Never had classes like this when I was in school.
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Canterbury students farm tilapia in the classroom[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Serif]Tank with 200 fish teaches aquaculture
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
BY KEVIN LOLLAR
klollar@news-press.com [/FONT]Canterbury Upper School students are getting into farming this year, but its not the 4-H cattle-and-crops kind.
These students are learning aquaculture, raising fish tilapia, to be exact from small fry to the frying pan.
When people think about farming, they think about traditional farming on land, senior Erik Mazza said. They dont think about farming with fish. Id never heard about the whole idea of farm raising fish, and I wanted to learn more about it. It will be cool seeing something go from a being little guppy to being on a plate.
Science teacher Carl Melamet, who called himself boss of the fish school, started Canterburys aquaculture program during the fall semester, after taking a five-day aquaculture course at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute last summer.
In the first week of December, with all the proper permits in place, Melamet bought 200, inch-long tilapia, a popular aquaculture species, which are now growing in the schools $2,000, 400-gallon recirculating aquaculture system.
Tilapia are such tough fish some people say theyre so tough, you can raise them in a puddle, Melamet said. If Im going to offer an intro class in aquaculture, Im not going to start with something that requires a high degree of sophistication.
Melamet bought the fish from a company in Bradenton.
The smallest quantity of tilapia the company sells is 1,000, for $100, but 1,000 fish would be far too many for Canterburys aquaculture system, so Melamet paid the $100 for 200 fish.
I thought maybe theyd give me a credit, he said. And if the fish all died, they could ship me some more.
Because the tilapia are being raised in a closed system, which, as the name suggests, recirculates its own water, the water must be carefully monitored.
And thats a big part of the classs educational benefit.
The kids can see the meaning of all the concepts theyre learned in biology, Melamet said. They learn about the chemistry of the water and the mechanics and physics of the circulation system. What they learn is only limited by my creativity.
When the aquaculture students came into class Friday, Melamet discussed water-quality issues, pointing out that excess ammonia, which is part of fish waste, can kill the fish.
Keeping track of ammonia levels, therefore, is an important part of fish aquaculture, so one of the the students tasks was measuring ammonia levels they also tested the pH and recorded water temperature.
Because the aquaculture system is in a screened-in classroom, Melamet was worried that the recent cold weather would kill the tilapia, which can die when water temperatures drop below 50 degrees.
All of the tilapia lived, but the only snook in the classrooms 1,000-gallon touch tank died.
In addition to science, Melamet teaches students about the environmental and economic sides of aquaculture.
Look at all of the kinds of aquaculture: clam farming, shrimp farming, tropical fish farming, freshwater plant farming, he said. Fish stocks are overfished. Thirty percent of our seafood comes from aquaculture. In 10 to 20 years, itll be 40 percent.
Aquaculture is the fastest growing form of agriculture, and were talking about why that is.
Canterburys aquaculture class is an elective, and senior Eric Wheeler decided to take it for a couple of reasons.
Its an extension of what I learned last year in marine biology, he said. And I wanted something interesting that could be practical: This is a small, self-contained setup that could be on your back porch, and you could be eating fresh fish every day.
Speaking of eating fresh fish: In May, when the tilapia are about 1.5 pounds, they will be harvested and eaten by the students.
Sophomore Parker Sweet had no qualms about raising the fish and then condemning them to become tasty filets with a side of potato salad.
I love fish, especially a good old fish fry, he said. Itll be fun raising them, and it will probably be a little sad killing the little guys, but if we learn about aquaculture and marine biology and then fry em up, they will have done their job.
http://www.news-press.com/article/2...erbury-students-farm-tilapia-in-the-classroom
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Canterbury students farm tilapia in the classroom[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Serif]Tank with 200 fish teaches aquaculture
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
BY KEVIN LOLLAR
klollar@news-press.com [/FONT]Canterbury Upper School students are getting into farming this year, but its not the 4-H cattle-and-crops kind.
These students are learning aquaculture, raising fish tilapia, to be exact from small fry to the frying pan.
When people think about farming, they think about traditional farming on land, senior Erik Mazza said. They dont think about farming with fish. Id never heard about the whole idea of farm raising fish, and I wanted to learn more about it. It will be cool seeing something go from a being little guppy to being on a plate.
Science teacher Carl Melamet, who called himself boss of the fish school, started Canterburys aquaculture program during the fall semester, after taking a five-day aquaculture course at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute last summer.
In the first week of December, with all the proper permits in place, Melamet bought 200, inch-long tilapia, a popular aquaculture species, which are now growing in the schools $2,000, 400-gallon recirculating aquaculture system.
Tilapia are such tough fish some people say theyre so tough, you can raise them in a puddle, Melamet said. If Im going to offer an intro class in aquaculture, Im not going to start with something that requires a high degree of sophistication.
Melamet bought the fish from a company in Bradenton.
The smallest quantity of tilapia the company sells is 1,000, for $100, but 1,000 fish would be far too many for Canterburys aquaculture system, so Melamet paid the $100 for 200 fish.
I thought maybe theyd give me a credit, he said. And if the fish all died, they could ship me some more.
Because the tilapia are being raised in a closed system, which, as the name suggests, recirculates its own water, the water must be carefully monitored.
And thats a big part of the classs educational benefit.
The kids can see the meaning of all the concepts theyre learned in biology, Melamet said. They learn about the chemistry of the water and the mechanics and physics of the circulation system. What they learn is only limited by my creativity.
When the aquaculture students came into class Friday, Melamet discussed water-quality issues, pointing out that excess ammonia, which is part of fish waste, can kill the fish.
Keeping track of ammonia levels, therefore, is an important part of fish aquaculture, so one of the the students tasks was measuring ammonia levels they also tested the pH and recorded water temperature.
Because the aquaculture system is in a screened-in classroom, Melamet was worried that the recent cold weather would kill the tilapia, which can die when water temperatures drop below 50 degrees.
All of the tilapia lived, but the only snook in the classrooms 1,000-gallon touch tank died.
In addition to science, Melamet teaches students about the environmental and economic sides of aquaculture.
Look at all of the kinds of aquaculture: clam farming, shrimp farming, tropical fish farming, freshwater plant farming, he said. Fish stocks are overfished. Thirty percent of our seafood comes from aquaculture. In 10 to 20 years, itll be 40 percent.
Aquaculture is the fastest growing form of agriculture, and were talking about why that is.
Canterburys aquaculture class is an elective, and senior Eric Wheeler decided to take it for a couple of reasons.
Its an extension of what I learned last year in marine biology, he said. And I wanted something interesting that could be practical: This is a small, self-contained setup that could be on your back porch, and you could be eating fresh fish every day.
Speaking of eating fresh fish: In May, when the tilapia are about 1.5 pounds, they will be harvested and eaten by the students.
Sophomore Parker Sweet had no qualms about raising the fish and then condemning them to become tasty filets with a side of potato salad.
I love fish, especially a good old fish fry, he said. Itll be fun raising them, and it will probably be a little sad killing the little guys, but if we learn about aquaculture and marine biology and then fry em up, they will have done their job.
http://www.news-press.com/article/2...erbury-students-farm-tilapia-in-the-classroom
