Since it's formal introduction into the nation's classrooms in 1992, aquaculture has provided innovative opportunities and had a positive impact on students and instructional programs. Today, it is estimated that nearly 2,600 out of 11,000 high school programs teaching agriculture provide over 36,000 students with opportunities for "hands on" experiences in aquaculture (Conroy and Walker 1998). It is estimated that over 100,000 additional students (K-12) and young adults have been introduced to aquaculture through exposure to school aquaculture programs.

A majority of the aquaculture education programs in U.S. secondary schools employ recirculating (closed) systems with capacities of a few hundred to several thousand gallons. The species of choice used in these systems is tilapia. With limited space and resources, this technology is very appropriate for school aquaculture programs.

A lot of technical information, as well as instructional material, is now available to teachers interested in infusing aquaculture into their curriculum. With funding from the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Council for Agricultural Education (The Council) has, since 1990, developed quality instructional materials and organized teacher inservice training to assist teachers in the area of aquaculture education. Most recently a series of How To manuals have been developed that respond directly to specific needs, interests or areas of aquaculture instruction as suggested by teachers. The following pages were developed to provide the reader with an introduction and some basic information on "how to" get started using recirculating aquaculture systems for educational purposes.