A List of Questions About Beyond the Classroom Aquarium (for example: Why does it not cost less? Why select it over curricula produced by major publishing houses? Why use it when student success would require extensive effort, time, work and support? Why use this curriculum in view of the financial expenses it requires? and more)

Starting with…

        Question NUMBER TEN-A;

10A. Why, Aside from:

• Receiving 60% royalty on all monies beyond the minimum $41.90 sale price that covers Kindle’s printing cost ($25.14) and other fees ($16.76)? As for example the price for this book is currently set at $58.56 I may expect to receive a royalty of $10.00. ….AND;
• After years of committing portions of my own personal teaching salary funds to procure and install classroom aquatic ecosystem materials, equipment and livestock, AND;
• Committing further personal monies associated with attendance at more than a dozen classes, professional conferences and professional development workshops to explore and develop Beyond the Classroom Aquarium? curriculum related ideas, AND;
• Dispensing additional funds associated with royalty payments to other publishers who granted premission to use portions of their content in Beyond the Classroom Aquarium, AND;
• Considering the many intangible costs associated with years of reading, studying, photocopying, etc. related to the curriculum, AND;
• Years (20+) spent thinking, writing, and revising conceptual designs of the Beyond the Classroom Aquarium curriculum and the persistence to complete it; Why then

        … does this book not cost less?

Moving right along to:

          Question Number 10-B

10B. If

• a publishing company did not publish it (Beyond the Classroom Aquarium is self-published and print on demand) …and
• my school district’s curriculum committee did not authorize adoption of it,

Why should I give it the time of day? After all, a lot of experts and top dollar educational corporations have developed and endorsed a plethora of reviewed and highly rated curricular materials.

     … Question Number NINE

9. The level of knowledge and skill required of the lead teacher in this project based curriculum is uncommonly extreme. Getting students to be successful with this curriculum would require extensive effort, time, work and support. No thanks (Please share your reaction to this comment).

    … Question Number EIGHT.

8. It would cost way too much to implement the projects in this curriculum at my school (a small fortune). Even though it may well be worth it, where do startup funds to implement this curriculum come from? Why DIY so many systems and components when many high quality components can be purchased (plug and play). Cutting corners and finding novel ways to design and produce system components is just not how I view my role as an educator (Please share your reaction to this comment).

    … Question Number SEVEN.

7. Projects in this curriculum are designed to address modern day math standards, next generation science standards, and standards relating to integration of technology, engineering and the arts into learning activities. This kind of integration may make daily work with students more complicated than some educators might prefer (Please share your reaction to this comment).

      … Question Number SIX.

6.  The man who wrote this curriculum has put a lot of passion into it. Somehow he devised a way to unify all of these aquatic ecosystem themed projects into a logical curricular sequence. In addition to being a veteran educator (of more than 35 years), he went to great lengths to ensure this work would address a range of issuses of interest in numerous professional aquatic ecosystem fields of study and work. Obsessive/compulsive? Maybe he should have just joined a rock band instead? (Please share your reaction to this comment).

     … Question Number FIVE.

5. How can modern day persons perform these projects via digital learning or while being home schooled? These conditions make implementation of such a project based curriculum even more difficult. (Please share your reaction to this comment).

     … Question Number FOUR.

4. I think students would never buy-in to a yearlong project based, aquatic ecosystem themed structuted sequence of multidisciplinary learning activities. They have such limited attention spans and get bored so easily….  What do you think? (Please share your reaction to this comment).

    … Question Number THREE.

3. What examples of application of knowlegde and skill could be presented from students who have participated in this sequence of projects – in science, technology, engineering, art, and math? The author seems to think that learning about aquatic ecosystem is an enriching vehicle for guiding students to learn math & more (and apply it in real world contexts). (Please share your reaction to this comment).

     … Question Number TWO.

2. What might a classroom look like after a full school year of successful project participation in all 14 projects and related assessment activities has occurred? Could such a learning space serve as a demonstration  model and professional development learning space? (Please share your reaction to this comment).

     … And finally, Last but not least,

         Question Number ONE.

1. Has this author put together a Beyond the Classroom Aquarium professional development workshop for interested educators; a workshop that could be held in an operational beyond the classroom aquatic ecosystem learning space? Would it be FREE? (Please share your reaction to this comment).

I believe you can find answers to these questions and many others in the book. I will be happy to read your own comment about any of the questions on this list or other relevant concern(s) even if you have not yet read or used this curriculum. In particular, I am deeply interested in what you believe a fair price for this book might be. What do you think is a reasonable expectation for a royalty of this book? Although I did not write this book to make money I did hope I might recover expenses in the process of sharing this amazong curriculum.

Thank you.

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