Mrs. Breitberg NBCT's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 29

• What is a Food Chain?

  Funded Apr 11, 2016

  Thank you for the donation. My 5th and 3rd graders have been using both "games" to further their understanding of ecosystems and food chains. "Being" parts of the food chain as they interact with other members of their ecosystem engages them in thinking about the importance of a balanced ecosystem. My 3rd graders were sad that they couldn't each keep a card and were anxious to repeat the activity.

  A very clear lesson learned was powerful plants are; making their own food and being depended on by so many species. Doing the activity also made clear the necessity and power of the decomposers to an ecosystem.

  Thank you for helping to engage my students in their learning of science concepts!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Breitberg NBCT

  This classroom project was brought to life by Orkin and 7 other donors.

• Environmental Voices

  Funded Dec 25, 2015

  Our students now have current research books to guide their thinking through environmental concerns, leading them toward developing testable, research-based questions. Fourth graders are doing science fair projects by themselves for the first year. They are learning the steps of an experimental projects; they are learning to work as scientists. Using the books you generated will provide them with current data and scientific processes.

  Writing research; sharing their learning in their own words is challenging for many fourth graders. This project helps develop their skills of summarization of their reading. It helps them organize their thinking which again helps them formulate a well-thought-out testable problem.

  Today, I introduced to the students and we practiced summarization. In the future students will check out these books from my lab's library to use as a resource for their science fair project.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Breitberg NBCT

• Reuse And Reduce In Our Classroom

  Funded Aug 9, 2013

  Students are very excited about "reusing" experiences this year. The pencil shaving collection is growing each day as we end our first week of school. It has generated much discussion about how pencils are made and what plants need to be healthy. The laminating sheets will allow me model how to reduce paper use by reusing student resources and activity sheets with the multiple classes that come into the science lab each week. For example I see four fourth grade classes; so now I only need set of resources that all four classroom can use. And I can reuse the same papers next year with students; this saves a great amount of paper over the course of one year.

  This project has demonstrated to students how to actively "live" more green though reusing and reducing and is sure to effect our school's greening as well as our family's homes. Thank you sooooo much!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Breitberg NBCT

• Learning Through Our Vegetable Garden

  Funded Feb 21, 2013

  I am so thrilled with your generous donation of tools for our schools "Outdoor Living Museum". Now the garden planting and maintenance can be a learning lab. There are enough tools for a classroom to plant, prune, and weed together; all of which are experiences that most of our students have not encountered because of their neighborhood (high crime). Our courtyard is enclosed; our school is like a square donut with the courtyard in the middle. It's a safe place for students to experience nature for periods of time. Student will learn garden techniques but also be able to use trowels to collect soil samples for testing and examine life within our soil.

  Students will soon be planting vegetables and be able to observe and collect data as the vegetables flower and eventually produce fruit (vegetable). Some of the vegetables we will harvest, so they experience the richness of home grown food. Other fruit we will leave so they can watch it go to seed which we can collect and plant the following spring. Your thoughtfulness and support have make this a hands-on learning experience!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Breitberg NBCT

  This classroom project was brought to life by Disney and one other donor.

• Our Turtles' Outdoor Ecosystem

  Funded Sep 30, 2011

  Thank you for each of your generous donation to our school's outdoor courtyard garden, the Zapata Academy Living Museum. We have begun to establish perennials and have found resources for annuals and vegetables. But we also wanted to include a habitat for our school's two red ear slider turtles. Now, with your help, we are able to do so. This outdoor habitat will be GREAT for our turtles during warm/cool weather months. And it will help students observe their behavior in a more natural setting; helping them act like real scientists. Our first step in this project is for students this winter to design the habitat using the 150 gallon tank and our large raised beds. We need to plan it so that turtles have both land and water access and so that it is SAFE for student observations. This will be a student designed project so they feel ownership, stay engaged in science, learn some elements of design and practice their math skills. This project would not have been possible without your kindnesses. So thank you!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Breitberg NBCT

• Collecting and Growing Seeds for Garden Sustainability

  Funded Oct 24, 2011

  Thank you so much for your generous grant to help our school's enclosed courtyard, the Zapata Living Museum. We have harvested seeds from this summer's plantings of annuals and perennials. Because of your generosity we will be able to grow seedlings this winter and transplant into our garden, so that it is fuller. In the process our students will learn, by doing, the life cycle of plants.This is an experience that will excite them about their science learning while making it meaningful to their lives. The clipboards will help them use paper/pencil outdoors easily to collect data from their observations of our plants and wildlife (insects, spiders and our two turtles).

  We hope to also take a field trip to Garfield Park conservatory to learn from expert horticulturists; aiding us in future goals for our courtyard garden.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Breitberg NBCT

• Living Museum In Our Courtyard

  Funded Sep 21, 2011

  oasisappreciatedoasisappreciatedTHANK YOU all for your generous gift to our students. They were so excited to fill/make the bird feeders and have been equally excited to frequently check the courtyard for wildlife. So far we've spotted a couple of sparrows, so hopefully word spreads and soon we will be host to a variety of winter birds. I have not observed one bird feeder in this neighborhood though I have regularly seen birds in the adjoining vacant lot. So I can only imagine that our courtyard will be a much apppreciated ooasis for birds and a rich learning environment for students.I'm excited about the possible inquiry projects we may be able to do in a short while. Thank for your making learning fun and valuable.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Breitberg NBCT

• Reusing to Enrich our Garden

  Funded Aug 25, 2011

  I send a BIG thank you to each of you for your generosity and care for this projects. Our students were very excited about adding two more bins (now we have three) to our compost efforts. The 8th grade boys were charged with assembling them while the girls worked on sorting compost from our vermicompost bin (worm bin). They have learned the value of composting as we've watched our vegetable garden grow large and many products, thanks in part to our worm compost. I can only imagine how rich our garden will be next year with the addition of compost from these bins. Students here eat two free meals daily - breakfast and lunch - so they have great opportunity to add fruit cores to the bins. This fall will also allow us to add leaves as they fall off the trees in our courtyard. I look forward to the "aha" moments when our students realize the real value of recycling fruit and vegetables and plant materials into the compost bin. It's a hands on learning experience that is sure to impact each of them.

  Thank you again for making this experience possible!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Breitberg NBCT

• Outdoor Inquiry Based Research

  Funded Nov 3, 2010

  Thank you for the set of resource books and insect collection nets. I have already engaged 7th graders with the books and asked them to create an inquiry experience that we can do this spring when weather is more conducive to studying plants and animals outdoors. Several students have asked if we could plan a field trip to a forest preserve and take the books with us. They were happy I agreed it would be more beneficial if the books accompanied us on the trip. Now to see if a field trip is possible; would be great because it was a student initiated idea! I will be taking students outdoor this winter to use the animal track, atmosphere and bird nest books. Data can indeed be studied during our winter months outdoors too.

  An unexpected benefit of the books has been their excitement to read up on some of our classroom pets and their food (crickets!). We have two donated red ear slider turtles and they are in the amphibian - reptile book. So it's clear to me these books will be used with excitement by many students for many years..... and they will help students understand their natural world.

  Thank you sincerely for your generosity!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Breitberg NBCT

• Building Science Concepts and Reading Skills

  Funded Oct 21, 2010

  Thank you for your kind donation to our students. These books will be used by 6th through 8th grade students for many years. Today I began using them with 7th grade students as they worked in pairs. I asked them for an honest critique of the books; explaining they were new resources for student use. After fifteen minutes of browsing and reading one chapter they gave me their opinion of the books. To put it simply they are excited and anxious to read more; a goal all teachers hope to achieve. Though these books are promoted for high schoolers; the 7th graders (mixed reading abilities) had no trouble engaging with the text. One student made me promise that he would be one of the first allowed to check it out for reading. So I would say these books will do exactly what I was hoping and engage this age reader in science; making it real to them and relevant to their lives.

  I will use them with this class first; since they are already anxious to read more. We will connect their social studies curriculum with their science learning so they see that the work of scientists if effected by what is happening in the world at their time(s) in life.

  Thank you again for your generosity.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Breitberg NBCT

  This classroom project was brought to life by Townsend Press and one other donor.