Funding has been secured through several public and private agencies. The project started three years ago with a grant from the Illinois State Board of Education for quality programs. This year we were able to expand our exploration of aquaculture through a grant by the Chicago Academy of Sciences which will fund our travels to Chicago to tour the Academy and the Shedd Aquarium. Funding will also allow us to put our Aquaculture Program on the World Wide Web. The reaction from students has been tremendous.
Aquaculture seems to bring science and math instruction to life for the students in the classroom.
Tilapia production has been a teaching tool for the past three years. Aquaculture instruction changes the way students learn. After seeing the excitement generated by building the project in the mechanics lab, we were able to convince administrators that a class dedicated to natural resources needed to be created to better utilize this project. Aquaculture allows experienced aquaculture students to use mentoring type of instruction with students in grades 5 -10. Mentoring reinforces what the upperclassmen have learned.