OPEN DISTANCE LEARNING EVENT – PS 5
RONALD E MCNAIR STUDENTS IN BROOKLYN PLAN & PREPARE WITH OPEN TEAMS FOR UPCOMING ZOOM WITH SISTER SCHOOL IN JAMAICA AND KENYA
Published: March 21, 2025
Event Photos
The OPEN Team and students from PS5 Ronald E. McNair led by teacher Janice Mack Bogues and Principal Lena Gates met together by Zoom on March 21, 2025 for a lively and varied distance learning class.
During the hour and a half long Zoom event project participants (students selected from, 2ND, 3rd and 4th grade classrooms at PS5) learned about the plans for the next phase of their sustainable garden project.
OPEN drew students directly into the planning process, and their voices were heard on how they wish to engage with their upcoming peers from Hills, their sister school in Jamaica in an upcoming international Zoom session, slated for late April early May.
The plan is for PS 5 students, who are further ahead on their garden work, will not only describe their sustainable garden practices to the young Jamaica students, but also showcase their leading edge sensor monitoring and AI garden assessment software curricula in PS 5 gardens.
Global Learning Experience
The OPEN Team led by George Newman and Travis Teague gave PS 5 students a trip around the world teaching some informal geography lessons while focusing on OPEN farm sites, starting at PS5! We then virtually traveled to an OPEN Jamaica partner farm site and saw the real time soil and light sensor data in colorful graphical displays. Through this software and data display system, PS 5 students are beginning to learn the basics of graphing and data analysis, using real world real time data.
The teacher Ms. Mack Bogues is being trained on the software learning system to further integrate this powerful tool into the students NY Standards based STEM curricula – studying the Science of plant biology and sustainable agriculture; Technology – sensor technologies and AI; Engineering – how these systems and networks operate; and Mathematics – the basics of graphing.
Hands-on Learning and Skill Development
In this project-based hands-on learning program, PS 5 students will learn formal presentation and communications skills, and reading and writing through our new WhatsApp AI Garden Evaluation Platform managed by Ms. Mack Bogues.
Connecting with Australia
The students were so well-behaved as we traveled region by region via our digital maps to our other farm and school sites in Australia. While “visiting” our OPEN Australia school site, PS 5 students learned how the agriculture students are caring for the health of their young chicks in the chicken coop at the end of the hot Australia summer.
Presently, the older students at Knox Grammar in Sydney, Australia are using CO2 and air temp and humidity sensors to continually check on air quality to maintain the health of the chicks, and if required take actions to improve these hot and potentially stagnant air coop house conditions. This clearly demonstrated to the young PS 5 students the importance of understanding data and sensor technology for improving our farm animal and crop health.
Insights from Kenya
Then we switched it up after our technology and curricula tour, and in came our surprise guest Zooming in from our Bungoma, Kenya farm region, Mr. Bonventure Masika. Mr. Masika told of our ongoing OPEN work in his rural farm region in East Africa and how his students and local professional farmers and scientists have improved their food production, and are also climate protecting their food supply through OPEN’s sustainable agriculture program and sensor technology deployments. PS 5 students are replicating the experimental conditions in their school gardens, doing real science research, and learning from these experienced farmers and farm community students at the same time.
Engaging Q&A Session
Lastly, we had a most engaging Q&A session with the very attentive and learned PS5 student project participants. The students really showed they have done their homework and learned a lot already from our indoor garden experiments comparing soil based growing to hydroponics with carrots. Fantastic work Ms. Mack Bogues and participating PS5 apprentice farmers.
The students’ questions were thoughtful and right on target with the lessons, while also homing in on the upcoming event with Jamaica sister school. The students were trying to better understand the environmental and climate differences between growing tomatoes and peppers on Jamaica vs. NY City, and how that might impact food production and plant health and food quality.
Brilliant first of several international distance learning events for these future technology savvy agriculture scientists. Looking forward to our upcoming international Zoom distance learning events.