Past projects 60
Environmental Scientists Need Additional Materials for a Hands-on Experience
Funded Dec 1, 2020Thank you so much for the continued support with your generous donation to this project. With the environmental lab science bundle, I am able to continue doing my students' favorite labs. They enjoyed growing plants in different pH solutions and different soil properties. They also got to experiment using different fertilizers. They really enjoyed learning how to try to create their own pesticides and compost for their vegetables. The Mavic Mini Quadcopter is going to be used so much next school year when I can take my students to the Channel Islands and on our monthly hikes. We now have 3 Quadcopters, which lets more students have ample time using the equipment for plant and animal surveys. The year is coming to an end but I am so excited for next year as I continue to build our science programs at my school.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Fong
This classroom project was brought to life by FamilyAlbum and 3 other donors.I Wet My Plants
Funded Feb 2, 2021My students loved using all the materials. Our school year is coming to an end and we went though so many changes. At first we were distance learning only and the students had materials I sent them with your donations to grow plants at home and continue their projects. In the beginning of spring we went into a hybrid model and some students were on campus and others were not. The students were able to use their pop up greenhouse at home or at school. We set up our pop up greenhouses outside my classroom. With all of the vegetables the students were able to grow during the pandemic they were able to decide if they wanted to keep their plants at home or plant them in our school's zen garden. Just last week, I was able to coordinate with our garden teacher to plant the student plants in our zen garden and she was so impressed and filled with joy. Our zen garden was feeling and looking a bit neglected in the beginning of the school year but now it is thriving.
My senior students will get their stickers and plant kits when they graduate to let their love of gardening flourish and blossom. Thank you so much for the continued support. My students loved it!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Fong
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 8 other donors.Budding Ecologists Need a Drone and Hydroponics System
Funded Sep 23, 2020Thank you so much for helping fund this project. The pandemic threw a bit of a curveball in how this has been carried out but I can't wait for the drones to be used with more students next year. Earlier this fall students had been doing case studies and virtual labs on how to do species diversity counts. Through a virtual simulation students acted as a park ranger at different National Parks and used a drone to track the population of a forest ecosystem. Students had to look at video footage of wolf and deer migration patterns and do species counts over a designated time period. Over the course of a few years students were able to understand the population dynamics of the food web and introduce new species to bring the populations back to equilibrium. This was great practice for when they looked at other video footage from our classroom drones and from other live animal cameras to look at animal behavior.
With the drone we received from this project I have been able to take video of our campus and have let some of my students check them out so they can use them for their own investigations and projects that are a required component of the course. With this project and others we now have 3 drones. Ideally I would like a few more since I have large classes. So the big picture goal is to eventually get a few more. Next school year as an intro lesson to population dynamics and field collection, students will use the drones to fly over the P.E. classes, track the "species" of our school students. Then we will be ready to take the drones on our hikes to investigate hard to reach areas like cliffs and mountain sides.
I have been using the small hydroponics kit as a demo during distance learning. I have also given out the seeds in garden bags to the students. They have been growing plants at home and some have opted to keep their plants going and others have opted to bring the plants to campus to plant them in our zen garden. Recently, I got a different project funded to give each student mini pop up greenhouse for the spring so they can continue nurturing and growing their plants. Thank you so much for the support. We can't have fun without you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Fong
This classroom project was brought to life by IF/THEN, an initiative of Lyda Hill Philanthropies and 6 other donors.Teen Explorers Need Virtual Reality Headsets and a Drone
Funded Sep 10, 2020Thank you so much for supporting this dream of mine to have Google Expeditions. Years ago our school got to have a trial run of the Google Expeditions Augmented Reality set and the students enjoyed it but my school did not go through with purchasing the materials. With your generous support with the Virtual Reality set my students are able to travel all of the National Parks and visit other countries' park as well.
We are currently distance learning but I do see some of my students this school year with guidelines in place. One of my students enjoyed exploring Yellowstone National Park and Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Once our school goes back to in person instruction so many more student will get to use the headsets and also other teachers.
I think what is most exciting with students who got to use the headsets this year is that they get to search for things in their virtual reality. As a teacher I get to control the destinations they go to and I tell them to find certain things in their viewers. Sort of feels like a treasure hunt and I think the students really enjoy that.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Fong
This classroom project was brought to life by PwC Charitable Foundation.Creative Life Science and Art Minds Need Plant Press
Funded Aug 12, 2020Distance learning is in full swing but that doesn't mean the fun has to end. With your donations to this project I have still been able to carry out lessons that let students get in touch with their creative side while learning about environmental science. In the first week of September I sent the students a lab bag filled with materials. With their mesh specimen bag they collected flowers and leaves on their own in the fall quarter. During quarter 2 they had to come back to campus to get more lab materials and they brought their specimens to campus. I had the plant presses on a table in the quad of our school. Students placed all of the collected specimens on the plant press. Before they placed their specimens in the plant press they used their iNaturalist app to identify the plants and take data on the date, location, and observations of their findings.
I have been pressing their specimens for a few weeks now and they look great. In January the students will come back to campus to pick up their 3rd quarter lab materials and make their herbarium mount from their pressed specimens. I will have herbarium paper and glue out for each student so they can carefully glue their pressed specimens down. In addition they will fill out an identification card and attach it to their herbarium mount. Over the rest of the school year the students will collect more specimens and continue to make more herbarium mounts of the plants in our local area.
Thank you so much for supporting me during this time. I feel like now more than ever the students really want to do something engaging and expressive. I appreciate it so much.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Fong
This classroom project was brought to life by IF/THEN, an initiative of Lyda Hill Philanthropies and 7 other donors.Lab Equipment for Indoor and Outdoor Science Studies
Funded May 6, 2020Thank you so much for this donation. We just finished quarter 1 of the school year. My students loved receiving a garden bag in September for their environmental class. Even though we are distance learning, we are still interacting, engaging, gardening, and investigating at the comfort of our home. With the plant light and plastic lab equipment students were able to grow cucumber, watermelon, corn, rye grass, beans, snap peas at home. The plastic lab equipment makes it easy to transport to 30 different students. They can precisely measure the amount of water they need for their experiments.
During the first week of school, students arrived socially distanced, wearing face coverings, and came to pick up their bag of materials. They were so excited. Even though they had masks on, I know they were smiling underneath. I wish I could share a video of how happy, excited, thankful they were to get hands-on learning materials. My juniors and seniors that are taking this course absolutely love science and they love nature. They really care about the environment and the thought of them not being able to do any of the hands-on learning during distance learning breaks my heart. I knew I needed to find ways to get them the materials they need. With your help I was able to do this. During the pandemic my students have come to love taking care of their plants.
My students are starting to design their own investigations and some students will need the soil core and transect tape for their field study. I will be checking those materials out on a rolling basis. Last week my students came to school to get a refill on their garden materials. It was so wonderful to see them. Some students brought some of their plants to school and we were able to plant them in our school garden. Their new favorite piece of lab equipment is the plant light. They love that the light has 2 LED heads so they can adjust them and separate them for their seedlings.
Next week we will start grown pepper seeds in egg cartons and toilet paper rolls. Thank you so much for your donation. It really has made all the difference during distance learning to bring smiles to my students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Fong
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 4 other donors.Basic Classroom Supplies Needed
Funded Feb 3, 2020Thank you so much your thoughtful donations to this project. Our in class instruction stopped on March 12th. The copy paper and dry erase markers were used during in class instruction for lab reports and sharing of data. I wanted to use the stickers as incentives during the spring semester. I was able to give out some stickers as prizes during class when they completed and accomplished milestones in class, like finishing their projects or labs. I was not able to use them as I wanted to since we went to online learning and still had a bunch left. However, I was able to write notes and send notes to my graduating seniors. I have included photos of notes to seniors that graduated. I also gave them a sticker of their choice for graduating. Even in these difficult times a sticker can mean a lot to a student for completing their senior year of high school. It is not the way any of them expected them to graduate but I am really proud of them and I wish we could celebrate them more in bigger ways.
My students always appreciate having the basic supplies they need for class like expo markers and paper. When you teach at a public school, consumable items like markers and paper can go quickly. My students really enjoy sharing data with expo markers and traveling around the room in small groups to look at other data. It is a way to socially interact with peers while staying on topic.
Right now it is in summer and our school district has just said that we will go to online instruction for the first quarter. Part of my style of teaching is highly interactive so I am thrown for a loop as most educators are. During this difficult time I am going to brainstorm how to keep engagement high during the pandemic with distance learning. I may be doing some live labs where students tune in. I have not figured that part yet but I will be going to some professional developments to learn more!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Fong
This classroom project was brought to life by Perry and Donna Golkin Family Foundation and 5 other donors.Scientists in Need of Biotechnology and Dissection Equipment
Funded Nov 13, 2019Due to the coronavirus and our school being shutdown from March 13th and until the rest of the year we were not able to use the materials just yet. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate you and the support so much. Every year my students always look forward to biotechnology and dissection. When I received the materials I was so excited to get to use them and I know when the time is right my students will get to use these next school year.
If we were in session my students would have been in the classroom acting as scientists and using the centrifuge to spin down their DNA samples. They would have used the pipettes to take up microliter amounts of DNA. If we were able to dissect the earthworm, shark, and rat for our physiology unit my students could practice their lab skills.
Thank you so much for thinking of my students when you made your generous donation to our classroom. The school closure has been so difficult for the students, parents, and staff but when these materials are used next school year it will make everything more meaningful”
With gratitude,
Ms. Fong
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Funder and 18 other donors.Student-Led Investigations Using Sensors in Biology and Environmental Science
Funded Dec 4, 2019Thank you so much for donating to this project and helping my environmental science class grow. The sensors have been so helpful when my students have been conducting their own experiments this school year. One of my students did an algae growth project on a pond in Ventura County and monitored the amount of available dissolved oxygen. He set up some different experiments in the classroom and added different amounts of fertilizers to study the impact fertilizers have on infiltrating ponds and the available oxygen for the ecosystem. He placed in our school science fair and will compete at the County science fair later this month. Another student of mine is going this weekend to measure the dissolved oxygen and pH of different estuaries. The students enjoyed the lichen lab and learned how lichen play an important role as a biological indicator for ecosystem health. They like things that are hands-on to help them understand difficult concepts. The kritter keepers have been used for terrariums and we will continue to use them later this school year for frog habitats to study nutrient cycling and feeding relationships.
I am really looking forward to using the sensors at the start of next school year. It is going to change the way I approach some of the units I teach and I am always excited to try new things. Especially with us going one to one with technology it will be so much easier to carry out experiments with the sensors that can be easily connected to their chromebooks. Thank you so much! The students are having a lot of fun in my classes right now.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Fong
This classroom project was brought to life by An anonymous classroom supporter and 11 other donors.Camp Chairs and MacroLenses for Outdoor Learning!
Funded Jul 15, 2019Thank you so much for your generous donations to my project. The class set of camp chairs are an amazing addition to my IB Environmental Systems and Societies class. We first used the camp chairs in the second week of school when we did our paper bag of value systems assignment. Students had to bring in a bag of items that represent their cultural and environmental value system. We went outside and broke into small circles to share with each other what events in our lives made us who we are and where we stand on environmental issues. This was a great way for students to get comfortable with each other. Each person got to share their stories and we all learned so much about each other. The students love the camp chairs because they have somewhere to sit when we are doing outside lessons and if the grass and ground is wet the chairs come in handy.
Last weekend we went on a hike and then had lunch on a bluff overlooking the ocean. The students used their camp chairs while we just looked at the waves coming in eating our sandwiches. Some of my students had never been on a hike before so this was a first for many of my students. First time hiking, first time having lunch on a bluff, and first time exploring in nature. Afterwards, we used our macrolenses to do some reflective nature writing. Students got to explore on their own for 30 minutes and find leaves, insects, or whatever they could find and do some sketching and writing. The macrolenses are perfect because they cover the object and has a fixed focal point. The students love them so much and have expressed they wish they had one of their own.
Yesterday we wrapped up our millipede lab and students used the macrolenses to make observations. They enjoyed looking at the legs and segments of the animal. Our water bath will come in handy next month in my biology classes when we use them for our yeast lab experiments and for our biotechnology unit in the spring. We are looking forward to our next hike in Carpinteria in October where there will do more exploring and using the macrolenses to find new objects. Thank you so much for bringing so much joy and smiles for my students. They'll never forget these experiences after they leave high school. The connections they build with nature would not be possible with your help. Thanks again!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Fong
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 9 other donors.