Curriculum examples for in school tank

[MPiggy]

Hi All!
 

I recently moved from DC to SC.  Happily, I got a bigger tank.  My old 50g is in great shape and I’d like to donate it to a local school.

 

There are local (predominantly low-income) public schools (K-12) that do not have tanks.  The schools are all within 10 miles of the ocean.  I plan to reach out to all three schools to see if there is an interest my tank.

Teachers are grateful for the donation, but are stretched thin.  It was suggested I also help the teachers understand how the tank can be a teaching tool.
 

I don’t come from a teaching background.  Does anyone have a resource or curriculums that may be helpful?  

Thanks! 

[Jeremy]

@gastonemight be able to help 

[YHSublime]

Hey @MPiggy, hope you're liking SC! WAMAS (about a decade ago) had a pretty thriving reef education program, but locally. A lot of that has fallen off, I suspect mostly in part to the fact that it was (very similar to WAMAS) volunteer run. I suspect that most of those school tanks are no longer running, especially with Covid and kids going to remote learning for a few years. 

 

From what I've seen is that most school tanks are run by a hobbyist/teacher, and they never last long. There's a lot of factors, holidays, extreme weather, feeding, water changes, facilitator education, building access, etc. that play into having an aquarium in a public space. I know you mean well, but donating a tank might be more of a burden than a nice thing, even if they do want it! 

 

I ran a small tank out of a live in homeless shelter in VA, and while it was loved by residents and staff alike, it was a burden to maintain. And I was there 5/7 days a week. It didn't last long. 

 

Anyways, I know this wasn't an answer to your question, but I'd suggest selling the tank independently, and donating the cash to the school/s instead. Or to a program that helps the schools, like Read to Succeed.

 

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!

[gastone]

2 hours ago, Jeremy said:

@gastonemight be able to help 

I teach and currently maintain 6 small tanks in my building.  Here's the kicker.  I'm a math teacher and the work I do with the students is more of a 'club' and not a formal curriculum.  We approach the tanks from a hobbyist perspective, while I drag in our biology teacher to touch on certain aspects.  I'd offer a marine biology teacher, @MaeganWink if you are looking for specific curriculum ideas.

 

Also, I agree with Isaac.  One of the tanks I maintain is in the biology teacher's classroom.  It's a 2g pico with some softies and caulestrea that @YHSublime donated.  There was a Peterson anemone shrimp, but he jumped after a few months. This tank is dead simple and does fine as the bio teacher doesn't do any maintenance and other than top off and and monthly water change I leave it alone as well.  I typically go into the buildings at least once on the weekends to take care of things, but I enjoy it and it's not work.  I have permission to access the building over the summer, and enough autonomy to keep the cleaning crew out with their chemicals. 

 

I'm headed out of town for 9 days this summer.  My tanks at home are pretty straightforward.  I'll make sure the ATO reservoirs are full and have one of my daughter's friends feed the tanks, but the school systems are a different animal.  Someone is going to have to get trained.

 

 

[MPiggy]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. 
I appreciate the honest responses.  Will reconsider how to move forward.