The Types of Educational Greenhouses

Field Trips Greenhouse

• Some greenhouses are located at a specific location, and schools will need to organize a field trip to visit the greenhouse. These greenhouses have the advantage of not needing to be set up and maintained by the school. Greenhouses are started for varying reasons, such as to grow rare and difficult-to-cultivate plants and also for the personal enjoyment of the greenhouse owner.

School Greenhouse

• Schools can purchase the materials needed to build a greenhouse and then construct the greenhouse themselves. This can be more expensive than simply organizing a greenhouse visit due to the initial construction costs and the energy resources needed to maintain a climate controlled greenhouse. However, schools that have the resources to maintain a greenhouse can have a location where students can engage in direct experiments with plants without worrying about the effects of the weather. Schools worried about the construction process can hire contractors who specialize in greenhouse construction. Some companies can have greenhouses constructed in less than four weeks. These greenhouses are often constructed with the school specifically in mind. The greenhouse can have walkways so that groups of students have room to move around, cabinets so that a classroom can store materials and movable benches.

Simplistic Greenhouses

• Greenhouses do not have to be climate controlled but can simply provide protection for the plants from extreme weather conditions. The simplest greenhouse simply has overhead and side protection, with some of the sides of the greenhouse left open. Students who want to construct a more sophisticated greenhouse can consider engaging in fundraising and use the greenhouse as an argument to receive funding from the community.

Durable Greenhouses

• Some greenhouses are designed to be cheap and easy to set up. Other greenhouses are designed to withstand winds of up to 110 miles per hour and 40 pounds of weight. These greenhouses remain standing thanks to galvanized steel frames and cantilevered gutters. To protect the greenhouses from UV rays, the greenhouses sometimes have polycarbonate coverings and anti-condensate treatment.

Commercial Greenhouses

• Commercial greenhouses are designed specifically to sell plants. These greenhouses do not grow plants based off their educational value, but instead grow plants that are highly likely to sell well. These are plants that are profitable but cannot be grown under the normal weather conditions.