Past projects 23
Fieldwork Camera Binoculars 2
Funded May 16, 2009Thank you very much for providing my class with this important tool for documenting the fieldwork that we are engaged in. This Nikon Coolpix camera takes such vivid photos and has a great feature which allows students to take incredible close-ups of insects, birds, flowers and plants. We are creating a field guide to Northern California urban wildlife. We are particularly interested in the adaptations of plants and animals in urban centers, city parks and the surrounding state and national parks. Today we were on a field trip documenting plant life in a nearby National Recreation Area and documented a ton of invasive species of plants on our coastline, including Ice Plant, Cape Ivy, and Veldt Grass. We got caught in a down pour and had to hike for about an hour in the rain. The fog and the rain only made the trip more memorable, and students said that they felt like they were in another world (even though we were only a 1/2 hour drive from our school).
These students are getting access to unforgettable experiences that are the type of adventures that make learning fun and memorable, and thanks to you they will have some great pictures to work with in the computer lab, and they sure look like college students when they do this work.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Enguidanos
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and 4 other donors.Eco-Sensors for Guardians of Lonely Planet
Funded Feb 27, 2009These sensors have made monitoring the health and biodiversity of our urban jungle much more accurate and effective for my students. The students are monitoring abiotic features important to the health of various lakes and the surrounding meadows and woodland areas in one of our nation's largest urban city parks. Currently four different classes of high school students are competing to see which class can most accurately compile data to describe and monitor the health and biodiversity of 20 by 20 foot quadrants around one of the lakes we will be monitoring. We hope to understand how the chemistry of the air, soil and water in and around the lake affects the organisms that live in this wetland environment.
Previous efforts at monitoring the chemistry of air, water and soil were very cumbersome, difficult and inaccurate. The sensors are easy to use with the laptop that we also received from DonorsChoose, thanks to people like you. While there is a learning curve for all of us in using this technology, initial attempts have been quite interesting. We are able to attach three sensors at a time and the data is stored in a table on the computer, which can later be exported to Microsoft Excell to create a variety of charts and diagrams . For example, we are able to monitor CO2 level, UV light and oxygen to monitor photosynthesis. We can also monitor pH and temperature and humidity at the same time. The combinations are very interesting because they indicate that these factors are interconnected and interact to favor certain plant and animal species.
The studies the students have embarked on resemble the work of college students, and give students the idea that they too can pursue the dream of a college education. Thank you very much for your help, your kindness and your generosity.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Enguidanos
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and 5 other donors.Environmental Fieldwork Sensors
Funded Mar 25, 2009We just got back from the pond after trying out the sensors. We would have written sooner but we only received the package this morning! The students were excited to get some data on the pond water. We haven't yet analyzed the data, but we also took water samples back to our lab for further study. In the past week we have noticed an increase in algae floating on the water. We suspected this may be because of fertilizer. Nitrates are a form of nitrogen; they are not harmful to fish and are basically food for the pond's plants. In other words, they are good things. But, an excess of nitrates cannot always be safely absorbed by the pond's plant life. In such cases, an over-abundance of nitrates can lead to methane gas production, blanket weed, algae, high acid content in the water, etc.
We were also very happy to see a couple of park gardeners in waders, and two more out in a row boat, pulling out invasive plant species. They have told us that the attention that our class is paying to the health of the pond has also gotten the attention of the park administrators and we are happy to see they are putting resources toward maintaining a healthy balance in the water as well as removing invasive plant species that have been taking over this important urban wetland space.
Your generosity has made our work possible. Through your help, and the help of other good souls like you we are becoming real environmental stewards. Thanks for all of our testing equipment, the laptop computer, the field guides we use, as well as the plankton and water invertebrate sampling nets. We would not have been able to provide this type of high level science inquiry without you.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Enguidanos
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and 4 other donors.Mini--Documentary Film Makers
Funded Apr 9, 2009When the students get behind these cameras there is a visible transformation that we have observed. They are approaching their fieldwork with more calm, quiet concentration. The level of teamwork improves and they are able to express what they see very creatively, just as an artist begins to view the world differently in the process of learning to paint. It takes time, experience and practice to become a filmmaker, but they are so motivated and eager to practice that this doesn't seem to be a barrier any longer. Thanks to your help they have begun a process of transformation that I believe will be life-changing for them. With this equipment they are engaging their powers of observation, and building confidence that will help them approach their dreams with more confidence.
Other teachers have been asking about the work we are doing, because they to are seeing a change in these students as well. The students are asking my colleagues to do more of this type of work, and so this is leading our small school to collaborate more effectively. My principal is sending me to a four-day intensive training in documentary film making at a local film school. The English teacher is helping students write storyboards and work on more effective script writing. The social studies teacher and I have submitted a grant to a software company for audio-visual editing equipment and software, and summer training on using the software.
Our first effort with this equipment is yielding excellent results. Teams of students are assigned different quadrants of the inter-tidal zone of a lake near our school to document the biodiversity of this urban wetland habitat. Each class has become quite competitive to see which class finds the most organisms. They are enjoying critiquing each others' film work and photography and learning a lot from each other. As a school community we are really thankful to you for giving our students these powerful tools.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Enguidanos
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and 3 other donors.Field Guides for Everything
Funded Mar 26, 2009We have really been learning a lot lately thanks to you. These field guides are really great and are helping students in their efforts to survey the biodiversity of a lake near our school. The students are having a competition between four classes to see who can find, photograph and in some cases collect for further study, organisms that live within quadrants of 20 by 20 feet at the inter-tidal zone around the lake we are studying. Students study one quadrant each day they visit the lake. This type of organized study is the type that scientists in the university and at the Smithsonian Institute are currently conducting around the globe to monitor and support biodiversity.
Students use the field guides to first of all identify the species that they discovered in the field, then to understand the feeding relationships within the particular ecosystem. Some highlights have been finding blue and orange sow bugs and a giant spider called a "sow bug killer". We also discovered interesting symbiotic relationships between aphids and ants. The aphids are like a small plant flea that sucks juices out of plant leaves. The ants "herd" these aphids and guard them against predators like ladybugs. Each time the ladybug comes near the aphids, several ants attack it biting its' legs until it runs away. The ant is rewarded when the aphid excretes sweet nectar that the ant then consumes.
We will be using these guides for the remainder of the school year and really appreciate your generosity. With these guides the students' fieldwork is much more organized, productive and focused. They really are starting to look like college students!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Enguidanos
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and one other donor.Laptop to Document Field Work
Funded Jan 6, 2009This is HUGE! Thank you SO MUCH! My students about fainted when I told them we got the grant. They are preparing for the end of the semester final project and looking forward to using the laptop for PowerPoint presentations on the pond biology we have been doing. Specifically, each student will cover one food chain in the food web of our pond. Each student will also begin an intensive study of a vertebrate (either mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian or fish) that will culminate in each team of students dissecting one type of vertebrate and comparing their anatomy. We are documenting all this work in digital video and plan to edit the video using IMOVIE on the laptop.
We are about to apply for a grant to get sensors to accurately test the chemistry of the water in our ponds, the soil in the park and in our community garden (another new project for our class) and also in the Pacific Ocean and compare that to our local estuary. The sensors hook directly into the laptop for on-site fieldwork analysis.
Again, we love you for your generosity and for caring about students that have slipped through the cracks in our system.
HAPPY NEW YEA”
With gratitude,
Mr. Enguidanos
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and 18 other donors.BioBlitz 3
Funded Jun 25, 2008On behalf of my students and their families I want to thank you for your generous donation! Your generosity comes at a very important time for our students. They face a world that sometimes seems not to care or respond to what they need to be successful. With your donation you are saying that their scientific curiosity has value, that their mind attracts supporters when they engage in positive activities.
On my behalf I feel very supported and inspired by your generosity to find innovative projects for my students. To find ways that inspire them to give, and make the world a better place. To help them find out what it is that they most love to learn and study, that can lead them on to success”
With gratitude,
Mr. Enguidanos
BioBlitz 2
Funded Jun 25, 2008Thank you very much for your donation. This support that you are giving our young men and women at such a crucial point in their lives will leave a lasting memory that people care about their education and their future.
As a teacher your help means that you affirm the work I am doing and inspires me to do that much more. I hope that your generosity is multiplied many times in your life for you and your family.
Together we are making a difference in people's lives”
With gratitude,
Mr. Enguidanos
Fieldwork GPS
Funded May 23, 2008I am absolutely thrill to accept this donation on behalf of my students. The GPS two-way radios will improve the accuracy and efficiency of our fieldwork, and help us document our work safely and effectively. You send a message in a time of financial difficulties, that people care about our students and think public education is important”
With gratitude,
Mr. Enguidanos
Mass Dissections: Evidence of Evolution
Funded Apr 14, 2008I am thrilled that you have made it possible for me to keep a big promise to my students. This Mass Dissection will help them on their way to completing their final project, comparing their own body to that of the animal they dissect. The animals will be dissected by teams of students and each team will teach a seminar to their peers on the comparative anatomy of their chosen animal and human anatomy.
You really came through for us in a huge way. Thank you from the bottom of heart”
With gratitude,
Mr. Enguidanos