Have you ever seen an aquascape (planted aquarium) that was so incredible that it blew you away? My students have not yet discovered the chemistry behind those amazing pieces of living art, but they shall when they enter my classroom.
My students come from struggling blue collar families.
The type of hard working kids that strive to achieve more success through education than their parents did. Our school is the foundation of this rural community. The type of place where everyone shuts down their businesses in order to come to the game between the two district high schools. We don't get much in the way of federal funds even though we're title 1 because we work hard and get good results with what we have. Simply put, we are 'small farm town USA'.
My Project
Aquascapes - do GoogleImages on that term and prepare to be awed!!! These are aquarium 'Gardens of Eden' and are truly small biomes of perfection. But it goes much deeper than throwing a bunch of aquatic plants in a fish tank. No, there's so much more to it! Water CHEMISTRY is the basis of it all!.....
There are two basic practices/designs behind aquascaping: the Natural Planted Method (plain soil, plain water & fish) and the Conventional Method (specialized substrate, fertilized water, fish). This project will be comparing the two methods. We already have two identical 10 gallon aquarium sets, filters and hoods. These will be set side-by-side in a window, set up with identical plants and fish. For six months the AP Chemistry class will create fertilizer and perform water nutrient tests at regular intervals. They will also be comparing fish health and plant growth. At the end of the research period, the AP Chemistry Class will submit their results at the district science fair.
Not only will the students get a deeper understanding behind the chemical complexities of the planted aquarium, but they will experience how scientists are forever creating experiments to test current practices and designs.
Through this experience, they will understand how improvements are continually made through analyzing the results of research.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. P. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.