I’ve been wanting to build a greenhouse with my 5th grade students for a couple of years. I knew it would be a chaotic process but I finally bit the bullet and did it this winter. I’ve made the plans and materials list public and the slides I made for the unit are here in case anyone wants to replicate this at their school.
We started with a lesson on how greenhouses work, then I asked them to design their own on paper with pencils and rulers.
I took their ideas and designed it in Tinkercad.
Next, I purchased treated 2 x 4 lumber for the main structure and a lot of galvanized L brackets (shout out to my local lumber experts Anawalt Lumber). I made the kids wear gloves when touching the wood and I did all the cutting (with a mask on). Treated lumber is not as bad as it used to be but it’s still not a good idea to expose your skin to it.
I spent a day teaching the students proper safety protocol and having them practice using drills and drivers, then I turned them loose. We started by constructing each of the four walls, then set them up and bolted them together.
It took about 2 class periods per section to get the majority of it built. I did the part that required getting on a tall ladder with power tools.
Next, we put the polycarbonate panels on with screws and washers. I used these. Drilling the screws in just far enough proved challenging for the 5th graders but we problem-solved and learned to take it slowly.
Finally, it was ready. Even without a door on it (I’ll get to it…) it’s about 10-15 degrees warmer inside the greenhouse. The 6th grade science teacher is going to use most of the space for a project but we planted a few vegetables:
The kids loved this project. They couldn’t wait to get their hands on power tools and dirt and they’re excited to eat the vegetables when they’re ripe. Next year, we’ll add an automated watering system and maybe a lighting system.