Module 3: Season Extenders

Constructing a Hoop House

 It was the first day of November and our students had spent a full three weeks in the garden, planting veggies and cover-crops, tilling soil, and pulling out weeds, as well as doing lots of fun experiments indoors to learn about plant parts, needs and functions. We had been testing the soil temperature for weeks now and recording it in our school garden log. Students took the soil temperature and noticed that it had decreased by 2 degrees over a two week period. using this information they made some hypothesis' regarding what the soil temperature might be in a month, it would be colder for certain, and thus not great for the small, and vulnerable crops we had planted in one of our raised beds.

We discussed what we do when we're cold: put on a sweatshirt or blanket, run around, or keep walking. Students then tied this to how we might help our plants to keep warm and thriving in the on coming months of chilly weather. They were then given four lengths of PVC pipe and a clear plastic sheet to experiment with on some bare ground in our garden space. After many tries at constructing a suitable structure that would : keep heat in, maintain air flow, and not succumb to folding under the pressure of heavy Oregon rains, they got it!

Once the students came up with their own design we took our materials to the raised be in question and began deciding how to best construct our structure. Students decided in order to get the PVC "ribs" equally placed, that they could take a measurement of the bed length and then divide by four.  We checked our measurements to find that some adjustments had to be made and were able to correct our incorrect math visually (we counted 18" instead of 28"). Once the "ribs" were in place we were able to reinforce our structure from rain (and the pooling of water) by lashing on a main beam and two beams running parallel on each side of it. We used hazel shots for this but many other materials would work just fine.


The students really enjoyed learning to tie secure knots with the garden twine, as well as getting to experiment with the big materials.  I found that having a more "challenging" project was good for this age group as was focusing more time and attention on the mathematical and engineering aspects of construction. (They REALLY enjoyed using the measuring tapes and doing division!).


Overall this was a great experience and will provide many future opportunities at assessing soil temperature throughout the winter and having a comparison of plants in a hoop house vs. plants exposed in the ground.