Gene Expression For the Kids

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I would sincerely like to thank you for your generous donation to my Biology class. The materials have enhanced the students' education and greatly helped in creating an interactive learning environment. These students have worked very hard this year.

By providing these materials you have helped bring science alive. Text and online resources are excellent tools but must be utilized in conjunction with inquiry based laboratory science. I am thrilled to report that these students successfully passed their state exit exams for Biology and will be continuing next year in Chemistry.

Thank you for helping with their education by providing us with quality materials!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Deason

Thank you so much for your contribution to my classroom! I can't express how grateful my students and I are for this donation. Our students enjoy hands-on activities so much and I believe that these are the experiences that provide most of our learning. It benefits the students so much to have labs and activities. The students love to have new materials; they feel as though someone cares enough to provide them with equipment that isn't old or broken.

My classes thoroughly enjoyed the dissection experience. Many students were skeptical about the lab, but after we got out the materials, many of the students who were convinced they wouldn't like the dissection loved it. They were so excited to discover the organs and relate the frogs' systems to their own. They took pictures to show their friends and brag to their families about the amount of fun they'd had.

Thank you so much for providing my classes with this valuable opportunity and fantastic new materials!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Baker

Thank you so much for all of the supplies. It has been so nice to be able to give the students pencils when they don't have something to write with. The rulers and graph paper have been especially helpful in my Trigonometry class. They have helped my kids strive for accuracy.

Thank you so much for thinking of us and giving us the funding we need.

Mostly, I am thankful for the document viewer. This is a great tool and has impacted my classroom beyond imagination. I am truly in debt to you for this.

Thanks!”

With gratitude,

Mr. S.

This is just a quick message to express my gratitude for your generosity to my classroom. The LCD projector that you donated will tremendously improve my students' learning. We will now be able to have more engaging and interactive lessons. My students will also be able to make various presentations using current technology and increase their note taking skills. Your donation has opened a world of endless educational possibilities for my students.

Our school is currently facing budget cuts, so without your generosity we would have never been able to purchase the LCD projector. Because of donors like you, my students will have the same opportunities as students from more fortunate school districts.”

With gratitude,

Ms. McTiller

I want to thank you for the impact the funding of my Lives of a Cell Project had on my students. Several factors influenced the origin of this project. My school district is trying to incorporate more reading into non-English courses. As this topic was discussed last year at a staff meeting I began to think about books that my parents gave me to foster an interest in science many years ago. The Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas was one of the first books that came to mind.

We are in the midst of a unit about cells, their structure and basic functions. By using specific chapters in this book, my students have been able to gain a better understanding of the dynamic nature of cells. Although we talk about organelles, membranes and their biochemical components like phospholipids, the students often lack an understanding of the relationship the words have to their function and the day to day changes that cells may deal with.

After reading several chapters we discussed the terms or phrases the students did not understand and then discussed the premise of Thomas' book that the Earth is like a cell. Their assignment was to create a new cover for the book. The cover included a new creative front with multiple (4+0 references to cells and their structure and a back cover with a summary based on the chapters we read as well as a quote from them about the book.

I enjoyed giving them an assignment where they could express their creative side. Some of the photos that I sent include some of the physical assignment as well as students posing with their creations and with the book.

Thanks again for making this possible!

”

With gratitude,

Ms. Zimmerman

Just wanted to follow up to say thank you again for your generous donation to our classroom. We have now used the projector for 4 units and it has made a world of difference in the way my students are able to interact with our content.

For our cell unit, they were able to view the latest in 3D microscopy images of cell parts. For our energetics unit, they were able to do a great compare/contrast activity on the board relating photosynthesis and respiration in a cell over the top of the PowerPoint. For our DNA unit, the ability to use animations to show the steps of protein synthesis made it much easier for them to understand the process they had only seen in drawings in their books before. Next week, we will be wrapping up our genetics unit with a showing of Gattaca, followed by a discussion on the impact genetics will have in their future.

All of this would not have been possible without our projector. I apologize for the delay in letters and photos. I will get those out by next week.”

With gratitude,

Mr. Cronin

We got our Cintiq hooked up to my Mac this week, and I must say I was completely blown away! This is one of the best tools for teaching art I have ever seen. I still have to learn a few things about it, but my students have already begun using it to do drawings. They absolutely love it! As a teacher, the best moments come when you see your students get excited about working, and this Cintiq has definitely got them fired up.

As a teaching tool, it will be invaluable for quickly showing concepts about line and shape, color mixing, sketch building, and painting/blending (no mess, no set-up time = more time to teach!), and my students will have the opportunity to create digital artwork, learn about photo-editing, and they will feel more comfortable with the technology being used in today's world.

I have some students who are more advanced, and they are eager to "teach" what they know to the rest of the class, so I can set them up with the Cintiq and digital projector and let them put on a show. I also plan to have visiting artists do demos, and this will be exactly what they need for quick, easy, and effective presentations. I have been dreaming about a Cintiq since I began teaching 7 years ago, but never thought I could afford it. Thank you all so much for your generosity and for making this dream come true. You have touched many young lives in ways you may never know. I hope you will continue supporting projects at DonorsChooose. We need you!! ”

With gratitude,

Mr. Kohn

How can I thank you enough? I have been steadily acquiring tools and technology through DonorsChoose, and this interactive whiteboard is the main piece that will pull all of my other art class technology together. We have been using our school media center's SmartBoard, but now my students will have their very own in class, every day! As an art teacher, I cannot overstate how much hands-on learning this will provide for my students. You have truly made a HUGE difference in these young lives, and we thank you most sincerely!”

With gratitude,

Mr. Kohn