The New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) teamed up with sustainability nonprofit New York Sun Works to welcome Queens families to NYSCI on July 11 to harvest over 50 pounds of produce grown at a hydroponics lab at the Queens-based science museum.
New York Sun Works installed a Hydroponic Learning Lab at NYSCI last August in order to "empower and inspire the next generation" of scientists, biologists, agriculturalists, agronomists, activists and community leaders to create solutions to local and global climate challenges.
The non-profit has now installed over 350 hydroponics labs across New York City and over 70 across Queens, teaching young students how to grow plants indoors and without using soil. Instead of receiving energy from the sun, plants at the labs receive energy from LED lighting that is tailored to the specific energy needs of individual plans. Plants are also planted in soil-free growth mediums.
The NYSCI lab aims to demonstrate how hydroponics fits into wider sustainability science education in schools. The lab additionally allows the public to taste first hand the difference between fresh hydroponic produce and vegetables from supermarkets, NY Sun Works said.
Read more at QNS