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Dr. Free-Ride's "help-bridge-the-budget-gap" challenge

Part of: Seed Media Science Blogs
  • $4,241raised
  • 22projects funded
  • 22schools served
  • 22teachers supported
Like the rest of the economy, public school budgets have been slammed. While we wait for a recovery, let's do what we can to help the kids in the classroom get the educational experiences that will help them love learning and discover how cool math and science can be. <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscience/">Adventures in Ethics and Science</a>
  • Pass The Science Graduation Test Or Die Tryin'- Part 2

    Funded Oct 26, 2009

    You have no idea how much your donations have meant to my students. Yesterday and today, we completed our frog dissections. The students were so excited. You would have thought they were small children opening up their birthday presents- not frogs.

    As soon as they saw me for the day, they had hundreds of questions about when they were going to get to do the dissections, how they were going to do it, and if I was ready for them to do the dissections. Then, I put the frogs in their pans and they got a little hesitant and less excited. About 15 minutes into the act, they were completely into it.

    Afterwards, it was amazing to hear them talk about how much fun they had. They were so very thankful, as am I. Each of your generosity has really shown them that someone out there believes in them the way I do. Some of them couldn't believe a group of strangers donated the materials.

    Thank each and every one of you for helping my students!”

    With gratitude,

    Teacher

  • Dissecting Students

    Funded Oct 2, 2009

    I wanted to take this opportunity to personally thank you all for your generous donation. My students greatly appreciated the supplies that were purchased from the funds that you donated. In my Anatomy and Physiology class we dissected a mink. The students were affected in a positive way. Most of the students in that class have a desire to move on to a four year university in one of the sciences, they said this experience is invaluable for a student who wants to explore science at the next level.

    Again i wanted to say thank you, your generosity is not lost on theses select students. Photos will be posted soon on the Donorschoose.org website. Please take the time to view them to see how the materials were used.”

    With gratitude,

    Teacher

    This classroom project was brought to life by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and 7 other donors.
  • Dissection Specimens Needed

    Funded Oct 2, 2009

    I have posted some pictures of our dissections. As you can see by the look on their faces, my students were very interested in dissection and enjoyed the lab work very much. Many of my students asked to photograph the dissection step by step on their cell phones so that they could share their photos with their friends and families.

    It has been an unforgettable and challenging experience for my 7th graders! They were very surprised to find out what a heart really looks like and how it functions. They were also amazed at the tiny organs of the frog and how they are so similar to our organs. Students were able to trace the path that food takes through the frog and explain the function of all the organs. They were particularly surprised out how the tongue of the frog attached in the mouth. Most of the frogs were female and they couldn't believe how many eggs a female frog can produce at one time. This lead to a discussion about predators and prey. The frog has to have so many eggs in order to ensure the survival of their species.

    This project would not have been possible without your generosity and I thank you again for your contribution.”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Pfeiler

  • Schooled by Salmon

    Funded Jan 6, 2010

    Thank you so much for your generosity in sponsoring our classroom to buy the chiller. The students are absolutely LOVING watching our fish grow and are learning a lot of responsibility while caring for them as well. It has really motivated the students to read more every day to learn about the life cycle stages of the salmon, adaptations, threats to their survival, and what we can do to help. You have made such a difference!

    We hope that you enjoy the pictures and thank you notes from the students. Thanks again!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Tilley

  • Maniacal Measuring Mathemeticians

    Funded Oct 3, 2009

    I waited until the very last minute to send you this thank you note because I have been doing all kinds of wonderful activities with the materials you so graciously gifted to my classroom. I wanted to tell you about some of these things and did not want to speak of them until we actually did them. Using your materials, the children have completed recipes for face paint, measured themselves, their heads, other people and converted those measurements. They have experimented with water and found how many cups in pint, quart, etc. We used the scales to measure common classroom items and make predictions on larger items using the data we collected. My students have great difficulty with all measurement objectives and these activities gave them concrete experiences to help them conquer measurement. I think one of the favorite activities was using the stop watches. Students seem to have a hard time with elapsed time, or the passing of time. We used the stop watches for weeks, timing everything and anything we could think of to improve their understanding of elapsed time. Not only do they have a better grasp on it, we have cut our bathroom time by 1 min 37 seconds! I also used the tools with both of my afterschool programs, my Saturday school program, and for our school wide family night! We are having a great time with the tools you sent and I want you to know I will use them for many years to come with every student I come in contact with.”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Kelley

  • Cow Eye Dissection

    Funded Oct 7, 2009

    Thank you so much for your generous donation of preserved cow eyes and safety goggles for my science classroom. My students and I thoroughly enjoyed and learned so much about the parts of a cow eye by dissecting them. This was my first time as a science teacher to dissect cow eyes with my students. It was a truly amazing experience!

    Through the help of your generous donation, my students were able to learn using a "hands-on" approach. My students were extremely excited during the dissection and it is my feeling that they learned so much more my actually dissecting an eye instead of just reading about the cow eye out of a book.

    The safety goggles are a considerable improvement over our old safety glasses. Our old glasses did not fit my students well. The adjustable goggles are wonderful for my students and the bright colors seem to make the students keep them on better than before. Not only did we use the safety goggles for the cow eye dissection, but we are also able to use them for other experiments such as chemical reactions. Once again, thank you for your donation. Without your help, my students would not have had the great experience of dissecting a cow eye.”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. McClellan

  • The Edugame

    Funded Oct 29, 2009

    The Edugame has made an immediate impact on my students and I want to thank you. They believe that they are in a special place and use the remotes as a piece of their evidence. They are very proud of their unique opportunity to be in a class that has this technology. They have learned a lesson in caring about others through your donation as well.

    We were all so excited when the remotes arrived. The students were giving each other high fives, and the teachers were excited as well. After the district installed the software I had to conquer the learning curve so they could be implemented effectively. The Edugame has been created in a way that I could use the remotes almost instantly with great results. It came with video tutorials and is extremely user-friendly. After a few sessions, we were able to start implementing them pretty regularly.

    My students absolutely love using the remotes. They take the pressure off of not having to publicly answer questions. At the same time, they increase the students' accountability because all of their responses are logged into the grade book for each assignment. After each question we can view results that show the percentage of students who answered each choice. This often leads to valuable discussions.

    The games are what really set the Edugame apart from similar products. They are well designed, and my students thoroughly enjoy them. They can use questions that came with the program or ones that I have created. The Social Studies content that it came with matches our district curriculum wonderfully. This made for much easier integration into my classroom.

    Your donation has made a tremendous impact. The remotes have added a teaching and assessment tool that motivates my students while aligning to the state curriculum standards. You have helped my students have more confidence and enjoy school more. They have also learned a lesson in kindness. ”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Dudley

  • Some Basic Artistic School Supplies for Students in Need

    Funded Oct 23, 2009

    Thank you so much for donating to these supplies. I cannot tell you how many times my students have come to me and told me that they would like to do the work but cannot due to lack of supplies. My students can and want to get good grades, and I know that with these supplies, they will excel.

    When you see a student come to school on an exam day, and see them not want to take their exam or complete your notes out of embarrassment of not having supplies, it's heartbreaking. With your help though, I am confident this will never happen again in my class.

    Thank you,”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Kleckner

  • Learning Through Games, Part I

    Funded Oct 31, 2009

    Words cannot express my gratitude to you for helping me make Christmas come to life in my classroom. This past week my kids found out that there really is a Santa Clause.

    We received our packages while we were on track break in November. Although I was excited to rip into the games and try them out myself, I decided that it would be even more amazing for my kids if they could see that Santa made a special trip to our home away from home.

    I quickly went out to the dollar store to buy wrapping paper and decorations for our room. I spent an entire afternoon on my living room floor wrapping the generous gifts you gave my students. The following Monday morning when my kids walked into the room, there were giant snowflakes hanging from the ceiling and a tree with what seemed to be hundreds of gifts wrapped neatly, spilling out from underneath it. My kids' eyes lit up! For many of them they have never seen holiday decorations or an abundance of presents under the tree. They instantly asked, "Who are the gifts for? Are they real?" With a giant smile I informed them that some very wonderful people decided to donate money to our classroom, so that we could get some well needed classroom materials. For the next few days the presents stayed wrapped under the tree as they made predictions as to what could be under our tree.

    Finally, on the third day we sat down as a classroom family and had a Christmas of our own. My kids were all so very excited to see the amazing learning games that had been left for them to play. They carefully looked over each and every one of them and asked with anticipation if they could play them. For the next hour they all broke out into groups playing games that reviewed important skills in reading and math. My kids had a blast playing while learning, and it is because of people like you that made it a reality in my classroom to make learning fun and meaningful.

    With a heartfelt thank you from myself and my students!”

    With gratitude,

    Teacher

    This classroom project was brought to life by The Lincy Foundation and 8 other donors.
  • One Laptop at a Time, Part I

    Funded Oct 25, 2009

    Thank you once again for your wonderful donation of a MacBook Pro laptop computer to my students.  The addition of this computer to my classroom has made an amazing impact on the kids!

    When the Mac arrived, my kids cheered with excitement.  The first thing they did was name the computer.  Since we are building a laptop lab, we found it necessary to name each computer so we don't confuse them.  Our naming practice is to combine a color and an animal.  For this awesome Mac, they chose "Purple Panda."  

    So far, my kids have used the Purple Panda to do research on the holiday of Thanksgiving, search for art materials for a business project, and complete reading comprehension quizzes.  They are amazed at how fast it is compared to our other computers--everyone prefers the Purple Panda to our older computers, so we have to share time on it.

    After the new year, we are going to start our big Census project, as well as do environmental research.  As we add laptops to our lab, students will be able to have more independent time at the computer, which means more learning for everyone.

    Your generous donation has shown that it truly takes a village to educate a child.  Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness--your good will lives on every day in our classroom!”

    With gratitude,

    Ms. Amodeo

Start my own page
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