EnvironFocus Knowledge and Exchange Program (EKCEP) pilot is underway and a lot of learning has already taken place between the schools. A curriculum has been developed and lessons have already begun in classrooms and in the Portal. Participating schools are Morning Star Middle School, Ontario Canada and S-Tee International Secondary School, Lagos Nigeria.
Participating students are in Grade 8 in Canada and JSS 2 in Nigeria. Our goal is to raise children that will solve the sustainability problems of the present and the future with the help of their classroom teachers and their School. Both schools are excited. It is an innovative and exciting teaching method for both the students and the teachers. There is lots of knowledge exchange going on between teachers and the children are learning new clean technologies. The students will be learning about each country’s culture and the clean technology of choice is Aquaponics. Aquaponics combines conventional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. It supplement the traditional agricultural methods being used in communities and provide more stability in food supply with zero environmental impact. Students from Morning Star will be representing EKCEP at the upcoming EnvironFocus Show and Tell taking place April 29, 2017 at the Living Art Centre, Mississauga Ontario.
The secondary goal of the EKCEP pilot is the construction of an actual aquaponics system by the students. The students of S-Tee International Secondary School, Lagos Nigeria, plan to build the food production system in their school compound, while the students of Morning Star Middle School Ontario, Canada plan to build the food production system in the home of a First Nations family in Ontario Canada. Funding will be required to construct these systems and we hope we will have the support of communities/organizations in both countries to make project a reality for the children.