Dr. Free-Ride's 2010 classroom drive.

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This is a HUGE thank you to everyone who donated to our classroom. The balances, weighing paper, weighing trays, luminol demonstration kit, organic synthesis kit, and chemical reactions kit that you donated to our class has helped students grasp chemical concepts that they would otherwise struggle with without these supplies. Chemistry is a fun, but challenging subject and takes many hands-on experiences for students to truly grasp the fundamentals.

We are a public charter school that does not get an adequate amount of state funding for all students. Before your donation we were using broken balances that occasionally malfunctioned while weighing objects. Now we have the ability to do the most difficult labs because we can take the masses of chemicals! Again thank you for your generous donation.

It is people and foundations like you that help provide for schools throughout the United States.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Neely

Thank you very much for donating science supplies to our school. We have enjoyed doing the science demonstrations and chemistry labs that are now available to us. Schools always have budget problems and your generosity helped us get supplies that we need, and probably would never be able to have. Most students in my classes earn fairly high grades and the vast majority have passed science.

I've taught technology and science classes with $0 budget since 2003. We're definitely doing no-budget chemistry. Some times it only takes one good demonstration to spark a student's imagination. After seeing several good demos, students requested more and more of them. Eventually we were able to do a number of labs. There are some safety equipment issues at our school that need to be fixed, but we are definitely planning on continuing this program next year and for many years to come. Thank you.”

With gratitude,

Mr. Hall

Thank you very much for your generous contribution to our school. The molecular model kits have helped out tremendously. The attached pictures show the chemistry students learning how to balance equations while using the molecular model kits. Of course this can be done without the kits, however the kits add a visual aid and many students enjoyed having them. One student told me that we should always use the kits so he can understand balancing equations better.

Tomorrow we will be using the kits to learn about alkanes and there different, but similar molecular structures.

Thank you so much for your generosity. Both my students and myself greatly appreciate it.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Brand

We would like to thank you for your generous support of our classroom science program! We have used the beakers to compare amounts of liquids that move through various soils, to measure the remaining liquids from a porosity project, to determine the volume of irregular objects, and to measure materials for a chemistry experiment. The purchase of the measuring beakers enabled us to ALL get involved at once instead of sharing the tools and having to wait more. We continue to improve our measuring skills!

The stereoscope has been a wonderful addition to our investigation tools, also! Through the microscope we were able to compare sand and soil samples, look at the scales on a snake's skin, count the face on a crystal, and compare minerals in rock samples. Our students are naturally curious and the addition of this stereoscope has really ramped up our investigations. The students have examined quite a few interesting specimens and continue to bring in more! We've looked at the differences between insects and arachnids and gotten a close up view of a crawfish's legs and swimmerets! All in all, the quality of our science investigations has been improved!

More students are purposefully engaged in measuring and are excitedly using their "science eyes" to learn about the environment around them. We sincerely thank you for your support of the Donors Choose program and want you to know you have impacted over 140 students in our middle school science classes this year alone!”

With gratitude,

Ms. DeMers

Once again, you have supported my classroom and allowed me to impact my students, school, and community. Because of your generous donation, I was able to purchase large bullfrogs and dissecting kits for my seventh graders. Students worked in groups of four to five, so we had enough frogs to share with other teachers and reach all seventh graders and some eighth graders with this hands-on project.

The bullfrogs were injected with colored dye and students were able to see the different blood vessels and the locations of the vessels in the body. Students were amazed to see how different body systems were connected and how many organs had blood vessels attached to them. Students used to think that organs were just floating around inside the abdomen, but now they realize that connective tissue holds the organs in specific places. After completing this project with my students, I believe that there is no substitute for hands-on dissections and learning in science. Students created a paper model of a frog and completed an online dissection simulation before we conducted the actual dissection, but those activities paled in comparison to the actual dissection. Paper and computers cannot show students just how big ovaries filled with eggs are or show students the crawfish pinchers from a frog's last meal still in the stomach of the frog.

All week, students talked about the dissection. Many students shared their experiences with family members, who recounted their own experiences of dissections in high school or college. My school and district is struggling with budget shortages, and since I have been teaching at my school, students have not dissected real specimens. This project would not have been possible without your donation. From now on, my school hopes to make this dissection a permanent component of the seventh grade curriculum because it was such a rich learning experience for students.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Grauer