Aquaponics: How to Raise Fish and Grow Vegetables in the Classroom

In our 4th grade classroom, we raise trout.  We also have a garden.  Aquaponics is when you do both together?  Why would you want to raise fish and plants together?  Simple, the plants need the fish waste to grow and the fish need the plants to clean their water for them.  The amount of science you can learn is unlimited.  Read everything in this post and follow where it takes you to complete the mission of growing vegetables in our classroom.

Before you start, here is why I think this is a great science project for 4th graders:  It can be be made cheaply, you can learn a lot of science, it is fun, and you can create your own healthy food!  It could lead to an amazing business someday!



You won't only learn science, but you will learn math and if you read the article links in this blog post, you will also improve your nonfiction reading skills.

First, you might need to understand something about hydroponics before you can do aquaponics.  Hydroponics is the plant part of this experiment.  If you are working in groups or with a partner, someone has to be an expert about what the plants need to thrive (that means to do great!)  So, read the following article, take notes using a CC chart, and start learning.  Try to figure out the meaning of these words:
hydro
ponics
Common core questions:
Compare and contrast how plants are grown in an ordinary garden with how they are grow using hydroponics.
Why might some people need to use hydroponics to grow their food?  Use details from the article to explain your answer.

Click here to read about classroom hydroponics

Here is a great article you can read and take notes about.  As you read take some notes writing down what ideas you thought were important.  As I was reading this, I was thinking about where I could get one of these big cases and I talk to someone I know who has one and I am one step closer to make an aquaponics system.  You might also use this article to write a persuasive essay to your teacher about why she should let you do aquaponics in your classroom.
 


The first part of the project involves fish?  Here are some questions that you need to ask about fish?
What kind of fish can survive in the classroom?
Do the fish require warm water or cold water?
What do fish need to survive in a tank?
What do fish eat?
Where are you going to get the food to feed your fish?
Are you going to raise fish from eggs?  If so where will you get them?




What is aquaponics?  This is an amazing question for 4th grade scientists to answer.  It involves all kinds of amazing science topics.

Here are just a few of the science topics students can learn by exploring aquaponics

This is an amazing video about aquaponics.

This is a research article about aquaponics.

This is a good video about all aspects of aquaponics.

This is a great video about an ordinary guy who does aquaponics in his backyard.

The video below is about doing hydroponics in a bucket.  If you know of a science fair event at the end of the year, a student could get this started and actually show how to grow vegetables.  There are also all kinds of interesting science connections from electricity to physics.  

Aquaponics