Grow food with living water

Log weekly readings from your aquaponics tank — pH, temperature, and notes — so schools and whānau can learn what keeps fish and plants thriving together.

Open: Tank readings with a place nickname — no stream visits required. · School: Ecosystem Health & Restoration inquiry world

Contribute now →Setup guide School inquiry world

One platform, two modes

First understand a system. Then help it thrive.

Step 1Diagnostic mode“How do we know whether a system is healthy?”Ecosystem health can be diagnosed through measurable evidence, not assumed.Used in Ecosystem Health & RestorationOpen diagnostic mode Step 2Design mode“How can human systems help living systems thrive?”Intervening in a system has consequences that need to be predicted and checked.Used in Regenerative Systems & LivingOpen design mode

AwaKai's dual use, diagnostic in Ecosystem Health & Restoration and design-oriented in Regenerative Systems & Living, is a curriculum progression, understanding leading to intervention, not simply a platform feature.

Why your contribution matters

Healthy water is the heart of healthy land. Regular, careful readings from tanks and streams show what is changing and when: the kind of evidence councils, iwi and catchment groups need to decide what to do.

Your class, to diagnose a system and test a restoration idea (Ecosystem Health & Restoration, then Regenerative Systems & Living).
Other schools running AwaKai tanks, comparing what keeps fish and plants thriving.
Local catchment and restoration groups interested in stream health.

Community missions

Pick a mission for your class, your family or a group of schools.

Same time every week
One reading a week, same time and spot, for a whole term: the simplest way to spot real change.
1. Pick a day and time and stick to it.
2. Record temperature and pH, plus anything you notice.
3. At the end of term, graph it and look for a pattern.
Temperature through the day
How much does the water warm up from morning to afternoon?
1. Take readings at the start of school, lunch and home time.
2. Repeat on 3 days with different weather.
3. Explain what you find using sunlight and shade.
Mystery cloudiness
The tank has gone cloudy. What changed?
1. Record what happened in the last 2 days (feeding, sun, cleaning).
2. Take readings and a clarity photo.
3. Share your best explanation, and how sure you are.

For teachers and schools: work together

Tank buddies: pair with another school's AwaKai tank and swap readings each fortnight. Whose system is more stable, and why?
Agree on the same measuring steps so your numbers can be compared.
Invite a council freshwater officer or catchment group to hear your stream health findings.

Take it further: bigger NZ projects

NIWA SHMAK stream health kit
The kit schools, iwi and community groups use to monitor stream health. Many regional councils lend it out.
Landcare Trust
Community catchment groups around New Zealand you could connect with.
Science Learning Hub: citizen science
Many more NZ projects your class can join, with teacher guides.

Share observations, not people: no names, no faces, no home addresses. A place nickname and region are enough.

How it works

Sample → Measure → Submit → Compare

Sample
Same tank spot each week — mid-depth, after fish settle.
Measure
pH and temperature with a rinsed probe or honest strip reading.
Submit
Place nickname and region only — note feeding and what you observed.
Compare
Patterns over weeks beat one lucky number — compare like with like.

Read the full setup guide →

Show, don't just tell

Example reading card

Place: Room 12 aquaponics
pH / temp: 7.1 · 22 °C
Source: Aquaponics tank

Same spot each week. Note feeding yesterday and probe (not strips) in your notes.

Borrowed from MaramaTrap's example-photo pattern — works for every platform.

Growing with science

Aquaponics links fish, plants, and water chemistry. These ideas help you read your numbers and grow better food.

Nitrogen cycle
Fish waste → ammonia → nitrite → nitrate → plant uptake. Stuck at ammonia? Note it.
pH for tanks
Many school systems target roughly 6.8–7.2 — compare your trend, not someone else's stream.
Food production
Healthy water grows healthy greens — log when you harvest and what changed that week.

Good to know

pH for tanks
Many school aquaponics systems sit around 6.8–7.2 — track your trend, not someone else's awa.
Nitrogen cycle
Fish waste → ammonia → nitrite → nitrate → plants. Stuck at ammonia? Note it and ask why.
Growing food
Healthy water grows healthy greens — log harvest weeks to connect chemistry and production.

Where AwaKai fits in the curriculum

One platform, two modes. Diagnostic mode asks whether a system is healthy; design mode asks whether an intervention helped. That shift, from understanding to intervention, is a curriculum progression, not just a feature.

Both modes use the same open water-reading log: place, region, water source, pH, temperature and notes.

Ecosystem Health & Restoration (diagnostic use)Ecosystem Health & Restoration“How do we know whether a system is healthy?”Make & Test: Trial a monitoring approach and test whether it reliably detects a change in the ecosystem over time.Explore the world Regenerative Systems & Living (design use)Regenerative Systems & Living“How can human systems help living systems thrive?”Make & Test: Implement the intervention and test whether the predicted effect actually occurs.Explore the world

Platforms are developed in response to curriculum and inquiry requirements, not the reverse.

Also try community science

The same fair-testing habits work across platforms — honest notes, repeat visits, no street addresses.

All 6 platforms →