Mr. Carlson's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 13

• Capture the Stars

  Funded Jun 29, 2015

  As you can see from the photos, this camera has been put to use photographing a number of objects visible in the night sky. The pictured objects are the double star Castor, the double star Albireo, a lunar crater, the Orion Nebula, Jupiter, and Saturn. These are early camera images made by students just learning how to use the camera. It turns out that taking high quality images is a demanding task, requiring ideal conditions and a skilled touch on the telescope.

  The telescope camera has helped students engage with the night sky and learn some principles of science that they otherwise would not have learned, most especially in the area of optics. Taking good pictures requires knowing how to fine tune variety of settings, including telescope collimation, shutter speed, and noise reduction through signal averaging. These subjects are not typically covered in our science classes, but the students who want to take good pictures learn about them naturally in order to get the images they want.

  This camera also had a surprising impact. One student who used it (one of this student's images are included in the photo set) had been suffering from depression, and using the telescope camera helped provide some motivation to perform better at school.

  Thank you for making these opportunities available to our students. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Carlson

• Underwater Dreams in Royal City

  Funded Feb 5, 2015

  Thank you so much for the donations that made this event possible. At this point in time, it is impossible to fully measure the impact of this project, just as you can not measure the value of a seed shortly after it has been planted. Like the seed, I expect to see great things grow out of this.

  Students were awestruck to meet in person those who they had seen featured in a movie. Even more importantly, those who came were able to tell a story that my students could relate to. Because this event was open to the general public, we also were able to have an impact on parents.

  There has been an increased interest in robotics because of this event, as well as an increased awareness of what capabilities students possess. Parents are now wanting to see more involvement from their students, and we are using the momentum of this event to start a FIRST robotics team at our high school.

  Just like the growing seed will need to be nurtured and tended to, so will the seeds planted from this event. The event was fantastic, and I will continue to work so that it helps effect a transformation in the community rather than just being an interesting story that was told.

  Again, thank you for the donations that made this possible.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Carlson

• Science is Learned by Doing

  Funded Jul 2, 2014

  I'd like to express my thanks for your donations that enabled the purchase of these materials. Joy Hakim's books take what I call a "top down" approach to science and learning. They encourage kids to look at the world around them and ask questions about things they can see.

  These additional materials help enhance that process by giving them extra information and a place to organize the information presented in the book. The students are looking at the sun, the moon, and the stars and thinking about them deeply for the first time. They are beginning to appreciate the difficulties that ancient scientists faced.

  I some times feel that modern science students are the victims, rather than the beneficiaries of our centuries of scientific progress. We have learned so many answers to so many questions that it can be easy to try to stuff students heads full of answers rather than inspire them to ask questions. These materials bring the questions front and center, and thus make science a living subject, rather than a dead one.

  Thank you for your donations that have helped make this possible.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Carlson

• The Story of Science Continues

  Funded Jul 15, 2014

  This set of books has had a wonderful impact on all those who have read it. As I distributed the books, I had a few students comment on how pretty the books were. Of course, it's not the cover of the book that matters in the end, and these books definitely deliver on the content.

  These books help bring to life concepts from science in ways that traditional textbooks don't. The author's voice shines through clearly. I had one student remark that she didn't know that a person could write about science with such an enjoyable tone. This helps the students feel that reading is a pleasure, and not a chore to do so that you can jot down some hasty answers to end of the chapter questions.

  And not least of all, these books will be used year after year, boosting the science learning of literally hundreds of students. Thank you for making this possible with your generous contribution.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Carlson

• Models Matter

  Funded Jun 29, 2014

  Thank you so much for your generous contributions that allowed me to purchase these materials for my students. My chemistry students have benefited and will continue to benefit immensely from these models. Many of the concepts in chemistry are abstract, and it is difficult for students to think of atoms and molecules as real objects with real properties.

  With the aid of these models, my students have a better understanding of a number of fundamental chemical concepts. They better understand the polar nature of water and the vital role it plays in how water behaves. They also have a much stronger concept of different types of bonding, including the reasons why compounds that form ionic bonds have substantially different properties and structure than compounds formed from covalent bonds.

  Not least of all, my students certainly appreciate the opportunity to spend class time handling molecular models and making observations instead of reading a passage in a book and trying to make sense of unfamiliar words. Thanks to these materials, my students are more likely to view chemistry as something that describes the world around them and is relevant to their daily experience.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Carlson

• Help Us Get to the 4th Dimension!

  Funded Sep 22, 2014

  Thank you to all of you for your generous contributions that made this project a success. I wish I had been able to send you thank you notes, but unfortunately Donors Choose was not able to accommodate this request. I'd like you to know that I tried.

  My students have been fascinated by the movie "Flatland" and it has prompted a number of them to ask questions and look for patterns that had previously escaped their notice.

  Although I had intended for this project exclusively for my senior high school physics class, I learned while previewing the movie with my children that it has a number of ideas that are accessible to elementary level kids as well. The last picture in the series is a piece of art that my son was inspired to draw after watching the movie, demonstrating the progression of dimensions from zero to three. This inspired me to share "Flatland" with upper elementary classes. While the students did not appreciate the full implications of what is said in the movie, seeds of thought were clearly sown.

  Understanding the implications of Einstein's General Relativity requires an understanding of non-Euclidean geometry, which is tough enough on its own. Comprehending curved non-Euclidean four dimensional space time is substantially more so. "Flatland" has introduced these concepts to my students in an intriguing and non-intimidating manner through the use of analogy in lower dimensions. This has been the first glimpse for all of them of the statement "The Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose."

  The door to higher dimensional math and thinking has been opened. I do not know how many will walk through it, but they know it is there and that what lies on the other side is worth exploring.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Carlson

  This classroom project was brought to life by NEA Foundation and 4 other donors.

• Look to the Skies

  Funded Apr 29, 2014

  I would like to thank you all for your generous contributions that made possible the purchase of the telescope. This telescope has been used by students at almost every grade level, from kindergarten to graduating seniors.

  One particularly successful event was 3rd grade astronomy night. A large number of parents and students showed up to enjoy the rings of Saturn, the bands of Jupiter, the craters of the Moon, and more. In almost every case, the sights elicited a sense of wonder and awe from the viewer.

  This telescope has helped bring the heavens a bit closer to Earth for many students here in Royal and helped them see that planets are not something you just read about in a book, but something you can look to the skies and see. This has inspired a number of students to take the initiative to learn more about planets and space on their own.

  For your generous gifts that have made this possible, I thank you.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Carlson

• The Story of Science Needs to be Told!

  Funded Mar 16, 2014

  Thank you for your generous contributions to this project. If you haven't read this book, you really should! My students are greatly enjoying reading this book. It helps them appreciate the nature of science and the challenges that have been faced by mankind for thousands of years. The students are especially impressed at the progress made by the ancients, who accomplished incredible things with very limited technology, but had razor sharp wits and mathematical skill.

  We are using these books to help students see science in the world around them and to understand and appreciate the original observations that led to the questions science asks and ultimately to the answers to those questions. It helps them step back and realize just how far we've come and that if all our technology and understanding of the universe were somehow swept away, we would be lucky to come as close to the truth as the ancient Greeks did in the amount of time they did it.

  The students realize that there are plenty of mysteries that still abound in the world. It's easy to think that we are so smart and we know so much about the world, when few of us could back up what we know with experimental evidence. Reading this book has helped promote a scientific mindset in my students. They are not simply content to know what science teaches, but are asking how we know what we know. It has inspired their curiosity to learn more about ancient civilizations and how they accomplished what they did with what they had.

  Thank you once more for providing the resources to allow my students to have this book.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Carlson

• Snap Circuits Are Amazing

  Funded Mar 10, 2014

  Thank you so much for your contributions that made purchasing these Snap Circuits possible. It is difficult for me to overstate how popular Snap Circuits are. Students are constantly asking for more opportunities to use them. They love trying each project in the book--and there are a lot of them. Especially popular is the radio and the fan launcher.

  I am able to use these resources at a number of levels. I have shared them with elementary school teachers so students can learn introductory circuits. I have used them with my advanced students and had them explain in depth how resistors, capacitors, diodes, and other circuit elements work. Students learn about parallel circuits, series circuits, and when they are not careful, short circuits!

  This has been a tremendous boost to learning in not only my classroom, but in that of other teachers' rooms as well. Students are able to see aspects of circuit design in practice, not just abstractly in a book. Their understanding goes deeper than memorizing a bunch of words to regurgitate on a page.

  Once again, thank you for making this project possible.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Carlson

  This classroom project was brought to life by AT&T Foundation and 7 other donors.

• No Time to Weight!

  Funded Oct 14, 2013

  The snap circuit sets and electronic balances have enhanced classroom learning substantially. The balances allow lab classes to flow much smoother. We used to have substantial lines at the few working balances that we had. The lines are a thing of the past and students are able to finish their labs in a timely manner and discuss the results.

  Much more significant are the snap circuits. I thought my students would enjoy using them, but I had no idea how popular they would be. I have had students ask if they can come to my room outside of class time to use them! The students immensely enjoy trying out the different projects and seeing what they can make work. One student asked why I didn't have every lesson be like the ones involving snap circuits.

  Thanks to these kits, I've been able to bring some things back in to the curriculum that I have not been teaching before. The snap circuits make for an easy and fun way for the students to explore the differences between parallel and series circuits, as well as how circuits respond to changes in voltage. The snap circuit projects have many degrees of difficulty, making them engaging for all of the students in my class.

  Thank you very much for your generosity in making this project happen. In fact, your astonishing generosity is one of the reasons why the thank you notes are so delayed. I thought this project would take months to meet and that I might get the circuits by the time I got to my unit on electricity. Instead, it was filled so fast, I got the circuits months before I was ready to use them. I apologize for this delay in the thank you notes, and hope that the passage of time has not diminished their value to you.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Carlson