Second grade teacher Pamela Barrett, who teaches at the STEM-based Innovation Academy located in Amphitheater School District, has been awarded the AZEdNews Classroom Grant. The grant will help support Barrett’s environmentally friendly balloon greenhouse.

The $200 AZEdNews Classroom Grant helps teachers by making their creative classroom initiatives more achievable.

“I have been passionate about balloon art and balloons in general because they bring smiles to many faces,” said Barrett.

AZEdNews Video by Mingson Lau: See what Pamela Barrett will do with the AZEdNews Classroom Grant

Video shot by Heidi Vega/AZEdNews & edited by Mingson Lau/AZEdNews

Barrett’s said her passion for balloons inspired her to look for ways to reduce their environmental footprint. For the past few years, Barrett said she and her students have worked on balloon-based experiments and projects.

This year Barrett’s second grade class pitched the idea for a greenhouse. Together they brainstormed experiments to test out different balloon types for growing an indoor garden.

“This could help a little part in the whole idea of reducing and reusing plastic products,” Barrett said.

If the greenhouses are successful, the students will gain opportunities to study the different variables and how they affect plant growth, Barrett said.

Alongside the greenhouse experiment, Barrett said her class will continue working on other balloon-based project ideas to engineer eco-friendly solutions.

“The whole process of indoor gardening and the greenhouse effect can open up more discussions and create more questions about it,” said Barrett.

Click here to apply for the AZEdNews Classroom Grant!