Smart Greenhouses

Educator participant applications open early 2026

Where Plant Science Meets Computer Science

MMSA has embarked on a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research collaboration(opens in a new tab) with the Boston College Lynch School of Education and Human Development to bring their Smart Greenhouse curriculum to Maine schools. The curriculum combines plant science and computer science to solve problems and study phenomena in horticulture and related fields. Middle school and high school teachers will use the curriculum with their students and adapt it to meet their interests and unique needs.

Smart Greenhouses will be recruiting in early 2026. Subscribe to MMSA’s newsletter to find out when and how to sign up.

An educator holding a lightbulb works with a smart greenhouse, which is brightly lit, and a laptop computer.

A student sits at a desk in a classroom while working on programming a smart greenhouse using their laptop.

About Smart Greenhouses

Smart Greenhouses are desktop structures outfitted with affordable technology. Micro:bit processors, which are tiny computers that can be controlled with block-based coding, are the brains of the operation. Sensors attached to the Micro:bit measure temperature, humidity, CO₂, and light levels. Screens and LEDs provide a quick look at the conditions in the greenhouse. Still more tech — including a heater, humidifier, fan, and light bulb — mount on the structure to control the greenhouse environment. The system allows students to collect data and conduct investigations within the mini greenhouse environment while learning about coding, computational thinking, and life science.

MMSA officially kicked off this project at the 2025 CS Summer of Fun(opens in a new tab) with a five-day Smart Greenhouse Institute. Participants includes 11 educators from multiple disciplines, including traditional sciences and computer science, who work with youth in middle and high school. Since the goal of the project is to teach computational thinking and life science in tandem, this mixed group of educators will enrich the learning experience for each other. At the Institute, teachers experienced the very lessons they will do with their students. They will return to their classrooms with all of the materials they need to set up their Smart Greenhouses. Throughout the school year, MMSA will provide additional professional development and individual support for the educators as their students work with the Smart Greenhouses. Educators, in turn, will take an active role in adapting the curriculum to meet their needs and the needs of their students.

What is Transdisciplinary Learning?

Computer Science integration happens along a spectrum: on one end, disciplines are taught separately; at the other end, multiple disciplines are applied to answer a unifying question. This latter approach is called Transdisciplinary Learning. In the case of smart greenhouses, Micro:bits provide an approachable entry level into coding, and the sensors and controls allow students to apply what they’re learning about plant science to the mini greenhouse environment.