Welcome to my Giving Page! Please support my efforts in Science Bloggers for Students challenge, a friendly (maybe) month-long competition (10/10/10 through 11/9/10) between science blogs to see which can do the most to help low-income classrooms on DonorsChoose.org. Pick a classroom project from the list to support. And let’s beat the other bloggers! (By the way, DonorsChoose.org is a 501(c)3 charity. See below for approvals from Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau.)
Our goal of raising trout in the classroom has certainly provided us with valuable lessons in tenacity and vision. Although we were unable to secure a chiller this year, we are still optimistic that we will obtain one in the near future and by this time next year, we wiÂÂll be preparing to release our trout into the stream.
We are still looking forward to using the aquarium in our classroom. It will add so much to our classroom. In addition to learning about important concepts related to the diversity of life and ecosystems, we plan on conducting ethological studies with our fish.
Please check back in the Fall to see pictures of our aquarium with the trout.
Thank you for your generosity and kindness, and most of all, for believing in us.
”
With gratitude,
Ms. Lainez
This classroom project was brought to life by Disney's Planet Challenge and 18 other donors.
My students have been enjoying the notebooks that were purchased through donors choose. Many of my students learned that the composition notebooks allow you to stay organized better as the pages do not fall out like a spiral notebook. They are using their notebooks to write, summarize information, and to draw what they are learning. Last year they used them in biology and I was able to give extras to students in need in my 9th grade physics class.
By teaching students to organize using a notebook my hope is that they will have the skills to be successful in a college setting. They will understand how to write and maintain a notebook for the duration of a class. After completing the class, many of my students choose to keep their notebook for future use because it was organized and they were proud of what they had learned and the accomplishment of making a notebook that reflected their learning.
Thank you very much for your donation. My apologies for the late letter as I thought I completed it and was surprised I did not. The notebooks were accepted by my students and allowed them to see how important their work was over a year. Thank you.”
Your generous donations to my 2nd grade class ensured more effective teaching and learning. The kids certainly enjoyed having these additional resources to explore and use during centers and independent learning. I must say that the kids became so anxious and eager to receive the card board boxes. They knew that another shipment had come. I am so thankful for having these resources that I will continue to use throughout my teaching career. You will impact so many kids in the future and I'm truly grateful!”
I would like to thank-you for funding our Gardening in the Classroom Project. Your donation to our project made learning about plants and gardening exciting and memorable. This hands-on activity gave my students an experience that many have never had. My students took full responsibility for making sure their plants had what it needed. They were proud of what they had grown in our classroom. My students were also amazed on how quick their trees started to sprout. Students have taken their plants home and many have replanted them. This project also brought awareness of healthy eating and living. My students enjoyed the books that were donated. They learned many interesting facts when reading the books you donated.
With your generous donation my students were able to experience growing a garden. With the resources you provided my students learned the importance of taking care of plants and also the importance of eating healthy.
This truly was an amazing experience that many will take with them. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. Robles
This classroom project was brought to life by FEED USA and 17 other donors.
I offer my sincerest gratitude for your donations that enabled my students to deepen their understanding of the topical debate surrounding food safety, justice, and purchasing options. As a Math and Art teacher, I thought it would be ideal to merge the two content areas in order to inform my students about the importance of building awareness of their individual health and nutrition. A key entrance point into this project was through observation and conversations started by exposure to the work of photographers Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio. Students were able to compare and analyze photographs and data from their book and series "Hungry Planet: What the World Eats" and "What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets". This wide-ranging photographic work emphasizes the global issue as well as forms a connective link between all cultures. Students compared the types of food (processed versus fresh) per country, determined the cost per person based on given data, and concluded the nutritional benefits of a given diet. Mathematically, we looked at how nutritional labels are presented on products in this country, how percentage of daily allowance is calculated, and how some products misrepresented information by rounding up or down incorrectly.
Students used the photographic images from Menzel and D'Aluisio as inspiration for looking at their own diets, specifically at the types of food eaten during school lunch. The digital cameras donated were vital to making this project a success. Students teamed up to photograph their daily lunch items. As they photographed themselves and others, they naturally started conversations about their project with students outside of our class- a genuine way of spreading information and raising questions about food quality. Thanks again for this opportunity to help my students become informed and learn to advocate for themselves and their families.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Herrmann
This classroom project was brought to life by Wells Fargo and 14 other donors.
My students and I are so very appreciative of your incredible generosity! We love having everything in our classroom organized and so easily accessible. Our cart is a great way to keep everything together when we do more special activities, like cooking or using virtual manipulatives on the SMARTboard. It also makes it really easy for my students to show off their skills at math on our document camera, as the cart is easily accessible to both them and to me.
We're able to move through lessons seamlessly, transitioning from different kinds of technology and saving all kinds of learning time.
Your gift has made an incredible impact on my students. Thank you for your gift of time for education.”
I am in awe of the support and I truly want to thank you for your donation to our class project. My students greatly appreciate this technology.
We just finished up our unit on stoichiometry as well our end of course exam; the use of TI-83's allowed the students to feel confident in the material. The students are completing all assignments that are required for chemistry with no hesitation because of this tool. Your small contribution made a difference in my class and now I have some students who want to continue studying chemistry in college.
Please continue to support the STEM fields in anyway you know, your impact can change the course of the world. All I ask is that you continue to support other science projects like mine on Donor's Choose! ”
Thank you so much for donating to my classroom. I can not express how much DonorsChoose, and people like you have done for teachers like me. I am in a District that has cut our funding this upcoming year so much, that I would never have been able to order any of these materials through the school. I would have had to pay for them myself. My students have no access to books like this- current, up to date Science books. We have also lost our librarian for next year, so my students will not be able to use the school library! I am so glad I go this funded, otherwise it would be a really tough year. Thank you again, so much, for your generosity and support! ”
With gratitude,
Ms. Ralph
This classroom project was brought to life by KnowHow2GO and 11 other donors.
Thank you for donating money to fund my AP Environmental Science classroom project. The lab kit you donated money for, allowed 185 students to measure the concentration of air pollutants generated from our vehicles. Students completed the lab and followed up by comparing their results to the EPA's National Ambient Air Quality Standards. They also understood the impact each and every one of them has on the environment by measuring Carbon Monoxide (CO in ppm) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2 in ppm) from their vehicles. By comparing our results to Carbon Monoxide ppm and Carbon Dioxide ppm data from the www.aqmd.gov website, students understood results from the labs conducted were fairly accurate. After analyzing the data, students were encouraged to think of possible solutions for reduction in usage of fossil fuels by conducting an energy audit of their homes. Many electrical and gas appliances used in their homes were monitored for a month. Students were able to apply knowledge gained from the lab to develop methods to reduce their own carbon footprint.
On May 2, 2011, 165 students completed the 2011 AP exam in Environmental Science created by the College Board. With your kind donation, it is my goal that our school continues to improve the number of students taking and passing AP exams in their preparation for post-secondary education.
Thank you for improving the science education of my students. ”
Thank you so much for donating to my project, it truly means a lot to my students and I. The books and experiments that you helped to donate enabled my students to become investigative thinkers and experience a hands-on world within genetics! These resources have truly helped my students to better understand how heredity and genetics works. My students and I could not imagine doing our unit without them!
My students were so excited to use the resource libraries that you helped donate in order to study the human body. Then, they were able to put their knowledge to the test by doing a blood typing lab. In the lab, they had to determine the blood types of parents and their babies. The, they had to figure out which baby got switched at the hospital. They were amazed at how much they knew and how the knowledge that they had gained could be applied to a real-world situation. They thought it was the best lab of the year! They were so excited about having the opportunity to do such a complex lab that they could not wait for me to take pictures and get them printed so that they could show their families what they had been up to in science class!
I cannot express how grateful I am to have people that support and believe in my students. My students and I really appreciate your generosity.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Gratz
This classroom project was brought to life by Arts & Science Council and 16 other donors.
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