Aquaculture and aquaponics—the breeding, rearing, and harvesting of aquatic plants and animals—opens the door to these and many other classroom learning experiences.
Building an aquaculture system with students, or weaving aquaculture into a curriculum, can feel daunting. For some teachers, it may seem like a challenge too big to take on. While many resources exist online, aquaculture tools and techniques are constantly changing, and online materials can quickly become outdated.
The National Council for Agricultural Education (The Council) and Maryland Sea Grant (MDSG) educators developed a guide to find ways to bring aquaculture education to new audiences and school programs. They recognized that aquaculture—a type of agriculture—could fit perfectly into Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs across the state. These programs give students hands-on experience that prepares them for careers in fields such as healthcare, technology, and skilled trades. Aquaculture instruction seemed like a natural fit for agricultural CTE programs.
Maryland Sea Grant educators connected with The Council, kicking off a partnership to assess what information agricultural science teachers need to bring aquaculture to their classrooms and how to update the council’s resources. At first, the idea was simple: apply for a grant, survey some teachers to determine their needs, and refresh some aquaculture teaching materials. But as the project grew, new partnerships formed, ideas flowed, and before long, the team had created something far bigger than they first imagined.
Thanks to the eeBLUE Aquaculture Literacy Mini-Grant program, they were able to bring in more organizations to help. The eeBLUE program, a partnership between the North American Association for Environmental Education and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, provided support for the innovative aquaculture education resource that was developed.