During some of the nicest weather we have had in a while, the ARC arrived on the back of a low loader to Scoil Chaitríona Senior. Once in situ, it was hard to imagine that this could transform into a classroom to accommodate a whole class of students! Thanks to a clever hydraulics system, the ARC doubled in size to allow access to the learning within.

The Aquaculture Remote Classroom (ARC) is a mobile classroom which has been designed to raise young people’s awareness of aquaculture. Aquaculture is the farming of plants and animals in the water. Although almost all of us have seen and understand farming on the land, not many people are aware that we also farm plants and animals in the water. 

Read on to learn more about the ARC experience through the eyes of Jan and Lucas, 6th class, room 15

Our Experience in the ARC
On Friday, April 4th, we spent the day in the ARC (Aquaculture Remote Classroom). When we entered, we saw the inside of the classroom. It looked very futuristic. There were 3 TVs screens on the wall. There were also LED lights in the classroom. In the middle of the ARC, there were 5 tables with drawings of different sealife.
We started with the timeline of farming, with the Romans being the first to start aquaculture. Then they showed us how mussels, oysters and salmon are farmed. For mussels, they put long ropes dangling into the water. The mussels latch onto the ropes with their beards. It takes 2-3 years for them to grow. To grow the oysters they get small oysters and leave them on the shores and wait a few years. Sometimes they shake the baskets so they don’t stick to each other.
In the next session, they gave us a map and we had to locate places where farming these would be best. Then we learned about climates and what elements would be suitable for farming and at the end we saw under the sea and from a drone on VR headsets and we also did a quiz.
Sadly, the day was over but everyone had a great time. It was a wonderful experience.