Fish in the Classroom: A Survey of the Use of Aquaponics in Education

Abstract

School gardens and demonstration farms are exciting avenues for experiential learning in education. Aquaponics, the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics, is an attractive educational tool because systems are self-contained ecosystems that allow teachers and students to explore a wide range of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics. The aim of this study was to characterize the use of aquaponics in education in the United States (US) using an online survey. One hundred respondents who completed the survey were engaged with aquaponics education and met the inclusion criteria for the study. Thirty-six percent of respondents worked for primary and secondary schools, 53% represented colleges or universities, and 11% worked for vocational or trade schools. Respondents reported the subjects taught, target audiences, number of participating students or visitors, and the resources and funding used by their organizations. Respondents used aquaponics to engage students in a variety of STEM subjects. In total, respondents and their institutions engaged an estimated range of 12,320 to 50,250 participants per year in aquaponics education. The typical school invested $1,000 to $4,999 US dollars (USD) in their aquaponics facility during the previous year, with a combined total of $1.4 to $6.6 million USD invested by all academic institutions. Aquaponics is an emerging educational tool, and there is a need for continued collaboration, technical support, and training for educators from universities and aquaculture education and research centers in the US and other countries.

Stripping Away the Soil: Plant Growth Promoting Microbiology Opportunities in Aquaponics

“…Aquaponics, the combined culture of fish and plants in recirculating water systems was pioneered in the 1970s ( Sneed et al, 1975 ; Naegel, 1977 ; Lewis et al, 1978 ) as an environmentally sustainable agricultural method based on the concepts of minimal water use and minimal impact on environmental water quality compared to traditional agricultural methods ( Blidariu and Grozea, 2011 ). In addition to producing salable crops, aquaponics is valued for its positive development of community and economic opportunity in urban areas ( Goodman, 2011 ), and its wide-ranging educational benefits for students through the post-secondary level ( Hart et al, 2014 ; Genello et al, 2015 ). Despite these benefits, microbial research supporting aquaponic crop production lags behind traditional agricultural systems.…”

Aquaponics as an Educational Tool

“…The main challenge in designing courses at higher education level is the interdisciplinary nature of aquaponics, as prior knowledge of both aquaculture and horticulture is essential. While some studies investigated the use of aquaponics in education (Hart et al 2013;Hart et al 2014;Junge et al 2014;Genello et al 2015) and a number of on-line courses are available, a course outline for aquaponics at the tertiary level at a main-stream does not yet exist, or at least hasn't been published. For tertiary level aquaponics courses to be implemented in the EU, the Bologna Process, which underlines the need for meaningful implementation of learning outcomes in order to consolidate the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), Fig.…”

“…Hence, the information needed to evaluate the impact of aquaponics classes on meeting the objectives of the students' curricula is still missing. In a survey on the use of aquaponics in education in the USA (Genello et al 2015), respondents indicated that aquaponics were often used to teach subjects, which are more exclusively focused on STEM topics. Aquaponics education in primary and secondary schools is science-focused, project-oriented, and geared primarily toward older students, while college and university aquaponics were generally larger and less integrated into the curriculum.…”

“…Interestingly, only a few vocational and technical schools used aquaponics to teach subjects other than aquaponics. This indicates that for these educators, aquaponics is a stand-alone subject and not a vehicle to address STEM or food system topics (Genello et al 2015).…”

Exploring economic and legal barriers to commercial aquaponics in the EU through the lens of the UK and policy proposals to address them

“…The ethical benefits of aquaponics extend beyond sustainability. They can provide local healthy food and jobs in urban settings (Proksch et al 2019) and support teaching of common curricular topics such as plant growth and nutrient cycles whilst creating nature experiences for children (Genello et al 2015). They also can serve as social projects for disadvantaged groups or as communitybuilding projects (Hart et al 2013).…”