FEATURE ARTICLE

Summer 2000 Professional Development in Review:

Aquaculture in Action
July 10-14, 2000

The second Aquaculture in Action workshop was "on the road" again, July 10-14, at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Horn Point Laboratory (HPL), The University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute's Center of Marine Biotechnology (COMB), and South Carroll High School in Carroll County, MD, and was attended by 15 educators from 8 counties in Maryland. For the first time the workshop extended into the elementary level with participation from a team of teachers from Calvert County, MD. Each participant or team of participants was supplied with materials to construct a 210 gallon recirculating aquaculture system that will be used to enhance science education in their school. Aquaculture has provided a great "hook" for teaching science for Bob Foor-Hogue at South Carroll High School, and by hosting a part of the workshop in his classroom, educators were able to get first-hand knowledge of the potential applications for themselves. The week was full of "hands-on" experiences, guest speakers, new experiences, field work, visits to aquaculture research facilities, and much more.

The workshop kicked off at HPL with a background discussion from Maryland Sea Grant Extension Agent Don Webster. His talk presented the past, present, and future of aquaculture in Maryland and abroad. Participants toured the finfish and shellfish hatcheries, competed in a shellbagging contest against 7th grade volunteers, took oyster samples in HPL's oyster nursery ground, and finished the day with a traditional Eastern Shore crab cake dinner.

Day two of the workshop started with a trip to COMB in Baltimore where John Stubblefield gave participants a "behind the scenes" look at an urban aquaculture center and current research at the Aquaculture Research Center. After lunch in Little Italy, it was off to South Carrol High School for an introduction to the 210-gallon recirculating system that each participant would be constructing for their classroom.

The remaining days were packed full of lectures and labs on BIOFILTRATION, WATER QUALITY, MICROBIOLOGY, and ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT. Participants also heard a special talk from Kerri Bentkowski of the Chesapeake Bay Trust on how to write grants for environmental-based school projects.

If all of that wasn't enough, the portion of the workshop enjoyed the most was the construction of each participants' 210-gallon recirculating aquaculture system. These systems were composed of a rearing tank (with window), sump tank, clear fluidized bed filter, and all the accessories necessary to raise fish. In total 11 new systems were constructed for use in Maryland public schools. Some of the systems (along with supporting classroom materials) will join others in classrooms already, and the remainder with be first-time attempts at aquaculture in the school - let alone the classroom.

One strength of the workshop came from our two master teachers, Bob Foor-Hogue and Jim Gilford, both of Carroll County, who shared their years of classroom aquaculture experience with the group. They, coupled with the 10 teachers/schools that participated in the program in 1998, provide vast opportunities for partnerships between schools that would not normally interact with one another.

These teachers will now join the group from 1998 as part of the Aquaculture in Action web network, a site devoted to the support of data collection and communication between teachers and students using aquaculture in their classroom. For more information on aquaculture in the classroom or to contact an educator in your area who is using aquaculture in their classroom, check out the network at:

www.mdsg.umd.edu/Education/AinA

http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/Extension/msgsnn/msgsnn03_1/index.html