We’d like to thank all our customers for their generosity on #GivingTuesday! DonorsChoose.org is an organization whose mission is near and dear to our hearts at AquaSprouts: putting tools in the hands of educators and bringing educational experiences into schools. The nature of the site is one that empowers teachers to define their own needs, which makes it that much more amazing to us that there is never any shortage of projects looking to bring aquaponics into the classroom.

We think classroom aquaponics is a powerful tool, connecting lessons in ecology and sustainability to the real world by bringing living, growing things to kids’ daily lives. In a world where school lessons, like many things in our lives, are increasingly abstract and usually electronic, physical, tactile experiences stand out. An aquaponic garden in the classroom empowers teachers and students, even in places where neither might be able to garden at home. It also showcases a vision in which living things and technology coexist and synergize, instead of existing in opposition - a vision we believe is essential for a healthy, prosperous future. A classroom garden is a small thing that can help germinate big, big ideas!

It’s not just abstract benefits, either. Some research shows immediate, direct positive effects of having living things in kids’ environments. There are health and academic performance benefits to introducing plants, and wellness and instructional benefits of classroom pets. A growing, living system like an aquaponic garden may even confer a few of the now well-known benefits of getting kids into nature.

Chances are if there are teachers in your life, you’re already familiar with DonorsChoose. If you’re not, we’d ask you to give them a look - and if you think like us, and you like what we do, consider backing one of the campaigns for a teacher who wants to bring aquaponics to their kids!