Designs can be sorted by any number of categories. Encourage students to make up their own classifications. Older students may devise methods of representing more than one classification at the same time, such as a Venn diagram, for example. Students estimate the price of the garden they have designed, and attach this estimate to their drawing. Students then obtain ads and prices from local hardware shops and home supply stores.
Hydroponic gardens used in space have the potential for feeding astronauts for many days.
Ask students to estimate the amount of food likely to be produced by their garden during one year in space. Ask them to elaborate on how they assessed the productivity of their garden. Calculate the price of a garden for a family of four and for a community of 20. These numbers are comparable to a small shuttle colony. For this activity, yields and growing times can be based upon the germination information listed in books or on the backs of packages of seeds.