GARF+Proposal

Schools Served: Oregon and Washington Schools

Title: Tanks for Teachers

Author: PNWMAS BOARD, Joel Lavin, etc.

**Description:** The water cycle is one of the most well covered science topics in elementary and middle level classrooms in Oregon and Washington today. Unfortunately, the ocean, where most water is found lacks much coverage. This club hopes to increase the interest in threats to our oceans and to sustainable aquaculture propagation techniques for corals. We want to expose k-12 students to many important oceanographic concepts. We will do this by designing and maintaining an aquarium that mimics a tropical Pacific or Atlantic reef.

**Why is this important?** Oceanography is an excellent topic to cover in classrooms because it is tied to many of Oregon/ Washington Science benchmarks. A natural and intriguing method of teaching about oceans is to use a saltwater aquarium. Students can learn about water quality, ocean water composition, ocean currents, the nitrogen cycle, the carbon cycle, photosynthesis, bacteria’s role in the environment, waste water management, and of course the diversity of organisms found in an ecosystem. Students will learn much about aquatic husbandry. Students will have opportunity to study oceanic ecosystems. Students will be able to design their own experiments to study the ecology of the tank. Students will be able to learn water monitoring techniques to a very advanced level. Students will learn coral propagation technieus and their importance to reduce human impacts on coral reefs.

Who will be served? • __6-10_ Schools • ___10__ Teachers

How will it be evaluated? The project coordinator uses a variety of data sources to evaluate the success of the project: • Feedback from teachers using the tanks via e-mail and a “Tank Comment Form” that accompanies every tank • Feedback forms from trainings • Feedback from building principals • Student “Inquiry” work samples as shared by classroom teachers

Does it build on existing programs, and if so, how? This program will supplement many school programs. The addition of a marine tank lends itself to many biology classrooms.

Budget:

Supplies: || Salt Food Rock for biofiltration A gravel substrate Garf Grunge -Live sand activator Reverse Osmosis unit for water purification ||  || Services: ||  ||   || Equipment: || Aquarium- 29 gallons Heater Protein Skimmer Light -Flourescent Powerheads ||  || Total Amount Requested || Total Grant Request Indirect Cost Total amount requested ||  ||