This Wednesday, Aprikl 2, 2025, a total of 15 first-year high school students from the Pino Montano secondary school in Sevilla have carried out an experimental workshop within the framework of the Citizen Science project “We recycle compost from selectively collected urban waste in urban gardens (RECICOMPHUERTOS)” in which this center is participating. The students have analyzed in the classroom the nitrate content of the lettuces they grow in their garden with a high-quality selectively collected biowaste compost. Previously, they were shown how to take leaf samples of lettuce to perform the analyses. The compost comes from the municipality of Olvera and has been supplied by Básica SAU, a public company that manages the waste of the Association of Municipalities of the Sierra de Cádiz. The students, guided by their teacher Cristina de la Rosa, have carried out the complete process of analyzing nitrate in the lettuce leaf using portable equipment. This has enabled them to understand the effect of fertilization on plant nutrition. They have also learned how to use SPAD and PRI meters as indicators of plant development and stress.
This project is carried out in collaboration with the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology – Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (project reference FCT-22-18403).
Photo 1 Sabina Rossini explaining to students how field meters SPAD and PRI work.
Photo 2 Cristina García de Arboleya explaining to students and teachers how to perform nitrate analysis.