By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor
The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture (AFBFA) recently released details for the Spring 2021 Purple Plow Challenge, H2 Grow. Participating students in grades 5-12 will create functioning aquaponics systems that can help solve food insecurity on a local and global scale.
The Purple Plow Engineering Design Process encourages students to kinesthetically learn the scientific method by working to identify issues, imagine solutions, design and create a prototype model, test and improve their models and theories, and then share the results with others.
“Purple Plow challenges offer students an opportunity to engage in hands-on learning that challenges them to think outside the box and connect agriculture to the scientific process,” said Jordan Walker, Texas Farm Bureau director of Educational Outreach. “Farmers today are tasked with growing a sustainable food supply to feed an increasing population, and to do so, they must be innovative, which is exactly what the Purple Plow Challenge encourages students to do.”
The Purple Plow Challenge can be conducted by individuals or in student teams. Free resources online help facilitators, students and volunteers explore the challenge topic and create plans.
This year’s challenge focuses on using aquaponic systems to address food insecurity.
National food bank group Feeding America estimates 42.2 million Americans live in food insecure households. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food insecurity is defined as a household’s consistent access to adequate food being limited by lack of money or other resources at times during the year.
With an expected population of 9 billion by 2050, food insecurity is only expected to grow. But sustainable local food systems can help bridge the gap between food insecurity and adequate nutrition.
Through this Purple Plow Challenge, students will create a life-sized model of a system that uses waste from aquatic animals as a beneficial nutrient for plant growth. The student projects must produce a plant-based food source and produce an aquatic animal-based food source to be considered successful.
Additional project criteria include maintaining an environment suitable to aquatic animal life within 90 days and harvesting an edible food product within 90 days or demonstrating progress in plant and animal growth within the timeframe allotted. A presentation must be produced and posted to social media, as well.
Educators can also get help from outside volunteers to coach students through the challenge. Corteva Agriscience, a sponsor of the Purple Plow Challenge, may have representatives from the field of agricultural science available to serve as a coach, according to AFBFA.
An overview of the H2 Grow Challenge is available here.
All entries must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. EST on July 31. The top three entries will win a 3D printer and a $100 Visa gift card.
For general information on Purple Plow, visit the AFBFA website.