Nitrogen Cycle in a Marine Aquaponics Set Up, maintenance,

data gathering and budgetingFrank Marcantoni-Webb Middle School

Brad Brooks-Webb middle School

Students will be utilizing a multitrophic level aquaria system for building and maintain a marine aquaponics system.  Initially, the students will engage with an e-module specifically designed for this lesson.  The students will be provided a budget and will select the flora and fauna based on the aquaponics design with the purpose of minimizing cost and maximizing harvest yield.  Ideally, the program will incorporate variables such as cost for the livestock, time to harvest, nutritional requirements, mortality rate, and susceptibility to disease, among others.

After having developed a consensus on the design and types of living organisms, the students will create an actual marine aquaponics system with fish and plants. Once created, they will monitor and measure temperature, salinity, ammonia, pH, nitrites, and nitrates.  The students will adjust and maintain the system accordingly.  The students will maintain a shared database reflecting the aforementioned data and will predict what changes are forthcoming and adjust accordingly.

Students will also present projects on the cost (economic, social and/or environmental) benefit of aquaponics versus traditional sources of food production. 

Lesson Plan Abstract  

eModules already created will be either utilized as-is or modified to fit the parameters of the system, and to better represent the standards taught

Students will research and utilize the flora and fauna based on the criteria provided by the project that shall include budgetary constraints, compatibility of the system, ammonia secreted by the living organisms, surface area of bacterial colony, and the ability of the vegetation to uptake nitrates to complete the cycle

Lesson Plan

eModule 1-Aquaponics (WARE RET Year 2)

Interdependence and connections for systems and cycles, i.e. the nitrogen cycle for living systems

The Nitrogen Cycle and the interdependence of organisms on systems

eModule-Bioaccumulation

The bioaccumulation emodule incorporates key concepts introduced in middle school, such as the food web; producers, consumers, and decomposers; bioaccumulation and biomagnification expanded later in high school.

eModule-aquaponics (WARE RET Year 3)

Students will incorporate economics with the challenge of maintaining an aquaponics system

Connection to real-world research

Design, build, implement, and data Collection (semester 1). Connection to Interdependence and cycles (semester

2)Total ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH, temperature, salinity, etc.

Students should recognize that ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates fluctuate readily and will need to ascertain why.