TEACH AQUACULTURE:  SUCCESS STORIES RELATED TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE "TEACH AQUACULTURE CURRICULUM" IN BOTH MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA AS WELL AS MIDDLE SCHOOL OUTREACH.  

Carlos V. Martinez*
University of Florida
Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory
1408 24th Street S.E.
Ruskin, Florida 33570
carlosvm@ufl.edu  

A website (http://irrec.ifas.ufl.edu/teachaquaculture/) was developed to distribute the Teach Aquaculture curriculum and provide contact information for extension personnel in Florida.  This curriculum was made available to the public July 1, 2009.  Over 1,349 users from virtually every state in the Union and 14 foreign countries have registered and downloaded at least one activity from the website.  The website has received 21,457 hits since May of 2009.  The number of middle and high schools in Florida with an aquaculture program has increased from 18 in 2008 to over 100 in 2015.  

Students involved in the Teach Aquaculture program are benefitting greatly from every discipline including but not limited to: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, and Biology while the school systems benefit by forming partnerships with various businesses ranging from local law makers, water management districts, electrical and construction companies, to aquaculture supply companies and also UF extension.  All this supports and strengthens the community while silently reinforcing the overall importance of aquaculture.

Because of the successful implementation of the Teach Aquaculture curriculum a statewide Florida FFA (Future Farmers of America) aquaculture competition has been established and is now in its' seventh year. There is also talk of establishing a national FFA CDE aquaculture competition.

Aquaculture outreach has also been established to nearly 9,000 third grade students each year. These 8 year olds attend a 30 minute session while participating in Ag-Ventures/ Agri-Fest.