Past projects 3
Bringing Nature Into Our Classroom
Funded Jan 11, 2025One of the science investigations students conduct in fifth grade investigates the circle of life, where students show the progression of life cycles of organisms from birth to adulthood. The donated bean plant figurines were very helpful as illustrative manipulatives, which the students used hands-on when demonstrating the order of the growth stages. Thanks to the donated Sprout and Grow Window, the students also planted pea and bean seeds. The see-through planter allowed the students to observe plant growth by actually seeing roots develop and grow.
In addition to the real growing plants, the donated soft foam realistic Cross-Section Flower Model allowed the students to explore in detail the basic parts of a plant through hands-on investigation. The students examined and identified the main parts of a flower (petal, stamen, pistil, leaf, roots), and they learned the functions of each flower part.
Starting in May, we will use the donated Giant Butterfly Garden to investigate the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly. The students will watch caterpillars change into butterflies. When the butterflies are fully developed, we will go outside the school building to release them. The Bronx Zoo and the Bronx Botanical Garden are not too far from our school, and so hopefully the insects will find some green space and flowers there. As we often use more traditional materials, such as worksheets and pencils, it will be helpful for the students to also observe the developmental stages of a real butterfly. The students will be able to observe how the Monarch butterfly changes body form from a caterpillar to a butterfly.
In order to investigate the unit question: How do organisms in an ecosystem get the matter and energy they need to grow and thrive?, the students in fifth grade created their own ecosystems by setting up terrariums. They put soil in the donated terrariums, and planted grass seeds. The terrariums were then placed in different areas of the classroom–one on the windowsill exposed to sunlight, and the other farther away with very little sun exposure–in order to investigate how different conditions affect the terrariums. The students' terrariums thus serve as models of an ecosystem, which allows the students to build familiarity with the parts of an ecosystem through firsthand experience. This project is going on for the remainder of the 2025 spring semester, and next week the students will add earthworms to the terrariums to create a more complete model of an ecosystem. The earthworms are for now kept in the donated worm composting bin.
In addition to the terrariums, the students used the donated ant farm kit to study live ants. The big 12" viewing area allowed the students to study up close how the ants dig tunnels, build bridges between tunnels, and move materials. Both the terrariums and the ant farm allow the students to gain a deeper understanding of different habitats.
The younger students/Early Learners enjoyed the donated Animal Families puzzle. The 30 self-correcting puzzle sets were engaging and teaching animal words and families (e.g., duck - duckling, fox - cub, elephant - calf).
As we cannot go outside (we have no access to a school yard or park) the donated learning materials have been invaluable and very helpful in teaching the students disciplinary core ideas through hands-on activities.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Nina
Science Fair & Parent Engagement Day
Funded Apr 15, 2024In May of 2024, the parents and guardians of students at the P10X@67 public elementary school in the Bronx, New York, were invited to a combined Science Fair and Parent Engagement Day. The Science Fair and Parent Engagement Day was organized to strengthen the relationship between parents, students, and the school, foster community spirit, and encourage parental involvement in their children's education.
In order to achieve these goals, we wanted to offer hands-on activities that the students and their parents and/or guardians could engage in together. As many of our special education students are nonverbal, and thus often are limited in their ability to talk about their school days, the parents appreciate being invited to the school to learn about what their children do at school.
We decided to build on another successful project also funded by generous donors through DonorsChoose: building simple electrical circuits. In January and February of 2024, the students in second through fourth grades studied Energy Conversions in their physics unit. We followed the Amplify Science curriculum for fourth grade, and the students learned about how energy is converted from one form to another (chemical energy, electrical energy, and light- and heat energy), and how it can be transferred from place to place. The donated electrical circuit kits were tremendously helpful in that they allowed the students the hands-on experience of building their own circuits. At the end of the unit all of the students were able to build a simple electrical circuit to start a fan or light up a lightbulb. About half of the students needed prompting (mostly verbal) to complete the circuit, but half of the students could do so independently. The more advanced students used their conceptual understanding of the principles of electrical circuits to independently build a simple electrical circuit (i.e., no trial and error; instead they used their theoretical knowledge to right away connect the parts into a loop where electricity could flow). As a result of this learning experience eight students improved their grade, and six students earned the highest marking period grade (which, in comparison, none of the students did for the previous marking period).
We wanted to build on this to show the parents and guardians the skills that their children had learned and mastered! However, in order to accommodate the approximately 120 students of our school and their invited parents and guardians, we needed more materials, such as wires with alligator clips, diodes, batteries, and battery holders.
All supplemental materials we needed for the Science Fair and Parent Engagement Day were generously donated by you! On behalf of the P10X community, I would like to extend our deepest gratitude for your generous donation of these materials. Your contribution allowed us to invite the families to, not only fun and engaging but also academically highly relevant, activities that have strengthened the relationship between parents, students, and the school. Thank you so much for ultimately supporting my students! Not only were lightbulbs lit up in our classroom, but so were the students' and parents' faces when they together had connected the various parts of the electrical circuit to turn on the lightbulbs. Again, thank you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Nina
Power Up Students!
Funded Dec 29, 2023In January and February 2024, the 16 students in second through fourth grade studied Energy Conversions in their physics unit. We followed the Amplify science curriculum for fourth grade, and the students learned about how energy is converted from one form to another, and how it can be transferred from place to place.
The electrical circuit kits that you so generously donated were tremendously helpful in that they allowed the students the hands-on experience of building their own circuits. At the end of the unit all of the students were able to build a simple electrical circuit to start a fan or light up a lightbulb. About half of the students needed prompting (mostly verbal) to complete the circuit, but half of the students could do so independently. The more advanced students used their conceptual understanding of the principles of electrical circuits to independently build a simple electrical circuit (i.e., no trial and error; instead they used their theoretical knowledge to right away connect the parts into a loop where electricity could flow).
As a result of this learning experience eight students improved their grade, and six students earned the highest marking period grade (which none of the students did for the previous marking period).
Thank you so much for supporting my students! The materials that you donated helped the students master the content. Not only were lightbulbs lit up in our classroom, but so were the students' faces when they had connected the various parts of the electrical circuit, starting fans and lightbulbs. Again, thank you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Nina