NASEF Farmcraft 2024 Project Based Learning:

Pre-Season Challenge #2: Nontraditional Farming Practices

Project Overview:
Nontraditional farming involves innovative methods of growing food that go beyond traditional practices.
Vertical farming, aquaponics, hydroponics, and other methods provide unique and innovative ways to
produce food while using limited or alternative resources. Urban farming transforms cities into productive
gardens, allowing fresh food to be grown within city spaces. These creative approaches not only make
farming more exciting but also address challenges by bringing agriculture to diverse and unexpected
locations.
In this lesson, students will be tasked with researching nontraditional farming technologies and practices
and presenting their learning by building and sharing a Minecraft world that displays and demonstrates
their understanding.

Focus Standards:
● ITTEA Standards for Technological and Engineering Literacy –
● STEL-1Q - Conduct research to inform intentional inventions and innovations that address
specific needs and wants.
● ISTE Standards
● 3 Knowledge Constructor - Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world
issues and problems, developing ideas and theories, and pursuing answers and solutions.
● 6 Creative Communicator - 6c Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively
by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models, or simulations.
● 7 Global Collaborator - Students use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and enrich
their learning by collaborating with others and working effectively in teams locally and
globally.

Objectives:
● Students will be able to explain the differences between traditional and nontraditional farming.
● Students will be able to identify the various types of nontraditional farming practices such as vertical
farming, hydroponics, aquaponics, and others.
● Students will be able to communicate their reasoning for their design choices and positions regarding
nontraditional farming systems.
● Students will design, build, and deliver a Minecraft world that demonstrates their understanding of
modern and future nontraditional farming practices and systems, modeling one or more examples.
Requirements/Task(s):
Task 1: Complete a KWL chart (example provided below) of nontraditional farming tools and
practices.

Task 2: Research nontraditional farming tools and practices utilizing both provided resources and
group investigation.

Task 3: Build, narrate, and submit a Minecraft world that demonstrates learning and
understanding of modern and future nontraditional farming tools and practices.

Procedure:
1. Tune in:

Students will tune into the livestream or watch the recording of the NASEF Farmcraft 2024
livestream, “NASEF Farmcraft 2024 Preseason Challenge #2.” It is recommended that the
team sponsor/educator watch with the students.
• Thursday, February 22nd, 2024 at 9:00am PT / 10:00am MT / 11:00am CT / 12:00pm ET
/ 4:00pm GMT on the NASEF YouTube channel.

2. Present the challenge to the students:

Pre-Season Challenge 2: Nontraditional Farming

Nontraditional farming involves innovative methods of growing food that go beyond

traditional practices. Vertical farming, aquaponics, hydroponics, and other methods
provide unique and innovative ways to produce food while using limited or alternative
resources. Urban farming transforms cities into productive gardens, allowing fresh
food to be grown within city spaces. These creative approaches not only make farming
more exciting but also address challenges by bringing agriculture to diverse and
unexpected locations.

Design a farm that incorporates indoor nontraditional farming practices in your

Minecraft world to model and demonstrate one or more of these techniques.
Consider ways to build or present those ideas/concepts that do not exist in a “typical”
Minecraft world. Explain the content you included in your build and why you chose to
include it. Some nontraditional farming practices you might include are:

1. VERTICAL FARMING: A method of growing crops in stacked layers or

towers, maximizing space efficiency and allowing for year-round cultivation.

2. HYDROPONICS: A soil-less cultivation method where plants receive

nutrients directly from a nutrient-rich water solution, promoting efficient and
controlled growth.
 3. AQUAPONICS: A sustainable method that combines aquaculture (fish
farming) and plant production, creating a symbiotic system where fish waste
provides nutrients for plants, and the plants help purify the water for the fish.

4. OTHER OPTIONS: These include, but are not limited to, aeroponics,
container farming, rooftop farming, permaculture, and agroforestry.

Some questions to consider when researching and developing your build:

● Which nontraditional farming practices do farmers use today? Where and why
do they use these farming techniques?
● Which nontraditional farming practices do you think would advance farming
practices in the future? Do you think any of these would be beneficial to where
you live?
● What are the biggest current challenges that farmers face when farming in
urban areas?
● What is the most surprising thing you learned about nontraditional and urban
farming when preparing for this challenge?

Considering the questions above, guide the students through the “K” and “W” portions of the
KWL chart. K-W-L charts are graphic organizers that guide students through organizing
information before, during, and after a unit, project, or a lesson. They can be used to engage
students in a new topic, activate prior knowledge, share unit objectives, and monitor students’
learning.

Ask students what they KNOW (or believe they know) about nontraditional farming
practices, and why they are used.
● This information may be incorrect, inaccurate, or misinformed. For this step of the
process this is acceptable as their learning and research should be utilized to address
misconceptions.
Ask students what they WANT to know (or need to know to effectively complete their
project.
Learn more about K-W-L charts here: https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/what-is-a-kwl-chart
 K-W-L Chart*
Topic:

What I KNOW What I WANT to Learn What I LEARNED

*A printable KWL chart can be found at the end of this document

3. Guided student research:

Students will investigate and explore the information necessary to complete their project based on
their responses to the first two columns of the K-W-L chart.
Possible resources:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAN6Tz4IwmA
o Moate, Maddie. “Kid Engineer: Growing Plants with Fish | Design Squad.”
YouTube, 13 March 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAN6Tz4IwmA.
Accessed 18 January 2024.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ww2TP_tU7o
o “Next Gen Farming Without Soil and 90% Less Water | GRATEFUL.”
YouTube, 21 September 2019,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ww2TP_tU7o. Accessed 18 January 2024.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YmkWODcqbA
o “How This Aquaponics Farmer Is Reinventing Urban Agriculture.” YouTube, 29
June 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YmkWODcqbA. Accessed 18
January 2024.
• https://www.fao.org/fao-stories/article/en/c/1276274/
o “Responding creatively to crises with non-traditional farming.” Food and
Agriculture Organization, 27 May 2020, https://www.fao.org/fao-
stories/article/en/c/1276274/. Accessed 18 January 2024.
• https://kidsgardening.org/resources/gardening-basics-hydroponics/
 o “Hydroponics.” KidsGardening, https://kidsgardening.org/resources/gardening-
basics-hydroponics/. Accessed 18 January 2024.
• https://kidsgardening.org/resources/designing-a-school-garden-consider-container-
gardening/
o “Consider Container Gardening.” KidsGardening,
https://kidsgardening.org/resources/designing-a-school-garden-consider-
container-gardening/. Accessed 18 January 2024.
Have students share their resources and findings. Guide the students through completing the
“L” portion of the K-W-L chart. This should serve to inform their choices in their builds.

4. Project Build:
Review the challenge with the students.

Pre-Season Challenge 2: Nontraditional Farming

Nontraditional farming involves innovative methods of growing food that go beyond

traditional practices. Vertical farming, aquaponics, hydroponics, and other methods
provide unique and innovative ways to produce food while using limited or alternative
resources. Urban farming transforms cities into productive gardens, allowing fresh food to
be grown within city spaces. These creative approaches not only make farming more
exciting but also address challenges by bringing agriculture to diverse and unexpected
locations.

Design a farm that incorporates urban nontraditional farming practices in your

Minecraft world to model and demonstrate one or more of these techniques. Consider
ways to build or present those ideas/concepts that do not exist in a “typical” Minecraft
world. Explain the content you included in your build and why you chose to include it.
Some nontraditional farming practices you might include are:

5. VERTICAL FARMING: A method of growing crops in stacked layers or

towers, maximizing space efficiency and allowing for year-round cultivation.

6. HYDROPONICS: A soil-less cultivation method where plants receive nutrients

directly from a nutrient-rich water solution, promoting efficient and controlled
growth.

7. AQUAPONICS: A sustainable method that combines aquaculture (fish farming)

and plant production, creating a symbiotic system where fish waste provides
nutrients for plants, and the plants help purify the water for the fish.

8. OTHER OPTIONS: These include, but are not limited to, aeroponics, container
farming, rooftop farming, permaculture, and agroforestry.
 Some questions to consider when researching and developing your build:

● Which nontraditional farming practices do farmers use today? Where and why do
they use these farming techniques?
● Which nontraditional farming practices do you think would advance farming
practices in the future? Do you think any of these would be beneficial to where you
live?
● What are the biggest current challenges that farmers face when farming in urban
areas?
● What is the most surprising thing you learned about nontraditional and urban
farming when preparing for this challenge?

Students will work together with their team to complete the challenge in Minecraft Education. Use
this time to remind students to refer to their K-W-L chart to ensure they are including the information
and discussion points that they have shared.
For technical support and regarding the use of Minecraft Education Edition for the challenge, please
see the Minecraft: Education Support Center:
https://educommunity.minecraft.net/
…or the Farmcraft 2024 Team Guide:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yI0cGRVcBzwkKoDWOjAf2fjviqA7OpPt/view

5. Submission:
To submit their projects, guide students to the NASEF Farmcraft 2024 Flip (formally Flipgrid):
https://flip.com/3c7c5b7e

Before submission, students should be asked to consider the following regarding their videos:
o Make sure we can see what you are showing us.
o No shaking: Consider the viewer. Are you keeping the “camera” steady?
o Can we hear you? Is the audio clear?
o Make sure to have the team’s name in the title of their Flip submission.
 K-W-L Chart
Topic:

What I KNOW What I WANT to Learn What I LEARNED