Module 4: Analyse
By now, your first batch of microgreens should be at around day 14–20 of growth. This means they have grown to their full potential and you can put the data you’ve collected to good use. Your data will be a great tool to learn what your first trial reacted well to, and what you could improve for trial two.
Data dig
Along your Plant Challenge journey, you’ve been carefully monitoring and measuring your microgreens to collect data. Remember, the data you got from your sensors is quantitative, and the data you got by using your five senses is qualitative. It’s now time to put that data to use!
Lab 4.1: Data dig
Take out your trial one data and put on your STEM thinking caps – let’s analyse to see how your first trial went!
Harvest
Now that you've analysed your microgreens, it’s time to reap the rewards of your hard work and harvest them!
To harvest, get a pair of scissors and snip the stalks about 1cm from the mat. Be sure to wash your greens before you eat them!
Taste test your microgreens as a class. Which variety is your favourite?
Improve trial two
Nice and nutritious
An easy step to improve your second trial is feed it those tasty nutrients you made in Module 3. Plants need nutrients just like we need food to live. It helps them grow, fight off disease, germinate and reproduce. You can find a lot of nutrients in soil but when you grow hydroponically, you have to add them yourself.
Lab 4.2 Feeding nutrients
Your tasty tea mix is now ready to use! Finish what you started in the last module and add your nutrients to microgreen trial two.
Grow house glow-up
Your second trial will need its very own grow house. Use the insights from your trial one data to make improvements to your second grow house.
Lab 4.3: Grow house glow-up
It’s time for a grow house make-over! Use the insights from your trial one data to design an even better grow house.
Design your farm of the future
Remember the 4 Ds we covered in module 3? We’ve already unpacked the first D – Discover. Let’s move on to D number two, Design.
In the discovery phase, we defined the problem and looked at some exciting solutions global STEM superstars are using to tackle it. The design stage is about using the useful information you gathered, and packaging it up into a creative and innovative design that could solve your challenge question – I wonder how to grow food sustainably?
Lab 4.4: Design your farm of the future
Unleash your STEM smarts and charge up your creativity. Put your ideas onto paper and design your farm of the future.
Reminder!
Be sure to keep an eye on your second trial and water it at least once a day! Continue to measure and record conditions for trial two in your lab book every day in Lab 2.2. You’ll need these to form a conclusion on which trial ran better.
Make sure you have enough recyclable materials to develop your farm of the future.
Checklist
Awesome work! Today you:
- Analysed your trial one data
- Used your data insights to improve trial two
- Glowed-up your grow house
- Designed your farm of the future