Okay so this is kind of a broad question but I'll do the best I can here without being long-winded...

I'm a high school science teacher and this coming year I will be teaching a first-of-its-kind (for our area) class on experimental design for juniors and seniors intending to pursue a science degree in college. They will be responsible for coming up with about 50% of the projects that will happen in class, but I am working on writing grant proposals to cover materials for the larger projects I'd like to see them tackle right now. A final goal of the class is that they will have a thorough research portfolio to take to college with them in an effort to get them on a faculty/student research team, etc.

One of the projects I'd like to have them work on involves the greenhouse on campus. Right now it's largely unused, but it has potential for year-round growth of plants. We're going to couple this with the "Farms to Cafeteria" program we have in our district where the students can grow crops either at home or at school and then sell them to the district for use in the cafeterias.

During the summer I work at a large hydroponic greenhouse and have been talking to my boss there about some system ideas we could do more or less on the cheap with some PVC and small pumps. My problem is that in grant writing you usually have to account for the use of every single cent requested. Without knowing exactly how much fertilizer, etc. that we would need it's going to be difficult to justify a specific amount. Another potential con here is that we're not going to be able to monitor the levels of everything on the weekends.

Could aquaponics be the way to go? Are there any benefits to hydroponics over aquaponics, and which would you recommend for our situation?