Ningxia Zhongning County No. 5 Primary School Introduces VegeSense Smart Mini-farm

With the progress of science and technology and the enhancement of people's awareness of environmental protection, intelligent agriculture has gradually entered the field of education. As a school dedicated to comprehensive quality education, the Fifth Primary School in Zhongning County, Ningxia, is actively exploringhow to help students understand and experience the current agricultural production process，through scientific methods, and to cultivate.

Meanwhile, due to the special characteristics of Ningxia's climate, cold and dry in winter, hot and short in spring, summer and fall, the average annual temperature is between 8-10°C, while the temperature in the south-central part of the country is as high as 39°C, the ordinary planting cabinets are unable to meet the planting conditions. The school finally introduced VegeSense Smart Microfarm after research and study.

[Introduction to VegeSense Smart Mini-farm]

VegeSense Smart Mini-farm is a modern agricultural equipment that combines Internet of Things (IoT) technology, automation control and environmental protection concept. It realizes soilless cultivation of plants by controlling key factors such as light, temperature and humidity, nutrient solution and water circulation. Students can easily monitor the growth of plants and regulate the supply of light, humidity and nutrient solution through the operation panel or mobile app.For primary school students, this not only increases the fun of learning, but also helps them understand the concept of “smart mini-farm” in modern agriculture..

[Introducing the educational value of smart mini-farm]

The VegeSense Smart Mini-farm provides students with an opportunity to observe plant growth in real time. From seed germination and growth to fruiting, students can observe the changes in plants and learn the basic elements required for plant growth, such as water, light, temperature, air and nutrients. Through daily recordings and observations, students learn about the life cycle of plants andhow to adjust different environmental conditions to meet their growth needs..

Another important purpose of introducing VegeSense Smart Microfarm isto raise students' awareness of environmental protection.Modern agriculture is environmentally friendly to a certain extent, especially soil-less cultivation systems like micro-farms,which use far less water than traditional agriculture and can be recycled.In the process, students will realize the preciousness of resources and gradually develop good habits of saving water and paying attention to environmental protection.

In addition, smart mini-farms do not need to use soil,which avoids the problem of soil pollution and reduces the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.By learning about soil-less cultivation technology, students learned about the green model of agriculture and also felt the key role of science and technology in the sustainable development of agriculture.

The introduction of VegeSense Smart Mini-farms provides students with hands-on opportunities. Each class will manage the microfarm in groups according to the curriculum.Students will need to work together to complete planting tasks, from preparing seeds and setting up the farm environment to observing and recording the growth of the plants. In the process of managing the farm, students also have to solve various problems in plant growth, such as insufficient light and improper concentration of nutrient solution. Through these challenges, they not only learn how to think and solve problems independently, but also learn to communicate and coordinate with others to accomplish tasks together.

The successful introduction of VegeSense Smart Mini-farm has given a new look to the educational environment of the Fifth Primary School in Zhongning County. In the future, the school plans to integrate this system into more clubs,such as science and environmental protection, so that students can be exposed to modern agriculture and green technology in different subjects.