Greenhouse is an engineering design-based STEM curricular unit. The unit aims to facilitate the learning of major science and mathematical concepts and skills within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core State Standards (CCSS) respectively. The unit includes teacher guides, class activities with solutions, and assessment guidelines. 

Grade Level: 4-6

Approximate Time Needed to Complete Unit: Twelve 50-minute class periods

Unit Summary: St. Paul, Minnesota has a long tradition of selling goods at the farmers' market. It was St. Paul’s first public market. While fresh produce is only available during the summer season, dairy products, flour, cakes, and candies could be purchased year-round. Many families of students in schools in Minnesota grow and sell fresh produce at the market. However, the growing season for produce (tomatoes) in Minnesota is very limited due to the climate. Students will discover that to extend the growing season for tomatoes they will need to design and construct a model greenhouse that will maintain an optimal temperature closest to 24°C and maintain a temperature between 18°C and 35°C.

List of Lessons:

• Lesson 1: Introduction to the Engineering Design Challenge
  • Objectives: (1) Define the problem, criteria, and constraints; (2) Review plant needs for survival and recognize the limitations of the growing season in Minnesota.
• Lesson 2: Plant Parts
  • Objectives: (1) Define the problem, criteria and constraints and identify learning required to solve the problem; (2) Review plant needs for survival and recognize the limitations of the growing season in Minnesota.
• Lesson 3: Testing Materials 
  • Objectives: (1) Become familiar with heat radiation, transmittance and absorption; (2) Utilize these concepts as they become familiar with the working
    of a greenhouse.
• Lesson 4: Design and Cost Analysis of Greenhouse
  • Objectives: (1) Utilize their knowledge from the previous lesson to design a greenhouse that will extend the growing season for tomatoes in Minnesota; (2) Determine the surface area and materials costs.
• Lesson 5: Construct and Test Greenhouses
  • Objectives: (1) Construct and test their model greenhouses based on their design from yesterday; (2) Collect data to determine the effectiveness of their greenhouse.
• Lesson 6: Redesign and Cost Analysis of Greenhouse
  • Objectives: (1) Utilize their knowledge from previous lesson to redesign a greenhouse that will extend the growing season for tomatoes in MN; (2) Determine the surface area and materials cost.
• Lesson 7: Build and Test Redesign
  • Objectives: (1) Construct and test their model greenhouses based on their redesign from yesterday; (2) Students collect data to determine the effectiveness of their redesigned greenhouse.
• Lesson 8: Communication
  • Objectives: (1) Work in groups to write a report to the client and share out.

Unit Standards:

• NGSS: LS1. B, MS-LS1-4, LS2A, MS-LS2-1, MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2, MS-ETS1-4.
• CCSS: 5GA.1, 5GA.2. 

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant NSF DRL-1238140. Any opinions, findings and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Jim Schrankler, Christina Miller, Selcen Guzey, Preethi Titu, Kerrie Douglas, Tamara J. Moore (2022), "Greenhouse: An EngrTEAMS Curricular Unit," https://nanohub.org/resources/36130.

  BibTex | EndNote

1. biology
2. elementary school
3. engineering design
4. EngrTEAMS
5. environment
6. has CCSS
7. has NGSS
8. K-12
9. middle school
10. plants
11. precollege
12. STEM
13. teaching and learning