Aquaponics Springs to Life!

Aquaponics is growing at Twin Peaks Middle School in Poway, CA. Eighth-grade students in the STEM Challenge class are engaged in project-based learning experiences relevant to important real-world challenges. Twin Peaks’ STEM students were initiated to the world of aquaponics with their first ECO-Cycle Aquaponics Kit last September. After students set up the system, they soon became active participants in testing water quality, measuring and recording observations, all while creating an environment for plants and fish to thrive! Through these hands-on experiences, seeds of problem-solving skills associated with food production, sustainable agriculture, water availability, and water usage have been planted in their minds. Following the first harvest from their ECO-Cycle Kit, the aquaponics students have branched out in exciting new directions. The students are now putting finishing touches on an outdoor aquaponics system, with help from ECOLIFE Conservation’s Aquaponics Specialist, Mike Ready. The outdoor system features a 200-gallon reservoir, catfish, and three 16-ft long grow-channels with mesh pots for plants. Students are also conducting plant-growing experiments using two ECO-Cycle Kits (one variable and one control), traditional soil-based planting in raised beds, and the outdoor aquaponics system. They plan to compare plant growth and water usage, under a variety of growing conditions and nutrients.

In March of this year, the Twin Peaks STEM Challenge class was selected as the top middle school STEM Education program in San Diego by the S.D. Festival of Science and Engineering. In addition to receiving a special proclamation from the City of San Diego at a City Council meeting, the class, and their aquaponics projects were featured in an exhibit booth at the Science Festival EXPO Day at Petco Park. Twin Peaks students seized the opportunity to showcase an ECO-Cycle Kit and explain the benefits of aquaponics to the approximately 20,000 visitors who attended EXPO Day. According to STEM Challenge teacher Bruce May, the EXPO Day booth was “a great vehicle to share the promise of aquaponics with the San Diego community.” The booth logged well over 2,000 visitors including parents, scientists, educators, and over 1,000 students. The ECO-Cycle Kit was a magnet to draw visitors into the booth, and the students were busy fielding aquaponics questions all day.

For more information about Twin Peaks Middle School’s STEM Challenge program, contact teacher Bruce May at bmay@powayusd.com.