I need to share a GREAT video lab writeup from the first major lab of the year.  Way to go Cali and Brit!

This school year and next, Groton students will have to opportunity to do something truly unique.  We are building an Earthship permaculture system in Freeville!  This fall we'll be putting the finishing touches on the Earthship barn, which will be vital for livestock, storage, and rainwater collection.  The barn could not have been completed without the help of Mr. Filzen, Mr. Wiech, Mr. Giroux, Mrs. Hume, and Ms. Bassette who stopped in periodically over the summer to help out and lend equipment.  

Today we had a mini workshop to learn how to build with garbage.  Here, seniors, Alex and Quinn work on making bottle bricks for a can wall.  Bottles are cut 4" and duct taped together in various color schemes.

10th graders, Cali and Nick start work on the final wall of the Earthship barn loft.  The nails and lath strips secure the wall to the wood structure.  The barn boasts recycled plastic shingles, locally-cut hemlock boards, old reused windows, and incorporation of over 2,000 aluminum cans and discarded glass bottles.

On their way to 12 pints of Salsa. No carbon was emitted in the transport of the major ingredients. Sweet!

Josh and Daymin set up their initial slug experiment to test whether slugs prefer the sweet taste of melon or the neutral taste of lettuce.

Sam S. takes her scientific observations pretty seriously. So how do slugs taste, Sam?

We have a huge class this year but the members of Food, Land, and You all managed to fit into the GCS garden today. We harvested tomatoes, hot peppers, onions, and a ripe melon.

Slugfest '11

Xavier takes down some detailed observations of the common garden slug.  Next week we'll be designing experiments to test the food preferences of slugs.