Students were tasked with finding a solution to the question: How can we design better irrigation systems to use water wisely?
We had many great applications, but the winners were “MMS Ag Engineers” from Middleton Middle School in Idaho. This team of students developed 3 prototypes to design a better irrigation system that uses water more wisely on sloped land that doesn’t currently have irrigation. Students shared their ideas and prototypes with Emily Bedwell, Extension Irrigation & Technology Specialist, in Northern Idaho.
Students noted that if they had more time, “We would have added more pumps and better materials to our prototype. We also would have had stronger pumps to show that no matter how steep the slope is, we can still pump the water upwards. We could also improve our prototypes and find different ways to test them. We could get even more feedback and keep adding and changing our project to make it better.”
MMS Ag Engineers’ teacher, Amanda Harris, shared, “Thank you for this real-world problem! The team has decided to continue working on their project, even with their submission being turned in. You have inspired middle school ag engineers!”
We interviewed Amanda Harris about her class’s experience!
The challenge of “water-wise” was really fun. It was a lot of fun to build a prototype to meet that problem. We had to learn more about gravity and erosion with water, and about an area we aren't familiar with, because our farmlands are on flat land, so we have pivots or siphon irrigation. The hardest part was testing and coming up with an idea. Once we had an idea, which took us a while, it was easy to build, but figuring out how to test it took a while.
Learning more about water in different areas and how gravity plays a part. Working together as a team. Building and testing.
Absolutely, it is really important for students to learn more about agriculture, which is all around us, and be creative in figuring out ways to solve those real-world problems.
If you can, give the students more time to iterate on their prototypes so they can continue the learning process and improve upon what they learn. Don't shy away from these hands-on topics. Use recyclables, mentor, but let the students do the process. Give everyone a chance to design, build, and test.
Our runners-up were from Howard Elementary School in California, led by teacher Jill Standen. She had 3 groups who tested ways to create water-wise systems!
