Laguna Junior Natalie McCaffery Organizes One-Day AgTech Curriculum Event for Area Students at MOXI

Students can PLANT THEMSELVES IN A WORLD OF STEM this Sunday 5/19 at MOXI and learn how our two world’s staples— agriculture and technology—combine into a day of exploratory and innovative learning!

It’s a day of experiential, hands-on learning at MOXI, where students in grades K-6 will be immersed in the field of Ag-tech. Through interactive exhibits, experiments, and DIY projects that highlight photosynthesis, hydroponics, and farming the future, these students will leave with a new understanding of how computer science and emerging technology affects the way we grow food. SB Beekeeper’s Association will be there and kids will get to build their own mason bee houses and learn about the importance of bees and the pollen they gather. There will also be robotic tractor simulations among other agriculture-related exhibits.

Regular admission fees to MOXI will provide a day of fun from 10AM-3PM.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS ABOUT McCAFFERY & HER PROJECT
McCaffery recently earned the highest achievement in Girl Scouting, the Girl Scout Gold Award, with her project “Smart Farm.” She created this project at Laguna Blanca School along with fellow classmates with the goal of teaching sustainable agriculture while focusing on the ways that her passions—agriculture and technology—can intersect for the good.

During her freshman year at Laguna Blanca, McCaffery was instrumental in founding Laguna’s Farm Club, which manages three raised gardening beds on campus, builds compost piles, and even hosts salad bars for students and faculty throughout the school year. For her most recent project, McCaffery has integrated her work with Laguna’s Internet of Things Club with Farm Club, resulting in the school’s “Smart Farm.”

Using her work with the IoT Club as a backbone for the project, Natalie and her Laguna classmates utilized Arduino technology to evaluate land plots’ weather patterns, and in turn, support agricultural growth on campus.

Collaborating across disciplines and grade levels is common practice at Laguna. The idea of going “beyond”—beyond what is expected and common—has always been a central tenet of a Laguna education. Natalie and her classmates' work reflects this synergistic nature of a Laguna education. By applying skills and knowledge gained in one discipline, such as STEM, others can be strengthened, resulting in the robust “Smart Farm” project that has application potential far beyond the gardens of Laguna.