Teacher Award
State Teacher Award 2025
Brittny Amott
I teach students to develop a deep understanding of “Agriculture and the Environment,” “Plants and Animals for Food, Fiber & Energy,” “Food, Health, and Lifestyle,” “Science, Technology, Engineering & Math,” and “Culture, Society, Economy & Geography” with the help of aquaponics, hydroponics, a community farm, and hands-on exploration.
In 2019, I wrote a DonorsChoose request to get an aquaponics system from Back to the Roots. Before we could start, the children wrote persuasive letters to our principal asking for a pet. We learned about different types of fish that we could have in the classroom. We researched, discussed what would be best, and then wrote letters asking for a pet betta. Aggie, our blue betta, started our adventure in aquaponics. Students loved to watch him swim and would always comment on the growth and changes of our plants. I have found aquaponics to be a sustainable project in my classroom with the help of Pets in the Classroom grants and a grant from Utah Agriculture in the Classroom. I use my tank to help teach the NALOs Science, Technology, Engineering & Math and Plants and Animals for Food, Fiber & Energy. With the help of Aggie, our class has grown many things in aquaponics including lettuce, herbs, tomatoes, and microgreens. Students observe the plants' lifecycles and eat what they harvest. Students are so proud of the plants that they harvest and get so excited to eat fresh food that they participate in growing. I once had a student tell me that they don’t like tomatoes but after trying one that is freshly grown, they said they changed their mind and decided to plant them in their garden at home. We are currently growing tomatoes in our aquaponics system so students can see the tomatoes start from seed and continue through their life cycle.
In the fall of 2021, I received funding for an iDOO hydroponics growing system from DonorsChoose. This hydroponic system is a great way to teach strand 2.2: Living Things and Their Habitats and the NALO Plants and Animals for Food, Fiber & Energy. I have found having a hydroponics unit to be a game changer for growing in a classroom. Students are amazed to see tomatoes grow from a seed to a plant that produces fruit. The tomato plants were used to show the structures and functions of different parts of the plant. While the plants are growing, we spend time learning more about seeds, roots, stems, leaves, and flowers. We explore each of these parts in depth. To supplement the hydroponics plants, I also incorporate lessons from the National Agricultural Literacy Matrix, including Farming in a Glove and Desktop Greenhouses. Students also learned that the green color in plants is chlorophyll and that it is the part of the plant that absorbs sunlight. Students take Brussels sprout leaves that were grown from our hydroponics unit and rub them onto paper to see the chlorophyll in the leaves. Students, over time, explore and observe that the roots took in the water and nutrients, that the stem transported the water, and that the leaves went through the photosynthesis process with the help of the lights and chlorophyll.
Once the tomato plants started to flower, we learned about pollination. I use the Pollination Simulation kit from the Matrix to demonstrate how bees pollinate and what physical structures bees have in order to pollinate. Students were amazed to learn that all fruit needs to be pollinated with the help of insects, animals, or wind. Students realized the importance of bees during the lessons. Students became very protective of bees at recess. Any time my students would see a bee, they would shoo other students away. Students model being the bee by using an AeroGarden “Be the Bee Pollinator” to pollinate the flowers in the hydroponic system. Students love to watch the puff of pollen fall as the model pollinates the flower. In addition to pollination, students also discover that bees help produce honey and beeswax. Students were able to eat local honey from our Utah Crops in a Box kit that we received from Utah Agriculture in the Classroom, and they also made beeswax lip balm. I read Gives Bees a Chance by Bethany Barton to my students and then have each student write an expository essay explaining what structures a bee has to help them pollinate. Students also built bee and bat boxes to encourage pollinators in our community to stay safe and continue to pollinate plants.
As a second-grade teacher, I had the opportunity to take my students on a local dairy farm field trip for the last four years. This field trip is run by the local FFA chapter and focuses on all NALOs. During Farm Field Day, students learn how farmers care for their animals and keep them safe. Students are taught how animals produce commodities like milk, eggs, and wool for human use. Students learn where each product comes from, the importance of healthy foods, and safe food practices. Students also identify the importance of weather patterns, natural resources, land, machines, and technology that help farmers. Once students return to the school, they continue to research and write animal reports based on the farm animals we visited and learned about. We also compare and contrast farming using land, our hydroponic system, and plant growth in the wild.
In 2022, I was awarded a grant from the Green Our Planet Foundation in combination with the STEM Action Center. We received 19 small classroom hydroponic units and one large commercial hydroponic unit for the school. Each teacher in my school now has a small hydroponics unit in their classroom and we have a large hydroponics unit in our school’s science room. I have shown teachers how to use their hydroponics units in faculty meetings, helped teachers set them up, showed teachers how to implement the Green Our Planet videos and lesson plans, and have been the go-to for troubleshooting. In 2023, I secured $3000 in funding from the Whole Kids Foundation Garden Grant allowing Mountainside Elementary to continue STEM and agricultural education with the help of our hydroponics units for years to come. The large Hydroponics unit is meant to be something that brings the community together. We use it to incorporate the community and the school. When starting the germination process for the hydroponics unit, we use mini greenhouses that help germinate the seeds. I like to involve as many students as possible in this process. At Mountainside’s “Family Nights,” students help me put seeds in the greenhouses, send out sign-up sheets to teachers to give them opportunities to include their class in the germination process, and include our after-school Out of School Time (OST) program to start this process. As the OST coordinator, I include my after-school students in the growing process. They learn how to use tools like pipettes, help refill water, help harvest plants, and help with transplanting. For the last two years, I created a hydroponics booth for Family Night where students make germination necklaces and plant seeds into rockwool. We also sold herbs to families, including basil, parsley, cilantro, and dill. To finish out the school year, students and faculty plan and direct a “Hydroponics Drive-by Donation Station” where the plants that students grew and transplanted are offered to community members.
During my nine years of teaching at Mountainside Elementary, I have received over $28,000 in grants for my classroom and school which has helped my students (and many other students at Mountainside Elementary) participate in hands-on agriculture education. Consequently, these students are applying critical thinking and problem-solving skills while learning about the importance of agriculture in their daily lives.