The Aquaculture Challenge is a hands-on learning STEM opportunity open to all 8-12 students enrolled in school or extra curricular teams. This competition is supported Lake Superior State University and the Michigan Sea Grant through the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center Youth Education in Aquaculture.
Team applications are accepted from October-January. Teams work from January-April to design and engineer table-top aquaponics systems. They spend the competition window monitoring and automating the systems, crafting business plans, and creating seafood outreach projects. Staff from MISG and faculty and students from Lake Superior State University provide guidance and mentorship to teams and coaches throughout the process.
The competition ends in late April, when teams submit their accomplishments virtually using videos and PDFs to capture their hard work. A virtual awards ceremony takes place in April or early May, and winning teams receive trophies in the mail.
The competition comes with support such as: $150 stipends, a virtual coach training and kick off meeting, a team liaison assigned to meet virtually with each team throughout the season, and several electronic resources.
The competition consists of 4 parts designed to engage students in a wide variety of hands-on STEM and humanities topics. Teams will:
- Design and build an aquaponics system of any size.
- Monitor the system using chemical and physical monitoring. Bonus points are awarded for using automated monitoring systems.
- Create a business plan for the system or a scaled version of the system; the plan can follow a for-profit or nonprofit model.
- Create a seafood dish and perform an outreach project promoting healthy seafood consumption.