are fighting climate change and the problems it brings.

Our goal in creating the middle school program was to build upon and expand the themes introduced and explored in our elementary curriculum. And, like our elementary program, it is designed with two pathways (GHC Connect and Sustainability Extension) that uniquely complement the mandated curriculum. Our GHC Connect units are designed in lesson sets, typically trios, and augment the science units of study as they reinforce the standards being taught within that unit. Our Sustainability Extension (which arrives in spring 2020) is also designed in lesson sets, exposes students to current environmental concerns, and models sustainable solutions for living in a changing world. 

We continue to use investigations, NYSW Reports, project-based research challenges, and evidence-based debates to take students around the earth as they explore the issues facing our planet and deepening the climate change crisis. Students are asked to become leaders in real-time as they explore the potential cascade of small actions, combined with the power of communities, to combat and change the tides. 

With our new middle school program, the NY Sun Works education mission further empowers students to answer a call for action and to be part of the solution. We believe that students who learn from our curriculum turn into life-long, data-based, progessive scientists who display agency and independence.

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TheJournal: Borough President Adams Invests $15 Million in STEAM Education and Hydroponic Classrooms

Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams has announced a $15 million capital investment in bring STEAM education to over 50 schools. The money will be used to fund the construction of multiple hydropic labs and to create new spaces where students can engage in experiential learning a variety of fields.

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BK.com: Ribbon Cut on New Science Lab at PS 183 Following Participatory Budgeting Win

Today, students, teachers, school administrators and members of the school’s PTA joined Council Member Ben Kallos to cut the ribbon on a new $600,000 hydroponics lab. P.S. 183 won the discretionary funds from Council Member Ben Kallos to build the lab during Participatory Budgeting in 2017 with 1,514 votes.

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