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Georgia elementary students encouraged to enter GFA STEM Challenge

Georgia elementary classes in third through fifth grades are encouraged to put their science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills to work by entering the Fall 2025 STEM Challenge: Grow More with Less. Special education classes, homeschool groups, and community or after-school groups with third through fifth-grade students are also invited to participate.

Elementary classes taking part in this challenge will learn to design a hydroponic system to grow food using nutrient-rich water instead of soil, and household or classroom items in a limited space. Students will create their own hydroponic system to grow vegetables and herbs. As part of the challenge, students will document their observations in journals and video the process of designing the system and the plant growth.

Teachers, homeschool parents, or after-school group leaders interested in participating in the Grow More with Less challenge can visit https://www.gafoundationag.org/stemchallenge for more information and to register for the program by Sept. 15.   

Once registered, teachers will receive instant access to a digital resource toolkit to equip their classes for participation in the STEM challenge. The top winner from each entry category will win a prize package totaling $350 for their class.

Each participating class will be asked to answer the questions: "What is hydroponics? How do you engineer a hydroponic system, and what can I grow?"

The STEM challenge asks participating classes to complete the provided lesson plan and activities, then create a video presentation - no longer than five minutes - that demonstrates what the students have learned about hydroponics. Class presentations must be uploaded to YouTube for judging by Nov. 21.

The statewide competition, sponsored by the Georgia Farm Bureau (GFB) and the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture (GFA), is part of the GFA's Georgia Ag Experience mobile classroom outreach program. 

"We developed this STEM challenge to help students understand the opportunities of farming in urban areas," said GFA Educational Programs Assistant Virginia Fulwood. "By developing a hydroponic system and growing plants in their design, students can explore diverse concepts in agriculture." The purpose of the challenge is to encourage elementary teachers and students in grades 3-5 to apply their STEM skills to real-world issues in food production and environmental sustainability while having fun learning.

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