This challenge is a combined effort of Kim Hannula (All of My Faults Are Stress Related), Anne Jefferson (Highly Allochthonous), and Erik Klemetti (Eruptions). We've chosen a group of projects that involve rocks, earthquakes, water, weather, soil, and other topics related to the Earth Sciences. Please help us bring earth science projects to schools in need!
I want to thank you for your donations. They have really impacted my classes, both Earth and Environmental Science and AP Environmental Science.
Earth Science gets a bad rap. Many students think the class is 'boring' and 'lame' and is a waste of their time. Who cares about rocks and dirt? The GLOBE kit has changed many of their minds. The modules have many components, some use technology, and others use ordinary items such as rulers and balloons. The kit allows them to explore the world around them and discover why the Earth and Environmental Sciences matter to all of us.
I have been using the kit every year, and each time I use it I learn something different. This has enhanced my student's engagement in the classroom and my personal growth as a teacher. Once again thank you from a grateful teacher.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Williams
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and 4 other donors.
I wanted to express my gratitude for your donations. The GPS unit was an incredible tool to help challenge my students and take them to the next level of science and technology. They enjoyed using the technology and it helped to organize their evidence and their presentation of their evidence. For many of my students the simple addition of technology helped to get them more motivated and invested in learning all of the material. For those that are typically motivated it allowed them to take their learning to the next level. Many of my students combined the information from the GPS unit with Google maps to create a great visual representation of their data.
Thank you so much for providing my students with this item that would have not otherwise fit into the school budget. We will be using the GPS unit again in future Geology units as well as our water quality study. It will affect the lives of students for years.”
Thank you so much for your generous donation to my classroom! I was so surprised to hear that our Earth Day grant had been funded this fall. I had begun a study of Earth with my kindergartners last spring, but hadn't picked it up with them again this year until hearing that our grant had been funded.
With the new shipment of materials, the children's interest in and curiosity about Earth was renewed. We picked up a worm investigation that we had started last spring and the kids began researching earthworms with the new books from your grant. After weeks of research and planning, we finally decided to create a worm bin in our classroom. Thanks to the research the kids had done, they knew exactly what we needed and how to get the bin going. We celebrated the creation of our worm bin with a "worm science fair" day, which was a blast for everyone.
Thanks to you, we now have an active worm bin in our classroom that will continue to provide many learning opportunities throughout the year. Hopefully, we will begin sharing our new learning with other classrooms who can also begin doing their parts to take care of Earth by reducing, reusing, and recycling.
What a terrific way to begin a new school year having new materials to use in our Outdoor Learning Center. My students are seeing their world in a different way, up close by using the microscopes. They did not have this opportunity before to really see what a leaf looks like on the surface. They are not only learning, but gaining an appreciation for nature. They are using the leaf identification kit to classify and name the many different kinds of leaves they are finding in their environment. My students are observing clouds whenever we are outside and have started using the cloud poster and cards to name them. Through their discoveries they are improving their observation skills and as they write in their journals this helps to improve their writing skills. We are beginning to set up our weather center and plan to begin charting weather after the holidays.
One of our goals in second grade is for the children to become fluent readers and develop a love of reading. The nature books we received are a favorite. They not only excite the children about reading, but also spark their curiosity about animals and their habitats. They are so excited they are seeking more information. This will help them to become independent learners. This could not have been possible without your generous donations to purchase all of these materials for my students. The materials enhance their learning and helps to connect my students with nature. This is just the beginning of what I feel will be a lifelong love of nature and protecting their environment for our future.
My students and I cannot thank you enough for your generous donations to help us in our outdoor learning adventures. All of this would not have been possible without you. We appreciate your kindness and generosity. ”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Pacheco
This classroom project was brought to life by Rainwater Charitable Foundation and 6 other donors.
Thank you so much for the water testing kit. . Our school was to do a special research project with Dauphin Island Research Lab but because of the oil leak, everything was postponed until later. They students are very excited to have the kit in the classroom and look forward to using it. The students examined the kit in the classroom and did some of the initial testing in our schools courtyard pond and the stream near the school. The results between the two samples was amazing and the students can't wait to take a field trip to the nearest river to continue their water quality testing. Once the samples are collected they will use the iInternet in education and collaborate with students in Colorado and Maryland to compare water quality data and organisms found at the water sampling sites. By participating in this project, students also have the opportunity to interact with experts Ondine, use an Ondine asynchronous discussion board to to discuss project-related topics, and publish their own work to a project web site. Thank you all again for your very generous donations.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Murphy
This classroom project was brought to life by Disney's Planet Challenge and 5 other donors.
There are not words to describe how touched I am that you have contributed to our classroom library in such a powerful way! The donations of these book club sets of novels will have a lasting impact on my students in such a powerful way. You are allowing them to participate in a literacy activity that many of us take for granted-- reading a good book and discussing it with your friends!
These wonderful novels will be an important part of our classroom library. The students will be picking a title with their peers, reading it together and having discussions about its elements and connections that they make to the text. It will allow them to set personal reading goals and develop discussion topics, along with sharing their opinions and critiques with other readers in the classroom. These novels have an even more powerful contribution in my classroom since our classroom library is the main access to quality literature that many of my students have in their neighborhood. You are providing an authentic reading experience for children whom authentic experiences are often much less positive.
I am very thankful to all of you for donating these books to our classroom. You are providing my students with titles that provide a variety of outlooks and experiences that they may not have been exposed to without these books. More importantly, you may be providing a child with the book that becomes their favorite or changes their lives forever. Once again, thank you, thank you, thank you for your wonderful and heartfelt donations. ”
Getting to open up the SALLY RIDE: CLIMATE SCIENCE KIT was quite exciting. After all, my students are learning about weather, climate and relating it to the world.
Being the recipient of a BONUS such as this is such a delightful feeling! The generosity of people like you is what helps teachers like me want to share MORE with my students. Being able to grab fabulous resources is what makes the little moments seem like bigger learning experiences.
Of course, having access to this kit has opened up the minds of my students. They want to know more about weather, climate and natural disasters around the world. What a great opportunity for them to LEARN TO LEARN independently.
Pat yourself on your back. Listen, do you hear the hearty round of applause? It's for you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Jones
This classroom project was brought to life by IPS Education Foundation and 6 other donors.
I am so humbled by your generous contributions to the "Let's be a Scientist" project. Without outside funding it would have been difficult to obtain the needed materials for the science center this year. Knowing that we now have these science resources, will ensure that all of the students have equal access to the materials they need to engage in our inquiry based investigations.
The excitement of the children in opening and exploring all the new materials was awesome. The picture instructions made it easy for nonreaders to work independently, in small groups and in pairs. The experiments will become more meaningful to them as they grasp the content. I am looking forward in engaging the students in important ideas and practices in science.
It is a goal of mine to instill a lifelong love of discovery in my students and your contributions help make this possible. Once again, my students and I would like to thank you for your contributions it will be appreciated all year. Your commitment to the education of my students is heartwarming.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Barrera
This classroom project was brought to life by Rainwater Charitable Foundation and 18 other donors.
"Loathsome, impending, demolished"...these are a few of the words my students have looked up since we've received our dictionaries.
In my 8 years in my district I have never seen students reach - voluntarily or not - for a dictionary to understand a word that we were using in class. In the 2 weeks that we've had these dictionaries, I've watched students use them - both when told to look up a word and without any prodding from me - to understand what we're doing in class. I've watched them share their new learning with their classmates and have even "caught them" looking up random words. Days after we've looked up a word they still know the definition and it is, I believe, because these dictionaries make definitions accessible for my students. Having enough dictionaries in my classroom so that each desk has one has really made a difference for my kids.
I can not express how cool it is to see my kids using them and making them a standard part of their experience in my classroom.
Additionally, they are utterly amazed that complete strangers would donate money so that they can have dictionaries. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to show them that there are people out there who do kind things without any expectation of getting something in return.
Thank you, once again, from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate it more than I can ever put into words.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Stone
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