Curriculum Ideas

• Foundational core skills in reading, math, and communication - using existing curriculum.
• Regenerative farming and early environmental awareness
• Basic survival and sustainability practices
• Technology and informatics introductions
• Social-emotional learning, empathy, and self-regulation

• Bee habitats: Keep solitary bee houses or observation hives for mason or leaf-cutter bees.
• Butterfly gardens: Plant milkweed, dill, and native flowers; track pollinator visits.
• Bug hotels: Students collect twigs, pinecones, bark, or hollow stems to build micro-habitats.

• Mycelium growth labs: Grow mushroom blocks or mycelial mats in clear containers to watch underground networks form.
• Soil-health stations: Compare “alive” soil (with compost and microbes) to sterile soil; measure plant growth.
• Decomposition bins: Layer leaves, cardboard, and food scraps to see how fungi and microbes break them down.

• School gardens: Rotating beds for vegetables, herbs, and native crops; students track germination, rainfall, and harvest data.
• Indoor microgreens lab: Grow trays of sprouts under LED lights; measure growth under different water or light levels.
• Seed libraries: Collect, label, and store local seeds for each growing season.

• Rain-catchment hand-washing stations: Roof-to-barrel systems with clear pipes so kids see the water cycle.
• Composting toilets ??
• Grey-water gardens: ??

• Solar oven projects: Build cardboard or mirror-based cookers; track temperature and efficiency.
• Mini wind turbines: Power room LEDs or small pumps; measure wind vs. output.
• Biodegradable materials lab: ??

Core idea: Technology is something we teach and nurture — not something that replaces us.

• Robotic gardens: Use simple bots (Bee-Bots, Code-a-pillar, or KIBO robots) that follow taped “garden paths” to water plants or visit “flowers.”
• Digital storytelling stations: ??
• Interactive weather dashboard: A Raspberry Pi or small monitor showing live temperature, sunlight, and soil-moisture data from outdoor sensors.
• Keyboard gardens: Old, unplugged keyboards and electronics taken apart safely — kids match parts to “body” systems (CPU = brain, wires = nerves).

Core idea: Show how technology mirrors ecosystems — decentralized, adaptive, and interconnected.

• Mini “Internet” lab: Use small Raspberry Pis or microcontrollers (like Arduino or BBC micro:bit) to send signals between through Wi-Fi — a physical model of the World Wide Web.
• Data-from-nature projects: Program micro:bits to measure soil moisture, temperature, or light; log results on a shared dashboard.
• Digital compost tracker: Students enter what goes into compost piles; the system graphs temperature and decomposition rate over time.
• Eco-code missions: Short, game-style coding tasks that solve real problems (e.g., “code a sprinkler that turns on only when soil is dry”).
• AI as observer: Simple machine-learning demos — train a webcam model to recognize plants or recycling bins using platforms like Teachable Machine.
• Minecraft Edu or Roblox Studio: Build replicas of their own home or sustainable cities; tie in lessons on resource use and energy loops.

Iterative Skills and Knowledge

• Biology & Ecology: Kids progress from identifying species to studying pollinator population dynamics and biodiversity indices.
• Math & Data: Begin quantitative data logging (frequency charts, graphing pollinator counts, calculating ratios of species diversity).
• Civic Science: Partner with citizen-science databases (e.g., iNaturalist, BeeSpotter).
• Entrepreneurship: Use school honey, beeswax, or pollination data in small business or environmental-economics projects.
• Technology: Incorporate sensors or Raspberry Pi cameras for motion-activated pollinator observation.

Iterative Skills and Knowledge

• Microbiology & Chemistry: Explore fungal cell structure, symbiosis, and mycorrhizal relationships.
• Engineering & Design: Use soil-moisture sensors, Arduino probes, or GIS mapping to visualize underground networks.
• Sustainability Science: Study carbon cycling and nutrient feedback loops; simulate soil degradation and remediation.
• Art & Design Thinking: Create biodesign materials (mycelium-based packaging or art sculptures).

Iterative Skills and Knowledge

• Agricultural Science: Learn about crop rotation, nitrogen fixation, and soil pH management.
• Data Literacy: Graph yield over time, analyze trends with rainfall, and apply statistics to growth experiments.
• Economics & Policy: Study food systems, local vs. global agriculture, and ethical sourcing.
• Technology Integration: Introduce sensors for soil moisture or automated irrigation systems using microcontrollers.
• Nutrition & Health: Connect harvests to balanced-diet planning and food-safety principles.

Iterative Skills and Knowledge

• Earth & Environmental Science: Apply hydrology concepts (watersheds, infiltration, filtration).
• Engineering & Problem Solving: Design scaled water-treatment or desalination prototypes.
• Civics & Policy: Discuss water rights, municipal systems, and global sanitation challenges.
• Math Integration: Calculate water flow rates, filter efficiency, and volume conservation.
• Ethics & Sustainability: Model community-based water stewardship project

Iterative Skills and Knowledge

• Physics & Engineering: Study energy transfer, thermodynamics, and power efficiency using experimental data.
• Design & Innovation: Prototype renewable systems (solar lamps, pedal-powered generators).
• Data Analysis: Track voltage, current, and output graphs using digital multimeters or data-logging software.
• Environmental Policy: Evaluate renewable energy in community infrastructure.
• Interdisciplinary Connection: Combine chemistry (bio-plastics), economics (cost analysis), and environmental impact (life-cycle assessment).

Iterative Skills and Knowledge

• Ecosystem Science: Study detritivore roles in carbon cycling and soil fertility.
• Quantitative Skills: Measure temperature curves and decomposition rates; develop hypotheses on microbial efficiency.
• Civic Engagement: Design waste-reduction plans for the school or community.
• Technology: Create a compost-tracking dashboard or database.
• Entrepreneurship: Launch “green business” ideas using recycled or composted materials.

Iterative Skills and Knowledge

• Environmental Science: Develop long-term ecological monitoring plots; understand population sampling and error margins.
• Technology & Coding: Use open-source software (e.g., Arduino weather stations, Google Sheets APIs, GIS mapping).
• Mathematics: Correlate weather patterns with plant growth or pollinator visits using regression models.
• Civic Science & Policy: Contribute to national data sets on climate, pollution, and biodiversity.
• STEAM Creativity: Combine visual data (charts, art) for storytelling about ecosystems.

• Energy & Motion Labs: solar-powered pumps, mini wind turbines, microcontrollers controlling LEDs or sensors.
• Pollinator & Ecosystem Observation: Pi-based cameras, motion sensors tracking bees or insects.
• Water & Sanitation Engineering: pumps, gravity systems — introduces mechanical logic and automation basics.

Goal: Move from natural systems to mechanical analogs.

• Build simple robots (line-followers, insect or crab bots) using Arduino or Micro:bit.
• Connect soil-moisture or light sensors to automated watering arms or “plant guardians.”
• Study biomimicry — design mechanisms modeled after bees, ants, or vines.
• Introduce servo motors, relays, and basic programming (C++, Python).
• Discuss ethical design: “When does automation support life vs. replace it?”

Key Crossover: “Pollinator feedback → robotic feedback loops.”

Goal: Build integrated robotic systems.

• Assemble multi-axis robotic arms for manufacturing simulations.
• Program autonomous rovers for field monitoring or agriculture (soil sampling, seed planting).
• Study mechanical systems + AI vision (object tracking, motion detection).
• Learn fundamentals of control systems, torque, and sensor calibration.
• Integrate 3D printing and CNC fabrication in robot design labs.

Cross-Domain Integration: Combines engineering, IT, energy, and sustainability.

Goal: Create semi-autonomous and human-interactive robots.

• Build humanoid prototypes with servos, voice-recognition, and environmental sensors.
• Implement AI neural networks (vision, speech, decision-making) using Raspberry Pi 5 + TensorFlow Lite.
• Explore bionics and prosthetics: sensors that respond to muscle or motion input.
• Conduct ethics & philosophy modules on consciousness, empathy, and machine rights.
• Capstone: “Design a robot that improves community life” (eldercare assistant, emergency-response drone, farm monitor, etc.).

Key Crossover: “Ecosystem intelligence → artificial intelligence.”