Around the world many people struggle trying to find food and provide enough food for their families. Globally 795 million (out of 7.3 billion) people do not have enough to eat and live a healthy life. Without the proper food and nourishment many people can starve until it finally leads to death. Every 10 seconds a child dies from hunger- related diseases. The reason for starvation around the world is because of financial issues. Developing countries often don't have enough money to feed everyone which is one reason why men, women, and children have to deal with hunger throughout their life. "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
Humanities
For the humanities portion of this Quarter 2 project we were assigned to demonstrate how students from Coleman Middle could solve food challenges in our local and global communities. Every student was given specific coordinates to a country in Africa. Then we had to decide three crops that would sustain our family.The country I was assigned was Dakar,Senegal (14.764504, -17.366029)
I wouldn't be the only person in Senegal, there are many different people and different ethnic groups. The largest ethnic group in Senegal is the Wolof they live in the northwest and central region, who make up nearly half of the population.
Dakar, Senegal is located in the Sahara region. It is very difficult to plant crops in the Sahara Desert because of the hot and dry climate. Because of the dry climate water is limited and plant wont's be able to grow. The Sahara's soil is low in organic matter and in nutrients so growing crops is very hard in the desert. Many obstacles are in the way of growing food in the Sahara causing food scarcity to people living in Senegal.
Crops
Corn
Corn is grown in many African countries and Senegal is one of them. Corn is rich in vitamins, nutrients, and many minerals.. Health benefits of corn include controlling diabetes, prevention of heart ailments, lowering hypertension and prevention of neural-tube defects at birth. Corn can boost your heart health and provides protection against chronic diseases. Another reason I should grow corn is because it is good for your immune system, improves bone strength, and controls diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure). However, growing corn will be very hard because of the harsh warm climate and because water is scarce. Corn is an excellent choice for growing crops to sustain my family but there may be many obstacles in the way.
Figs
Figs are one of the best fruits to grow in the desert because they love the heat. Figs are tiny edible fruits that grow on ficus trees. Figs contain a number of vitamins and also being high in natural fiber. Figs contain many minerals including, magnesium, manganese, calcium (which promotes bone density), copper, and potassium ( helps lower blood pressure). Figs are available all year long so it will be easy to grow figs. But, growing figs may also be a challenge, figs have a sweet taste to it which can attract animals, insects, and possible other people. Figs are a great choice to plant in the Sahara because of ho well it can grow in warmer climates yet it may be an attractions to other animals.
Millet
Millet is grown in Senegal and they are very good for you. Millet is a good source of nutrients. Millet is filled with copper, manganese, phosphorus, and magnesium. Millet is a grain that should also be included on your list of heart-healthy choices because of its status as a good source of magnesium.Millet is one of the best possible grains to add to your diet if you want to protect your heart. It is rich in fiber and can help some people avoid gallstone Millet needs water but in the Sahara there is no water and the weather is very hot. So growing millet will be hard. Millet is a great crop to grow but the climate can affect how well the millet will grow.
Math
The very first thing we did for the math portion of our PBL assignment was that we were assigned to measure the planters outside of our school. When we were measuring the planters were wrote down all of our information in a packet. In our packet we had to figure out how much seeds, nails, wood, and soil would cost to build a garden. We were given a scenario about having to plant a 24 by 24 planter that had to be planted with four different kinds of crops. We needed to find the cost for how much everything would cost in order to build our planter. This math lesson showed us how to calculate the price on how to set up planters to start growing crops.
Science
Finally, the science portion of our PBL project was growing a radish under blue light. Instead of growing a radish from normal sunlight our task was to grow a radish under a different colored light to see which light color would speed up the process of photosynthesis. Growing a radish was very difficult because no one in our group had gardening experience. During the process of growing a radish we had to come across many challenges and one of them was not watering our plant enough. The radish sprouted 2 weeks later the it was suppose to.
During the experiment I noticed that the different colored lights greatly effected the way the radish plant grew. For example, all the plants under the green light all died. Plants absorb different colored lights to obtain energy except for green. This is why plants appear green to us. Because the radishes reflected the green light they weren't able to go through photosynthesis and actually grow. However radishes that grew in the blue and white light had the best results. The radishes seemed to absorb the blur and white light so the radishes looked the best and more healthier.
After the experiment , I learned many factors can change the way plants grow. One thing was how much water was given to the plants. Most groups tend to water their radishes with tons of water causing the radishes to be over watered. They soon wilted and died. water was a major factor that was crucial to our experiment. another factor was how long the plants was receiving light. One group had white light for 24 hours and they all slowly dies. Plant go through photosynthesis using up energy but every now and then they need a break. Those two were the main factors helped increase plant growth.
Photosynthesis is very important to all plants. Without photosynthesis, plants won't be able to create energy into glucose. The first step of photosynthesis is first using the sun's energy, water, and carbon dioxide to create glucose and oxygen. The plant then uses the glucose as energy to preform its daily activities.
Sources
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=24
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=90
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/cereal/health-benefits-of-millet.html
https://explorecuriocity.org/Explore/ArticleId/552/what-would-happen-to-a-plant-if-you-only-provided-it-with-light-of-from-one-wavelength-552.aspx