TED talk inspires student to create vertical farm
The aquaponics farm initially began as a side-project project for students interested in learning about sustainability and agriculture. It has since evolved into a three-credit course offered for the first time this fall.
At the class’ inaugural open house Gallery of Gardens, hosted on Jan.19, event attendees — including parents, teachers, and project sponsors — got a first-hand peek at some of the students’ innovative projects.
Jonah Tetz, in Grade 12, is undertaking one such project.
Inspired by Caleb Harper’s Ted Talk, “This Computer Will Grow Your Food in the Future,” Tetz has programmed a “food computer” that can monitor and adjust controlled variables such as PH balance, humidity and temperature to create optimal growing conditions for various produce.
Tetz’s computer is a hydroponic system, meaning that it does not utilize the aquaponics farm’s two 150-litre tanks filled with 50 tilapia — which fertilize and hydrate eight planting containers that grow five pounds of produce every two months. Rather, Tetz’s device requires fertilizer to be manually added, in order to mitigate uncontrollable variables such as nitrate or PH levels.
Read more at Sherwood Park News