Ecology Connections Camp Blog
Welcome to the Ecology Connections Camp Blog. In this blog campers will be submitting research and documentation of the work they have done and the STEM concepts they have learned and mastered at this weeks' camp. Each day will have a heading and this will be entirely compiled by campers.
Three Books: One New Vision of Learning
After a very intense summer camp at Mezzacello Urban Farm around sustainably using wind energy I had a powerful dream. This dream revolved around three books: "Alice's Adventures in wonderland" by Lewis Carroll, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl, and "A Wrinkle In Time" by Madeline L'Engle. The dream was a response to a conversation I had with the kids about their favorite books and why.
From Waste To Taste
This is a blog p[ost about how we create animal feed at Mezzacello Urban Farm from slightly dehydrated edible weeds and assorted corn, hay, seeds, wheat germ, oils, and molasses. When all of this blended it is mixed with 1/3 it’s mass of water. This is then blended together into a paste, The paste is then extruded, left to dry and voila! Feed!
A Machine for Life and a Molecule Meet on a Farm
On LinkedIn today, I shared a post about how Mezzacello Urban Farm is a machine for life. I went on to elaborate that the potager gardens looked like a Chlorophyll molecule. Here, I have superimposed a diagram of the atom over the potager, through the pond, embracing the biodome and the Narnia outdoor lab, and ending up at the mouth of the pollinator garden. This is the story of how A Machine for Life and a Molecule Meet on a Farm.
The Sustainability Tax
Sustainability is not cheap or easy. It requires innovation, commitment, passion and sacrifice. That last one is what I call the Sustainability Tax. We paid it and are willing to teach or consult.
Language and the Power of Reframing
This lesson started out as a lesson in learning how to look at data and systems from new perspectives and turned into a mad lib of data synthesis. This was actually a great deal of fun and it is a new tool I will be using with students. The game is called “Coin Purse” for maximum absurdity and permission to be creative with language and the power of reframing.
Sustainability In Nature
In this class we gave each DNA strand (table) a beneficial mutation that would benefit the entire species (class). But one table’s mutation was bad for the other. The challenge was to optimize and use reason and democracy to decide what represented optimal sustainability in nature.
The Power of Permaculture
This is the story of systems design and permaculture in the service of sustainability on an urban farm. This collage of images showcases 7 years of successful permaculture that transformed 30 cut stems of hydrangea, and 36 cut branches into the hornbeam allee that exists at Mezzacello Urban Farm today. This is the power of permaculture.
How We Build Ecology, Technology, and Confidence Through Curriculum
At Mezzacello, we don’t recreate the wheel with new curriculum. We use the wheels of existing curriculum and build a new vehicle blending traditional Amish strategies and cutting edge STEM technology. This is how we do it.
Introducing Camp Stories at Mezzacello
The beginning of a series of blog posts about my summer camp experiences here at Mezzacello Urban Farm. These happen all the time, but I rarely share them. I think I should start!
Portable Energy Generation systems (PEGs)
An emerging aspect of our mission to Grow, Maintain, Sustain, and Explain is improved portable units to teach our Applied STEM systems in more locations. PEGs is the latest offering. Portable Energy Generation systems.
How Kids Can Monitor and Protect Their Environment
At a Mezzacello Urban Farm Summer Camp for Middle School Students, a team of kids tested, monitored, diagnosed a parasite, and treated a 7000kl pond and the vet approves!
Welcome to the TerraRover
Mezzacello Urban Farm is proud to add the NASA/AREN TerraRover project to our farm and curriculum. This ground-based, Landsat-connected rover will allow Mezzacello to tie the farm to the atmosphere and beyond innew and surprising ways.
BioDome Curriculum Design
After building and testing the BioDome at Mezzacello Urban Farm I needed to know how difficult it was to build a real model!
The Rule of Sustainability - 3 and 5 Strategy
Sustainability is an important topic right now. We need more of it, and better metrics to define what "it" is.
Spring 2021 and the Brunerform
An update on the gardens this spring and a candid little confessional and observation on Spring, Beauty, Life, and Fashion.
The Vision for the Formal Gardens
Six years ago around this time we started mapping out the "rooms" of the formal gardens. We cut out the sod and recycled as much of the dirt as we could and turned the rest into sod rolls for our neighbors. We had 60 rolls of sod.