I would like to take a thread to describe how I came across TR and how I have used the podcast in the recent past. First let me frame this post by giving a bit of background. I am a doctoral (Ph.D.) student at the University of Northern Colorado studying Instructional Design and Technology (IDT). Specifically, my interests are in microworlds (games and simulations) for education.
I recently ran a short two week study on the applicability of a conceptual framework of microworlds in education in a high school science classroom. Although the subject of my research was on the model itself, the class was on aquatic ecosystems. In the podcast on nutrients, partly the reason for this post, Rob implies something critical to my field, and really to the hobby itself: a marine tank is a simulation of an aquatic ecosystem. Microworlds (literally “little worlds”) are not always computer based! An example for you computer people on the forums: how would you program a highly realistic (high fidelity) simulation of a coral reef? Bet it wouldn’t be easy. But a marine aquarium does this nicely, and provides an opportunity to learn a great deal about the oceanic ecosystems in general. For example, wide temperature fluctuations in a tank mean dead coral—it is reasonable to assume, then, that wide fluctuations in temperature in a reef result in the same effect (coral
bleaching).
The study itself was held in south Denver at a charter school (sorry, I can’t give names due to APA ethical guidelines). The project followed the following pattern:
1. Introduce what in the world we are doing.
2. Students research the conditions of various aquatic ecosystems: Amazon and South American, African, Brackish, Coldwater, Asian, Indo-Pacific, & Caribbean.
3. Each ecosystem must be fully described in terms of hardness, alkinity, water flow,
pH, the
nitrogen cycle, the carbon cycle, anerobic bacteria, aerobic bacteria, the food web, diet, species, behavior, and environment (i.e. what you put in the tank with the fish).
4. Students then chose one ecosystem to simulate in their aquarium (about 30 gallons each).
5. We track the
nitrogen cycle during the maturation process and measure the water conditions. The tank set up must mimic the natural ecosystem as closely as possible. So, no gourami’s in an Amazonian tank, for example.
6. Lessons learned during the fish keeping process are brought back to the aquatic ecosystem topic.
Naturally, all but one student chose a marine tank, and this is where we came across TR! Students listened to episodes 54 (refugiums), 31 (light), 27 and 28 (sand beds), 22 (selecting fish), 35 (skimmers), and 26 (cyanide, at the end). They wanted to listen to the one on seahorses, but we told them to try and keep damsels alive for a year or so first :P . Their tanks were fairly successful, although we only had 2 weeks and couldn’t get them to full maturity. As a note, my friend and I started maturing the sand, filters, and water earlier to give them a head start.
So, why do I mention all this? Two reasons. Number one, to mention that TR was a great help! As you will note from my name, I am a “curious reefer,” not a “grand master” like some other ferrets
. There is nothing like having to teach something to make you learn it quickly. Needless to say, we (my friend and I) have a lot more to learn, but we would have been lost in the marine world without TR. Second, this was a full qualitative study performed as graduate research for publication. TR will definatly be in the Special Thanks section. As well, I will present the results of the study at the North American Simulation and Gaming Association’s (NASAGA) conference in Vancouver in October. I will be sure to mention TR there as well.
Lastly, I would like you all to know, especially the educators and conservationists among you, that the kids came away from the class with a much greater appreciation for the delicacy of aquatic life. Many of them were interested in coral
bleaching, breeding fish to reduce the costs of wild caught, over mineralization of the water (leading to red tides, pfesteria outbreaks, and algae blooms) and aquafarming (not that I think any of them will choose the later as a career, it is hard to farm tuna in Denver
). Considering where most of them began in the class, they were in summer school, which meant most failed biology or chemistry, this change was significant.
