My students need a countertop aquaponics system so they can collect data to learn about the nitrogen cycle and reverse engineer their own aquaponic model ecosystems.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Holland's classroom raised $376
This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Students
It's often said that as we grow older we begin to get less curious. My seventh grade students defy this. As the school year goes on, they get more curious as they make connections between concepts and start looking at the world in new ways.
My students are curious and creative problem solvers who make insightful observations as they engage with and learn from each other.
I teach at a Title I school with a diverse population of students who show me every day that, if given the chance, they will rise to the occasion.
My Project
How can we think globally and act locally? That's the question my seventh grade students have been exploring this year as we partner with local organizations to investigate environmental issues in our community and engage with the Next Generation Science Standards. While we've looked at issues ranging from water quality to steelhead trout, in order for students to truly understand how humans impact the local environment, they need a strong grasp about how matter, such as nitrogen, flows through ecosystems.
The materials I am requesting will allow students to observe and collect data about the nitrogen cycle as it gets established in a countertop aquaponics system that has separate plant, fish, and biological filtration chambers.
Students will sample water daily from each of the system's chambers measuring ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate and analyze how these change over time. After researching what is happening and learning about the nitrogen cycle, students will then apply their new knowledge to create a proposal about how we can connect our system's chambers to form a working model of the nitrogen cycle. Throughout this process, we will also use our model to explore related environmental issues such as urban and agricultural runoff.
Once we've formed a working class model of the nitrogen cycle, students will then be tasked with engineering their own aquaponic ecosystem models that they will have to carefully observe and manage to keep healthy. By having an established working model, students will be able to engage in reverse engineering as they design and build their systems, allowing for increased critical thinking and creative problem solving. As students work to establish their aquaponic ecosystem models, they will come to realize how small alterations to their ecosystems can result in big changes, just like in the real world.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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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 Ms. Holland and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
