Remember being bored in school? Don't you wish you could pick vegetables in the hallway and eat them on the way to your next class? Did you ever consider eating your class pet in 7th grade? In this talk Math teacher Michael Paoli shows how an aquaponics fish tank in a New York City public school delivered high stakes learning for his middle school students.



Ten years ago, Michael Paoli, a Canadian, was smuggled into New York City to teach mathematics to kids. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto where he holds a double major in mathematics and theatre, the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education (OISE) and a master’s of Mathematics Education at Hunter College.

Michael currently teaches at the Ella Baker School in Manhattan and is a master teacher at Math for America. He is also part of a mathematics inquiry team led by Professor Betina Zolkower of Brooklyn College to “Engage Students in Framing and Solving Non-Routine Problems.”

In 2014, Michael received a grant from Fund for Teachers to explore urban farming and aquaponics across Europe which sparked the entire project. The Captain Planet Foundation donated all the funding for the aquaponics system and it couldn’t have been done without them! Also, a big thanks to Jonathan Kadish who volunteered many hours by helping design, build and troubleshoot the structure.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx