News

$100,000 lab will showcase aquatic life

By Amanda McGregor
STAFF WRITER
Published: January 12, 2009

SALEM — Salem High School is preparing to open a $100,000 aquaculture and hydroponics laboratory, thanks to a grant from the Norman H. Read Charitable Trust.

The lab will house solar algae tanks, touch tanks, experiment tables, terrariums, a saltwater tank, and nursery and infirmary tanks so students can examine and treat ailing organisms — which will include everything from fish to slime molds to hissing cockroaches.

"Kids get really excited when they can see and interact with actual organisms," science teacher William Warren said.

"I can show a video or write something on the board, but this will really involve more students as a whole. ... These are the kinds of things that catch your interest as a student." The school announced plans last week for the new lab, which is being designed by Warren and science teacher Graeme Marcoux.

Marcoux gushed enthusiastically about the opportunities for "tidepooling" in the tanks, dissection and independent studies for students who want to take on in-depth experiments.

"These are all fantastic learning opportunities that are frankly being missed in a lot of cases," he told the School Committee last week.

The lab will span the second and third floors of the high school. The aquaculture tanks will be housed below, and water from the tanks will be pumped into the hydroponics tiers on the third floor for plants to filter out the nutrients and fish waste before recycling the water back to the tanks — a natural process called biofiltration.

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, without soil.

"The idea behind this is to demonstrate for kids how nutrient cycling works," Marcoux said. "At every conference, meeting and training I go to, all they push these days is math, science and technology — and how important it is for kids to go into college with these skills."

The glassed-in space for the labs is located along an enclosed courtyard, across from the cafeterias.

"I picture independent studies with kids in white lab coats and (safety) glasses doing experiments," Warren said, "and the kids in the cafeteria will be watching and saying, 'What are they doing?'"

The new lab is scheduled to open by May 1, said Marcoux, who teaches freshman biology and environmental science.

Warren said consultation with Salem State College is key because of the expansive aquaculture lab it operates at its Cat Cove Marine Laboratory.

"They have experience building stuff on a big scale," Warren said.

The new tanks and tables will be equipped with digital monitoring systems and cameras. The equipment measures nutrient and other concentrations.

"To be honest," Marcoux said, "it's better than most of my college classes with the technology we have now."

The tanks will house creatures ranging from fishes like tilapia and silversides to sea stars (starfish), periwinkles and brine shrimp.

"The solar algae tanks can be used to grow food for some of our larger organisms," Marcoux said.

Warren and Marcoux said students taking freshman biology, environmental science and marine science will use the new lab. Chemistry and physics classes will possibly use the space as well, they said.

"In physics, we could study the pumps, the rate of fluid flow and energy usage," said Warren, who teaches physics and marine science.

The students will also be responsible for the upkeep, maintenance and cleaning of the new equipment as part of class requirements. "Maintaining the ecosystem is a major part (of it)," Marcoux said.

The teachers began designing the labs in November. Mayor Kim Driscoll, who is chairwoman of the School Committee, said she was "blown away by the ingenuity" of the project.

"I'm constantly trying to put a nontraditional style of education into a traditional setting," Marcoux said. "This is a microcosm of what goes on in nature."