Aquaponics_In_The_Classroom
What is Aquaponics?
Aquaponics is a hybrid technology combining the best of aqua-culture (growing fish) and hydroponics (growing veggies without soil). It’s completely organic because the fish produce natural fertilizer used by the plants and that means no man-made chemicals.
Aquaculture has been around for a long, long time. The fish that are easiest for novices to grow are Tilapia. Tilapia are tropical fish whose native home is Africa and the Nile River. They are perhaps the oldest farmed fish on the planet as the Egyptians held them captive in natural ponds along the Nile over 4,000 years ago. They are the easiest fish for a new Aquaponic farmer to raise because they are so tolerant and hardy. They are also one of the fastest growing fish, growing from a small fry to over a one pound meal in about twelve months. You raise these delicious fish in a Tank. It only takes 1 1/2 pounds of inexpensive fish food to grow one pound of fish.
The fish tank and the grow bed you see in the photo being held up by our Instructor, Ms. Ecofriendly, are inter-linked. The water is pumped from the fish tank to the Grow Bed and flows back to the Fish Tank. The fish produce ammonia and with the help of naturally occurring beneficial bacteria, the ammonia changes into nitrate thereby becoming the plants’ natural fertilizer. In turn, the plants clean the water for the fish by absorbing the nitrate. It’s a symbiotic relationship--natures way when left undisturbed by humans.
Aquaponics is so much more than a little spring garden. It’s about providing full-time, self-sustaining food--both the protein and the vegetables--for a family, a community, a world--year round; and it’s a perfect learning device in any classroom from K-12.
How does Aquaponics Work in a Classroom?
Your students aren’t just reading, writing and discussing their subject whether it’s Science, Agriscience, Agriculture or Culinary Arts--they are experiencing their subject. They are participating in the creation of an ecosystem that operates right before their eyes. Students of all ages from grammar to middle to high school find
this interactive experience with an Aquaponics system to be invigorating. Some studies have shown, students with an Aquaponic classroom system score higher in math and science because they are more motivated.
An Aquaponics system can be used to demonstrate various principles taught in technology, plant life cycles and their structure, how to make effective use of recycled materials, low-tech/high-yield gardening, ecological issues, biology and sustainable farming. A system can be used to demonstrate in real time how the nitrate cycle works, the parts of a seed, its germination and the growth rate of seedlings. The subjects are endless. Several Culinary Arts students are learning to grow the food their being taught to prepare while supplying their school cafeteria with healthy fish and organic vegetables. This takes the “Farm to School” programs that have been popping up all over the nation to another level.
Not only the students but the Instructors benefit as well. Suddenly your classroom is a laboratory where you can experience hands-on teaching. Some Instructors, mostly on the East Coast, have created entire programs around this technology, erecting massive greenhouses and interacting with their communities to replenish natural marine populations into their natural habitats. The possibilities are almost infinite.
You need more than an Aquaponics System--you need Curriculum.
The above Free Report lists several resources for Aquaponics Curriculum and others are being written as I create this page. Dr. Michael King is writing an entire book on the subject. He has been building aquaponics systems for over seven years and testing them all over the world including Africa. We’ll let you know when that book comes out as it will be full of concise, accurate, up-to-date information.
And you need SUPPORT!
Here’s our plan. We’ve spoken with The Global Schoolhouse who have said they are
interested in our proposed project. Needless to say, this project is still in the design stages; but once it is up and running, what we envision is a world-wide network of K-12 schools with Aquaponics in the Classrooms and/or Labs. We want to link up all of these schools so they can share ideas, projects, curriculum and experiences. This would create a network of excited and motivated students communicating with each other through the internet. Thus Aquaponics would branch out to include yet another subject--communication and advanced computer technology.
Go to GlobalSchoolNet.org to explore and become a Member. This is the place where students are linked “around the world”.
More SUPPORT:
We also plan to conduct Teacher Trainings to get you going in your new Aquaponics Course. These 2-Day Trainings will be held live at our location in the high desert of Southern California and on the internet for those of you who can’t attend a live Training. Training fees will be as reasonable as we can make them.
We’ll be doing hands-on cycling of a system, planting of seedlings, planting in grow beds, fish care and feeding and much more.
To see our fish on the Live
Web Cam, just click over to the “Our Tilapia” page.
US Pacific Feeding times are:
8 AM
11 AM We are using
2 PM an Automatic
5 PM Fish Feeder.
Our Mission:
Our Mission is to make “Aquaponics” a household word by the end of 2010. With your help we can do it. Schools are the place to start because your students will educate their parents about this life-saving food technology. Won’t you join us at whatever level you can. Our Home and Affiliate Pages have Subscription Buttons so you can receive our latest email updates. Please let us know if you are a Teacher because we believe you are special and want to acknowledge you; and thank you for visiting:
What do you Need to bring Aquaponics into your Classroom?
You need a system; and that’s where Aquaponics USA comes into the picture. Our system designer is an aerospace engineer who designed state-of-art, durable, long lasting complete compact food-growing systems we call the FGS-1 and the FGS-2. These systems out shine every other system on the market for durability, small footprints, strong construction and ease of use. They are not complicated, can be up and running in short order, present you and your students with a mellow learning curve and come complete with everything you need to start your Aquaponics classroom lab. You assemble them, connect to electricity, add water, seedlings, fish and you have an ecosystem.
This is the FGS-1 with a single 10 sq. foot Grow Bed and one Pump Box/Step. The Automatic Fish Feeder is an Add-On.
This is the FGS-2 with 20 sq. feet of Grow Bed, one Pump Box/Step and a 2nd Storage/Step.
How else can you get an Aquaponics System?
One way to get a system is to build it yourself; and there are lots of ideas on the internet about how to do this. Building your system could be a fun quarter’s project all by itself. You could also convert a Hydroponics system to an Aquaponics system or go on a scavenger hunt to acquire some of your components. What’s important here is that you get a system however you can. If it’s through the gorilla construction method that’s just great as long as it works.
The advantage of buying a complete ready-to-go system like the ones you see here is you know they’re going to work and they’re going to work well.
FGS-1
$2,495
FGS-2
$3,695
Creative Financing Spoken Here:
Because we really want to see schools embrace this amazing cutting edge food-growing technology, we’re open to some creative financing ideas.
One such idea has to do with a program we call “The Traveling Ecosystem” plan.
This plan would team up schools that are within a few hours drive of each other and arrange a standard 9-week Quarter Time Line that each school in the plan would have to use the system. The schools would then pull their money and pay anywhere from 1/2 to 1/4 the full price as they would be sharing the system with one or four other schools. We would also be open to creating some kind of monthly payment plan.
If you have any ideas that you wish to share regarding creative financing, please email us at: urbanfarmer@aquaponicsusa.com.
Aquaponics
in the
Classroom
Here are some pictures describing what’s been going on in our Greenhouse this summer. The seedlings were placed in their seed trays on July 4th, Independence Day. We thought that was perfect timing. The paired pictures were taken 17 Days apart. The difference in veggie growth is awesome!
, July 31st, 09
, July 31st, 09
, Aug. 17th, 09
, July 31st, 09
, Aug. 17th, 09
, July 31st, 09
Shown with optional Plexiglass Lid
