Phase I - Freshwater Aquarium Habitats
In this phase, students will establish and maintain a freshwater aquarium habitat in their classroom with the future intent to receive organisms from their local aquarium. As students follow the guidelines developed by water quality specialists from the Newport Aquarium in Kentucky, they will manipulate variables associated with appropriate cycling of their tank in preparation for those organisms.
Guided by their classroom teacher, students will identify and solve problems with the tank as they take daily measurements of the water. Clarifying their ideas, formulating questions and executing those ideas will be an essential part of this process. Helping them will be local scientists, answering their questions and responding to their observations logged on the Academy website.
Later, students will travel to their area aquarium to view the cycling and maintenance process on a gigantic scale as they tour the water treatment facility that supports the aquarium organisms. Additionally, students will travel to visit an outdoor field station where scientists deal with indigenous species in an aquatic setting.
Bridging all these activities will be the continuous, daily monitoring of their classroom tank as organisms are received, they grow and produce young. Detailed data will be kept and collected as a means of problem-solving issues that occur.
