These corporations don’t work for peanuts
Linwood students grow hydroponic produce for science/business lesson
BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer

JENNIFER AMATO Hydroponic tomato plants flourish under a sodium light as part of an eighth grade science project at Linwood Middle School.

NORTH BRUNSWICK — Danita Guarino’s eighth grade Linwood Middle School science classes told the story of Jack and the Beanstalk this year — with tomatoes.

In March, the students formed “corporations” in order to plant and grow hydroponic tomatoes. The tomato plants have now grown to be a few feet tall and tomatoes are starting to blossom and ripen.

Hydroponics uses a soil-less culture to grow plants so they can be produced regardless of soil, temperature, season, land space and water and fertilizer availability, according to the University of Arizona College Agriculture and Life Sciences Web site.

JENNIFER AMATO Students in Danita Guarino’s eighth-grade Linwood Middle School science class check their hydroponic tomato plant for suckers, leaves that prohibit plant growth, on Monday.

“It’s the easiest thing to do if you do planting. It is not seasonal and there is no soil. Here, having so many kids … we do hydroponics because they don’t need a lot of space,” Guarino said.

For the project, each corporation, a group of six to seven students, was given $2,000 to buy seeds and planting materials. The students had 40 seeds from seven different mini-tomato varieties to plant how they saw fit.

“It was interesting because the students had never done this before. Most of them lost half of their seeds either because they rotted or they were overwatered or underwatered. When we first started out with the seeds, I told them not to do the same thing with all of the seeds. They could rot or there could be disease,” Guarino said. “It is important for the kids to work cooperatively and creatively and be allowed to experiment themselves.”

Instead of using soil, students used clay stones or rockwool [woven lava] and put the plants under the window in direct sunlight, under a lamp or in a clone machine which is a watering system.

“We first started with clay rocks … the clay stones let water through them so it holds the water. When [the plants] are little they are put under the light, and the bigger plants are under a sodium light. Mine got too big, so it has to be put into a different system,” Malika Gaziev said.

“I spray them whenever I get the chance, every two days or so. We check them once a week. We check the height, pH level, and any suckers, [which are] leaves that keep the plant from growing,” said Sapna Rajani.

They could also plant other seeds such as radishes, peppers, green beans, basil, spearmint and strawberries.

“We’ve got some tomatoes and we’re growing jalapenos. I like that we got to learn about how to grow plants and use different equipment,” said Shawn Thompson.

The corporations were allowed to buy and sell their products to other groups; however, “part of this was to maintain some money but they had to have a produce product at the end,” Guarino said.

As in any business venture, the corporations received monetary fines for disorderly conduct, property damage, improper cleanup, late checks and incomplete data records ranging from $50 to $1,000.

“I got to learn how to plant and learn about how a real business functions. It is hard to manage money and take care of the plants at the same time,” said Nina Patel.

The students also learned how to write a proper check. Guarino had a fraudulent situation where someone reduplicated and cashed a check for lights she had purchased for the project. “It hits close to home,” she said.

She taught the students that each check must be signed by both the president and financial advisor to be considered official, to not write in pencil, how to keep track of voided checks and how to write the dollar amount so that extra zeros cannot be added to the number.

Guarino has been doing this project with her students for three years now. The idea began after a trip to Disney World, seeing the land with hydroponics, and after a discussion with a Rutgers University professor who plants hydroponics on a rooftop.

“I like to do things that are challenging and are outside of the norm. Kids get bored easily. When they find out they’re doing things other kids in school aren’t doing, they’re more motivated,” Guarino said. “To them, this is fun and they accomplish a lot.”

After school ends on June 28, the classes will eat the tomatoes and each student will be able to bring a plant home for the summer.

An interest in hydroponics began in the United States in 1925. After 20 years the interest renewed with the advent of plastics and after another 20 years systems were established due to concerns of ground water pollution. The United States consumes more than 4.3 billion tomatoes per year, according to AG.Arizona.edu.