Roots, water, light — Captain Roots turns science class into a mission.
A curriculum-led hydroponics programme that builds essential skills for Dubai kids — turning roots, water and light into a story every child can follow — workshops, full labs, a mini farmers market, or cafeteria integration.
Meet Captain Roots™
The science of roots, nutrients, light and oxygen — told through a character kids genuinely enjoy.
A character, not a concept
Photosynthesis and root uptake become "missions" Captain Roots™ asks the class to complete.
Anchors the curriculum
Each session opens and closes with Captain Roots™, so children retain the sequence, not just facts.
Rewards visible progress
Kids earn Captain Roots™ badges as they complete each mission across the four weeks.
The workshop journey
Four missions, four weeks — each child follows Captain Roots™ from seed to harvest.
Roots & Water
Light & Harvest
Mapped to all 5 curriculums taught in Dubai
Whatever framework your school follows, Captain Roots™' missions map to real learning objectives — not just a fun add-on.
British (EYFS / National Curriculum)
Understanding the World & Science — plants, growth, and the needs of living things.
American (Common Core / NGSS)
NGSS Life Science — structure, function and growth of organisms, K-2/3-5 standards.
IB (PYP)
Transdisciplinary theme "Sharing the Planet" — sustainability, resources and responsibility.
Indian (CBSE / ICSE)
EVS & Science — plants and their needs, sustainable living, observation-based learning.
UAE National Curriculum (MoE)
UAE Social Studies & National Agenda — food security, innovation and sustainability.
What children actually learn
Real STEM skills, essential life skills, and thinking that connects to how the UAE grows and secures its food.
Real STEM, start to finish
Science, technology, engineering & maths through a working hydroponic system — seed to harvest to a dish they cooked themselves.
Essential life skills
Responsibility, patience and care for a living thing, capped off by preparing and sharing their own pesticide-free, clean harvest.
UAE food security awareness
Children see, first-hand, how the UAE's National Food Security Strategy plays out on a small scale — grown by their own hands.
Solve real-world problems
The same questions the UAE is solving at scale — food security, the cost of shipping food into arid regions, feeding sustainable cities (even space travel) — start here, at classroom size.
A year-round wonder, not a seasonal one
Grown indoors under controlled conditions, the towers keep producing all year — the learning doesn't stop for summer heat or winter dips.
Grows straight into Little Chefs
What's grown in the lab can feed directly into cooking and nutrition programmes — children cook with what they've grown themselves.
Choose what fits your school
Two simple decisions, made independently: how you want the learning delivered, and whether you want the lab to stay.
4-Week Workshop
A curriculum-led sprint for one class or year group — four guided missions across four weeks, long enough to see a full germination-to-harvest cycle. All equipment is loaned free for the workshop, then removed.
Contact us for more details →ECA / After-School Club
An ongoing weekly club run as part of your ECA offering — students grow, tend, and harvest across a full term. Since it runs all term, it's paired with a rented or purchased lab rather than loaned equipment (see Step 2).
Contact us for more details →Temporary — Included
Equipment loaned free for the 4 weeks, then removed. Nothing to commit to beyond the workshop itself.
Contact us for more details →Rented
The lab stays at your school for as long as you need it, billed by term or year — no upfront purchase. Can feed the cafeteria too (see below).
Contact us for more details →Full Lab — Purchased
A permanent, dedicated hydroponics lab your school owns — sized to what your curriculum actually needs. Can feed the cafeteria too (see below).
Contact us for more details →If you have a Rented or Purchased lab
We can route your lab's harvest straight into your cafeteria, so what's grown by students also ends up on the lunch menu.
Contact us for more details →If you're only doing a Workshop
No permanent lab? We can still install standalone towers directly in your cafeteria, independent of the classroom workshop.
Contact us for more details →These aren't things we sell you — they're moments your school might want to create. We just show up and help make them happen.
Mini Farmers Market
A pop-up market where students sell what they've grown to parents and staff — hands-on entrepreneurship.
Contact us for more details →Parent Workshop Evening
A hands-on session teaching parents to build a hydroponic pod at home — great for STEM nights and open days.
Contact us for more details →STEM Fair / Open Day Showcase
Water Roots sets up a live hydroponics demo at your school's own STEM fair or open day — hands-on, and great for parent visibility.
Contact us for more details →Inter-School Harvest Challenge
A friendly competition across schools — fastest growth, tallest plant, best pod-to-table dish — with badges and a trophy up for grabs.
Contact us for more details →Built by educators, engineered by specialists
Water Roots was founded by a botany graduate whose personal health journey sparked a mission to eat clean — that mission grew into a curriculum, designed in-house and backed by hands-on technical support on every installation. We're a Dubai-based team building essential skills for Dubai kids through hands-on STEM programmes schools can trust.
Every engagement follows the same process: curriculum mapping against your school's framework, on-site installation and staff training, live-facilitated missions, and ongoing support so the system stays part of school life. Over time, each system is sized to self-sustain the fresh herbs and crops your school actually needs, with any surplus available to tie up with local community initiatives.
Small hands, real science — one root at a time.
