Mrs. Ota's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 22

• Clean Air: HEPA

  Funded May 30, 2024

  Runny noses and sneezing are not much fun! We are so lucky that we have NOT had as many illnesses and allergies as usual. Our wonderful air purifier really helps to clean our air, keep us healthy, and safe. We use our air purifier regularly, but especially when there's smoke, vog, germs, and unpleasant smells.

  Our school started an attendance award system. The school purchased one WWE style belt per grade level. The class that has the best attendance for the week is awarded the belt for the following week. Our class attendance was so "perfect" after we received our air purifier that we won the attendance belt three weeks in a row. My students and I really appreciate your generosity and support. We love our air purifier! Thank you!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ota

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Peterson Family and one other donor.

• Go STEM 2024-2025

  Funded Jul 15, 2024

  The "Go STEM 2024-2025" project was a class success. My students were thrilled to explore brand new building materials. They quickly identified that the materials are very similar to Legos. The project cards came in very handy to help create mini design projects to tie into our learning. Students used critical thinking skills while applying engineering and design strategies. I really enjoyed seeing each student's unique problem solving ideas. For example, when we built towers and designed solutions to reach the top of the tower there were a lot of different ideas. Some students build ladders, ramps, and stairs while others designed helicopters or inflatable rescue mats. I appreciate that students were able to be creative and unique when figuring out the solution to the problem. There's no one "right" answer. My students love their STEM Challenge Kits! They enjoy building so much that they even ask to use their kits when they're done with their classwork. Currently, students are exploring the pulley systems and learning about push and pull. Thank you for providing my class with the opportunity to learn through hands on lessons!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ota

• Active and Calm

  Funded Mar 15, 2025

  Thank you for our Active and Calm Project supplies! My students will learn through active and calm play. The balls and outdoor equipment will be prefect for outdoor learning while the calming tools will provide them with an area to relax and regroup. My students are blessed to have thoughtful and caring donors like you. Thank you for your support!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ota

  This classroom project was brought to life by Hawaii State Dept. of Ed and Marc & Lynne Benioff.

• Classroom Library: Chapter Books, Encyclopedias, and MORE

  Funded Oct 18, 2024

  You are amazing! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! My students will be elated to have chapter books, encyclopedias, and more. You are making learning possible. Thank you for helping my students reach their highest potential. We appreciate your support and generosity. My student, Naia, said with a smile, "He is the happiest." Thank you!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ota

  This classroom project was brought to life by Hawai'i State Dept. of Ed and Marc & Lynne Benioff.

• Fans and Fantastic Learning Tools

  Funded Aug 31, 2024

  You are amazing! Thank you for your generosity and kindness. My students will be elated to have two brand new oscillating tower fans and fantastic learning tools. We could not have gotten this project completed without our wonderful ohana (family), friends, and United Airlines. Thank you for supporting our students!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ota

  This classroom project was brought to life by United Airlines and 9 other donors.

• STEM for ALL

  Funded Feb 29, 2024

  Learning through STEM is tricky. Initial projects may not meet all of the requirements during the first trial, but that's okay. Make adjustments and try again. My students are learning perseverance and grit. The engineering and design process is definitely a process. Through STEM, students are learning to ask, imagine, plan, create, test, and improve. Some students love to build and create. They push the limits and test possible solutions. They aren't afraid to fail. While other students look to the teacher for the "right answer." STEM is unconventional because there are multiple ways to meet the project requirements. STEM pushes students to be complex thinkers.

  STEM has positively impacted many students, but there is one student in particular who is "blossoming." Prior to becoming a STEM resource teacher, I taught first grade. One of my former first grade students is currently my STEM student in fifth grade. As a first grader, he was one of my more "intensive" students. Meaning he needed additional support. He worked well in a small group setting. According to his fifth grade teacher, he still struggling academically and is consistently getting into trouble. Although he still needs additional support with the writing aspect to plan his marble run project, he is a complex thinker who loves building. He really enjoys working with his hands. Watching him excel is definitely a blessing. Based on the requirements for the marble run project, he scored one of the highest grades in his class. Thank you for providing opportunities for students to learn in a nonstandard way, hands-on learning!

  The "STEM for ALL" project provided our STEM program with marble run sets, wood glue, colorful paper streamers, tacky glue, STEM kits, and more. Fifth graders learned about gravity by building marble runs. To start the unit, we learned about gravity. Students were shown examples of marble runs and then provided with the opportunity to build marble run using the kits. Constructing with premade marble kits proved to be especially valuable for students with limited building experience. Students designed and planned their own marble runs based on the project requirements. They purchased their supplies at our class STEM Store and started building. Students tested their projects and made adjustments as needed. In the end, students were elated when their projects met the requirements: four marble run parts, two trick pieces, a catching compartment at the base, the marble runs consistently down the course, and with a completed marble run booklet.

  Each grade level learned something new. The kindergarteners focused on push and pull toys. Students used the blue streamers to wrap a toilet paper roll. In the middle of the roll was a colored paper dolphin attached to a straw. Students learned about a variety of push and pull toys and then designed their own push and pull toy at the end of the unit. In the kindergarten weather unit, students using the rainbow colored streamers to create a paper rainbow dangling from a raindrop and sun hanging mobile. The kindergarteners used the mirrors to reflect the light from a flashlight to learn that white light contains all of the colors in the color spectrum. The light looks just like a rainbow. We continued our weather unit to learn about wind. Students created wind socks using the streamers of their choice to indicate the winds direction. At the end of the unit, students used their knowledge of weather to design a way to indicate the winds direction on their own. The fourth graders used the glues, cotton balls, and additional supplies to create parachutes holding reusable water balloons. All of the grade levels loved learning through STEM. Thank you for giving my students the opportunity to make mistakes, learn, and grow!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ota

• STEM Supplies Please!

  Funded Nov 27, 2023

  Students LOVE learning through STEM! All thanks to you. Every supply provided through the "STEM Supplies Please!" project was greatly appreciated!

  Here are some ways that you have positively impacted my student's learning. The utility cart is wonderful! The cart allows me to bring STEM supplies to the lower elementary classrooms rather than having students walk to my class. Teaching lessons in the K-2 classrooms really helps to decrease transitional time since my classroom is located in the upper elementary section of school. More time for learning rather than walking. The Ziploc storage bags have multiple functions. These storage bags were used to house student's project supplies, cut into parachutes, repurposed as brood flaps to learn about Emperor Penguin adaptations, and much more. The permanent markers are perfect for labeling students supplies and projects. The dishwashing soap, mini bubble gun, bubble wand toys, and cotton twine provided lower elementary students an opportunity to create bouncing bubble wands. Students designed their own bubble wands. Some students created loops while others crafted beautiful heart shape wands. Students really enjoyed blowing bubbles and using their gloves to attempt to bounce their bubbles. Tape is perfect for STEM. Students used the tape to build marble runs, parachutes, wallet, brood flaps, and much more. Students were given the opportunity to make slime if they completed their fourth quarter project. Students used the glitter to decorate their slime.

  The 2023-2024 school year was a success all thanks to you! My students learned about science, technology, engineering, and math while having fun too! Thank you for your continued support! My students and I really appreciate your generosity and kindness.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ota

• Mix and Match STEM

  Funded Nov 18, 2023

  The Mix and Match STEM project supplies were amazing! The materials were used to create balloon and rubber band cars, plant models, two dimensional and three dimensional models using Play-Doh, and more.

  The fifth graders created spool racers, balloon cars, rubber band cars, and cars of their own design. Students were eager to design and build cars that storage potential energy. I personally appreciated the fact that we are helping the environment by reusing items like bottle caps. One of my students parents graciously donated 1.5 gallon size ziplock bags of bottle caps that he collected off of the beach. I am glad that we were able to incorporating materials that were literally "trash" into a working creation.

  The third graders are learning about the parts of a plant and creating plant models. Students are creating plant models that are able to "stand" upright in sand while in a wind simulation. Students are learning how to plan and engineer roots to support their plant model. My students favorite part is setting up the roots in the sand. They love digging in the sand to prepare their plant for testing. The sand is cold and fine, so students seem to like the sensory feel of the sand.

  The next projects that we are working on include marble run on a foam trays, straw and paper frog tongues, windsocks to collect data on the direction of the wind, and much more.

  Thank you for your continued support! My students and I appreciate your kindness and generosity. Thank you for providing my students with academically engaging opportunities to learn!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ota

  This classroom project was brought to life by Hawai'i State Department of Education.

• Hands-On Learning Through STEM

  Funded Oct 21, 2023

  My students light up with joy and excitement when attending STEM class. They LOVE to learn through hands-on projects. Students often mention that STEM is their favorite resource class.

  Our Donors Choose project, Hands-On Learning Through STEM, supported multiple units. The resources were used to build shelters, boats, airplanes, and much more. The fourth graders created structures that were able to with stand three velocities of wind created by the Vornado fan. Third graders used the tape to create aerodynamic planes to travel through three sizes of hula hoops. The second grades created boats using Tacky glue or tape and various materials to keep one hundred pennies afloat. In our biomimicry unit, first grades created hooks to collect loops using inspiration from the burdock plant. The flat storage trays helped to contain our paper towel roll loops.

  Overall, each unit was a huge success, but our learning is not done yet. One of our next projects include building models of plants and focusing on root structures that are able to stand up right in sand while being pushed with a pipe cleaner to facilitate wind. Third grade is working on a plant adaptation unit. The model plant is pitcher plant. Students are designing flowers that are able to accurately catch a bead on a string.

  Thank you for your generosity and support! My students love to learn all thanks to you!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ota

  This classroom project was brought to life by United Airlines and 9 other donors.

• Science, Social Studies, and Beyond

  Funded Mar 4, 2023

  The Science, Social Studies, and Beyond Project supported multiple subject areas: science, social studies, and math. Our school has a high population of Native Hawaiian decedents. In Cultural Anthropology class, we learned the game of Konane. Konane is a ancient board game that is usually played with white and black pebbles. The pebbles are the game pieces. The game board is usually a large flat bolder with multiple holes in rows that form a square shape, similar to a checkered board. Instead of using pebbles, we used the yellow and red counters and a paper printed game board. Students used an understanding of the rules and strategy to beat their opponent. Students loved the game so much that they asked to play Konane during free time too. Another cultural game that we learned was dreidel. Dreidel is a Jewish game played during the holidays. We used a paper dreidel with a crayon stick to create a spinning top. We used the red and yellow counters as our tokens to play the game.

  Modeling clay is very versatile. We used the modeling clay for math and science to build 2D shapes, 3D shapes, and boats that float. We learned about buoyancy and density. Students quickly learned that a dense sphere of clay sinks to the bottom. The students used their experience of boats to design and build a project that had a lower density then water. Students worked through their design flaws to get their clay to float. Students also used other materials, aluminum foil, to design and build a boat. Students used the scientific method to determine how many flat washers their project could hold before sinking. Students were engaged and enjoyed the lesson so much they didn't want to leave.

  In fifth grade, students raced the toy race cars down a slope to build background knowledge to understand friction and kinetic energy. We're moving on in our car unit and building spool racers next. The rubber bands will store our potential energy to allow our spools to move. The students will then plan out designs to build their own cars that use stored potential energy to move.

  In first grade, we focused on heredity. We crafted a baby spider to look like it's parent. Then we used the straws to blow our spiders to race them. Students used the scientific method to collect data on which spiders were the "fastest." Students also made modifications to try to make their spider even faster.

  There are so many projects that you have helped to "bring to life." Thank you for supporting my students education! My students love learning. Thank you!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Ota

  This classroom project was brought to life by Hawai'i State Department of Education.