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Mexico Academy & Central School
16 Fravor RoadMexico, NY 13114
315-963-8400 X 5400 or (315)-218-1799
Fax: 315-963-5801
Environmental science students ready for aquaponics
Environmental Science students will soon have access to more hands on learning experiences when their teacher unveils a new Aquaponics tank. The $4,000 tank paid for by the school district is expected to be installed Tuesday October 16th. According to environmental science teacher Mr. Michael Johst aquaponics is a system used for growing vegetables without soil. These plants are grown in the water that will include fish that will live in tanks under the plants. The fish will produce waste that the plants will take as nutrients, In turn the plants will benefit the fish because they will filter the waste. Johst said he’s excited about the chance to work with this system for the first time. This system will be used in classes and will be student-run. The environmental science students who are interested in the system will be able to teach others about how it works. According to Johst the students may be expecting some vegetables from the system in the school’s lunches. “We can use the vegetables theoretically for the school lunch program. On the front side we’re providing vegetables; on the reverse side we’ve already got the composts and systems spread out for food use,” Johst said. He said he was interested in the Aquaponics system because he thought it would give a different perspective on science classes. “I wanted to be able to do this for real not just a little tiny model or something, I wanted to give kids the ability to do something that’s kind of crazy big and fun and a good learning experience. I like showy things that other people can some and see. And I want to get kids interested in the career aspect too. I’m going to be taking some of these kids that are doing this down to Sherrill so they can see how this is done on a large scale,” Johst said. He also hopes to generate some interest among students who don’t necessarily find science interesting. “I want other kids to just know that science can be cool. It doesn’t always have to be something out of a textbook and taking tests or whatever. There’s all different kinds of aspects to it.”
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