On April 9 we were invited to speak at the Honolulu Aquarium Society (HAS) monthly meeting about our STEM outreach program that uses the O’paeula as a teaching model.
Held in the cafeteria Kuhio Elementary School on the first Friday of every month, aquarium enthusiasts gather to share their common interest in aquarium keeping. They have a diverse membership including award winning fish breeders, serious fish collectors and breeders, aquatic plant experts, but mostly hobbyists that enjoy fish and aquariums.
A few years ago I attended a talk by the authors of “Hawaiian Anchialine Pools Window to a Hidden World” at an HAS monthly meeting. Their talk inspired the development of our Anchialine Pool Ecology lab module.
HAS club members support our module by supplying me with all the captive raised O’paeula. Since this is one of our most popular modules it is a great help to have a reliable source of O’pae.
We shared with the membership how students are fascinated by the O’pae and it is a great way to teach them about making observations, learning about the life cycle, ecology, threats to habitat, conservation, chemistry and biology.
We also brought microscopes so the members could see the O’pae and other items under different magnification.
We are so grateful to have to support of the Honolulu Aquarium Society so we are able to provide interesting STEM outreach opportunities to Hawaii students.