We are learning aquaculture with NO resources or books and hands on experiences is so important in this course! I want to bring activities that will cement the knowledge they acquire from articles, reading and lessons on PowerPoint that I bring to the classroom.
My students range from AP students to those who are learning disabled in many different areas.
They are eager to learn and even raising "sea monkey's" that I bought from the local toy store created great excitement in the classroom. We try to improvise and use recycled items from home to do activities, but it is not always enough and sometimes it doesn't turn out like we hoped. There is just the one high school for our town and we are from a high poverty Title 1 area. Florida along with other states has many funding issues and with this new class curriculum there was no money to back it up so we decided we would do it any way because the agriculture academy students voiced interest. We are looking towards writing grants and trying to be self sufficient. Aquaculture is gaining ground as a viable career and backyard operation. This is what we bring to the students, the unlimited possibilities of what they can do!
My Project
Dissection kits and aquatic specimens will allow the students to investigate the biology of the organisms that are produced through aquaculture. The hands on investigative way of learning is always the BEST for any student. It is interesting and fun and I can always tell that they retain the lesson so much better than a lecture or even virtual dissection. They must understand the organism and the way they live before they can care and raise them for production. After they dissect the fish, crayfish and mollusk, they can decide what would be best for the class to raise and produce to be successful in an aquaculture production project.
Aquaculture is a new farming frontier.
One that can have a low impact on the environment if maintained correctly. It can feed many people in a little space and even be paired with hydroponic plant growing to create and complete aquaponics systems that would provide not only protein but vegetables for even hard to grow areas. It is a new area of agriculture expertise and has many opportunities for different types of career paths.
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