Twenty-one students from Henry Clay High School in Lexington, Kentucky participated in a semester long aquaponics program.  They liked watching the fish grow and feeding them based upon their focus group responses.  For most, the fish were the best part of the project.  The most challenging part for many of the students was figuring out how to do the water testing and learning about the nitrogen cycle.  One student stated that nitrate and nitrite tests were challenging because you had to be careful and make sure you follow the steps.   The students were doing everything they could to keep the fish alive and making sure the water was clean throughout the semester.  One student stated that studying ecosystems really shows how pinpoint everything has to be to survive.  Students learned that it takes a lot of work to keep species alive.  Another student stated that fish need to be in a specific temperature to survive, also low ammonia, and various other stuff.  One student stated that interactions among organisms in an ecosystem are so important and they are vital to every species existence.  The same student also stated that they now understand how species work together and that without working together, our ecosystem would fail.  Several students stated that teamwork is important and makes everything easier being able to accomplish multiple things at once.   One student stated that participation in the project piqued their interest in an engineering field while another student mentioned a technology field of study.  Many students mentioned that hands-on work is fun.  The project also taught students how waste excreted from fish actually becomes fertilizer for plants.  One student made a connection to real world application and stated that they can finally understand why the store bought fish kept dying when putting them in sink water.  Another student stated that he wanted to build his own aquaponics system after completing the project.  In summary, good learning outcomes were found after students were exposed to real-life, practical learning in the classroom and specifically a hands-on approach to academia.