Articles and Information

"Aquaponics in Education"
by Rebecca Nelson

Aquaponics and hydroponics are both excellent means of demonstrating many principles of science, agriculture, math and business in all grade levels and for home schooling.  Applications of these technologies are only limited by ones imagination.  A unit in hydroponics or aquaponics enforces practical uses of chemistry, mathematics, physics, economics and engineering. The monitoring and care of a hydroponic or aquaponic system by students helps instill a sense of responsibility, inspires creativity and creates excitement in the learning environment. 

A small hydroponic garden can sit on a counter top and be used to demonstrate botany, horticulture, hydroponics (soil less plant culture), plant science, nutrition, physiology and care, nutrient and pH testing, pH relationships, plant usage of nutrients, seed germination, photosynthesis and light and plant development.  

An aquaponic system combines hydroponics with aquaculture in a recirculating system.  In addition to the plant sciences, aquaponics incorporates and demonstrates many of natures natural cycles, nitrification, biology, fish anatomy and nutrition and high-tech agriculture. 

A unit in hydroponics or aquaponics can be started at the beginning of a semester and run through the entire semester, allowing the educator to present the individual concepts and lessons as the plants and fish develop and grow.  A small hydroponic or aquaponic system can sit on a spare counter top.  Larger systems can be placed on the floor of a classroom, in a windowsill or a greenhouse.

Educators:
Whether you are an educator in a school or home-school, our Hydroponics Curriculum Package and Aquaponics Curriculum offer extensive lessons, each with quizzes and guidelines for the instructor, and instructions on how to build or acquire hydroponic or aquaponics growing systems.  The Aquaponics Journal is a bimonthly magazine that covers educational, commercial, research and hobby applications of aquaponics. 

Students:
If you want to setup an aquaponic system for a science project, we've written a booklet just for you, Desktop Aquaponics.