LOWER MERION>> For more than 500 seventh-graders in the Norristown Area School District, walking into their science classrooms means walking into a veritable vegetable garden abounding with lemon balm, strawberries, romaine lettuce, oregano, and spinach – all being fed by the waste product of fish living in aquaponic gardens provided by Riverbend Environmental Education Center.
Throughout American Education Week, Nov. 16-20, those same students stepped outside of the classroom to visit the educators at Riverbend, who have been teaching them throughout the year to manage their sustainable aquaponic gardens.
Through a $40,000 grant from PECO, Riverbend has not only constructed a large 300-square-foot greenhouse with a 300-gallon aquaponic garden its their environmental education center, but it has also brought 20-gallon aquaponic gardens to nine Norristown classrooms.
On Wednesday, 75 students had their turn exploring Riverbend’s 30 acres where they saw tilapia swimming to the surface of their tanks, which help to grow the basil and mint used in the tea they enjoyed after the lesson, learned about the environmental impact of importing foods to the U.S., and tried their hand at dissection.
The curriculum for the aquaponic programming was developed by Riverbend’s Director of Education, Stacy Carr-Poole, and was peer reviewed by a panel of educators.
For the teachers at Norristown, the curriculum meshes into the district’s curriculum and acts as a springboard for any number of subjects from zoology and ecosystems to chemistry and photosynthesis.
The students have taken the stewardship of the gardens to heart, said Ray Fonash, Norristown science teacher and a former professional physicist who was inspired by Riverbend to build two additional gardens.
“If they take ownership of something they’re learning, that’s special because that doesn’t happen every day,” said Fonash of his students, who rush into the classroom each morning to check on the growth of the strawberry plant and see how the fish are doing.
“I cannot say enough about Riverbend. The support is immense,” Fonash said about the thoroughness of the curriculum and the ease with which teachers could adapt the aquaponic program to multiple aspects their own curriculum.
“It really syncs into our curriculum,” Fonash said. A conversation about agriculture practices “leads into a conversation about ecosytems” and then “we’re Googling the features of ocean predators” and asking questions about why our fish might not have those features.
Riverbend does an excellent job “to get 13-year-olds excited about nature,” Fonash said.
Laurie Bachman, executive director of Riverbend, said that excitement is the goal Riverbend’s educational outreach.
“It gets kids to think about how we’re all connected and prepares them to deal with environmental issues that their parents and grandparents never had,” Bachman said. Not only do the aquaponic gardens require 10 percent of the amount of water used in traditional agriculture, Bachman said, but the gardens act as teaching moments to help students understand the environmental impact of importing vegetables from across the globe and the state of the world’s oceans where fish populations are dwindling.
The gardens themselves work through a symbiotic relationship between plants and fish. The fish’s wastewater is used as “liquid fertilizer” and instead of building up to toxic levels is pumped upwards into the roots of the plants, which filter the water and release it back into the tanks. In the plant beds are “nitrifying bacteria” that are the critical component allowing the system to produce herbs, vegetables and flowers. The system is pesticide free and uses non-toxic dishwater to keep insects out of the plants and water.
Bachman said Riverbend has plans to take the pilot program at Norristown to other schools in future.
Riverbend is a nonprofit located at 1950 Spring Mill Road in Gladwyne, Pa., and offers environmental programming including school curriculum, teacher training, school field trips, an exploration camp, public programs, weekly nature classes and special events.