We finished off our FELDA Ayer Hitman visit by teaching Form 1 students (13 years old) at their Aquaponics Ag Day at SMK Seri LaLang before returning back to UTM in Johor Baru. We were initially greeted by our students playing instruments and each handed a very unique flower and egg on a stick combination as we departed from our bus. In a brief opening ceremony, we observed for the first time students, faculty, and visitors stood for the nationals anthem of Malaysia. 🇲🇾 As we finished logistical matters, the students were divided into four groups. Please keep in mind groups are comprised of separate genders, this time we had two groups of boys and two groups of females.

 

 

Accomplishing the WHY is always our mission as educators. But,  why were we at FELDA Ayer Hitam SMK Seri Lalang today? We hoped to accomplish the following learning objectives as a team today by discussing AQUAPONICS:

1.  Classify the components of an aquaponics system.

2. Differentiate between the three types of aquaponics systems; NFT (Nutrient Film Technique), Ebb and Flow, and Raft/DWC (Deep Water Culture).

3. Create the cycle through an aquaponics system.

4. Assess the pros and cons of an aquaponics system.

At the close our session, we had a few minutes for questions, where we learned that several students were curious about our favorite back home food, a student shared that he loved to beatbox and even heard him play, they were also curious about if we enjoyed wearing the traditional batik and hijab to teach in. I have to say it was very tight fitting around your face but I appreciated the culture adjustment and felt very welcome. Also relevant is that we were in a school and teaching on a Sunday. In the state of Johor Bahor they observe Friday and Saturday as the weekend and as such, we were at school today.

Melissia Grant (@MelissiaGrant8) is a secondary agriscience teacher at Western High School in Indiana.