GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) – A science teacher in the Georgetown County School District is asking you to help support her multiple classrooms by giving students insight and experience into sustainable agriculture and reduction of food insecurity. To do that, she needs some specific equipment.
Elizabeth McCarty teaches Earth Science and Environmental Science to ninth through 12th graders at Waccamaw High School in Georgetown County. She’s hoping to teach her students about learning to solve food insecurity and sustainable agriculture on a smaller scale. But she needs your help to do that.
“We’re hoping to get funded a hydroponic system and it’s nice because it’s one of the larger ones,” McCarty says. “It’s a little bigger than your at-home one. It’s about five feet tallish and we’re hoping to learn how to do plant growing and monitor nutrients for sustainable farming.”
Traditional agricultural methods use a large amount of water and take up quite a bit of space. This system will help Mrs. McCarty show her students, on a small scale, how agricultural techniques can be modified to be more sustainable and efficient, as well as to solve issues relating to food insecurities, which are only predicted to increase in the coming decades.
“2050 is a pivotal year for food shortages and all considering global population,” McCarty says. “It gives us a chance to try to figure out how we can help with that on a small scale and hopefully inspire them to help with that on a larger scale.”
McCarty says both AP Environmental Science and Earth Science curriculums delve into the challenges of feeding a growing population, as well as more sustainable methods of farming and growing food. The curricula also call for innovative solutions to these problems.
“It kind of looks like a PVC Tower and it has a water basin at the bottom and there you can premix nutrients and all that,” McCarty adds. “It comes with instructions and how to monitor the nutrient levels for the plants that you’re growing. Any plant that doesn’t have like a deep-rooted plant. So, potatoes and things like that are out but lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, and things like that are all things that can be grown with this system and it uses water nutrients rather than soil.”
McCarty says it’s great to get the students inspired to be like real scientists and do these hands-on activities.
“Any donations are welcome, and we’re grateful for them and thank you in advance to anybody who decides to help us out and support us.”
All donations are tax-deductible, and the Donors Choose organization collects the money, purchases the items and sends them to the teacher. That way you know your donation is used appropriately.
The project expires on October 1st. If you would like to donate, click here.
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