Dr Becca's Epicsauce Giving Page

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Last week's pig dissection was a once in a lifetime experience for my students. The dissection truly allowed what we were learning in class to come alive, especially for my special education students and english language learners who require hands-on activities to digest the material.

Our school is currently facing a budget shortfall, so without your help my students would never have had these vital resources. My students were able to learn dissection skills, dissect out key organ systems and discover how the different systems fit together.

Thanks again - without donors like you, thousands of classrooms in the U.S. would go without. ”

With gratitude,

Ms. Lanza

Thank you so much for believing in investing in my classroom but more importantly in my students. With your donations, I was able to buy a few sets of fruit fly packaged experiments. We received fruit flies with regular wings (wild type) and fruit flies with small wings (apterous). We bred the fruit flies separately and when the females were hatched from their larva, we quickly separated them from the males. Then we took apterous females and bred them with wild type males to see what their offspring would look like.

Students made Punnett squares, studied X-linked genes, and predicted the phenotype (wings or no wings) of the new generation. We incorporated this experience in our unit about genetics. We studied Hemophilia in the old Russian royal family and students explained why it appeared that only men received the disease. We related this project with the fruit flies to hemophilia by discussing X-linked genes.

However, we unfortunately ran into a few problems. The fruit flies took longer than expected to "hatch." In fact, both new generations hatched while on Thanksgiving break and Winter break, so we could never separate the offspring from the parents. Therefore we had difficulties collecting data to compare our predictions with. Regardless of these glitches, this has been a highlight to many students' year so far. They've enjoyed working with bugs, learning that simply by looking at a fruit fly, you can identify its sex and its wing type. What I am most excited about though, was that we incorporated the fruit flies into a Parent Science night. Students brought parents to discuss different aspects of Biology they've learned so far. The fruit flies were a hit, as you can see in one of the pictures. In addition to the fruit flies, students discussed DNA transcription and translation, homology, and evolution.

Again, I would like to express my appreciation for your financial support. Your generosity was a huge help. Currently our science department has $0 for our budget, so your support was necessary. It not only communicates that you believe in my students and I, but it also encourages me to continue pouring my heart and soul into these young lives as well. ”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Morris

Thank you so much for the specimens that you donated to my class. My students have truly grown due to the experiences they have had with their fetal pigs. Many of the students have told me that this is the coolest/best/most interesting project they have ever done in school. With your help each of my students has had the opportunity to experience Anatomy in a personal way. It is my belief that this dissection will give my students a unique understanding of their own bodies, allowing them to make informed decisions about their health.

Throughout the past 4 weeks students worked with the fetal pigs, exploring the digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular, and reproductive systems. At the end of the 4 weeks students produced power point presentations in which they discussed the purpose of the lab, the mammalian anatomy, and the lessons that each student learned from the dissections.

I cannot thank you enough for giving my students this opportunity. It truly has opened their eyes to a whole new world.”

With gratitude,

Mr. P.

I cannot fully express how much your generosity has impacted my classroom. The microscopes that you purchased for my students have helped them understand science in a whole new light. We have already completed two different dissection projects; dear hearts and cow eyes, both of which have helped my students learn about the biology of different organisms with real, up-close experiences.

Last summer our school was hit by a devastating tornado, and it has been difficult to rebound, both emotionally and financially. Your generosity has helped bring the focus back to academics and away from the difficult recovery of the school. Your donations and kind words show my students that even though they live in a neighborhood that is often ignored, that there are still people who value their education.

Thanks to you, the budding scientists in my classroom may be the next Nobel prize winners! ”

With gratitude,

Ms. Wydeven

Our class is truly thankful for your donations. Dissecting owl pellets is something we will all remember for the rest of our lives.

There was much excitement the day before we began our dissection. As we read the book Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen with the lights down low, we talked about how special and unique owls are. We discussed their many adaptations and of course their inability to digest the bones of their prey. We made our predictions as to what we might find in the pellets and we thought about an owl's daily life as a top consumer.

On the first day of the dissection with our bone identification charts in hand we set to work. Shouts of amazement and wonder echoed throughout the classroom. It took two days for us to fully complete the dissection and then another two for making posters. Our posters displayed our favorite findings from the pellets such as vole skulls and shrew jawbones. There was so much to learn and see which prompted so many wonderful questions, which is the heart of a great science activity. I know my students felt like real scientists during this project.

As I have said before it was an unforgettable experience thanks to your donations. Thank you! ”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Woodrow

I am so touched and grateful for the funding of our project. Henrietta Lacks' story has helped launch an educational journey that my students will not soon forget.

By funding these books, you have given a great opportunity to my students. These books have encouraged my students to become stronger readers and more effective critical thinkers; they have encouraged them to become advocates for their own health and the health of their loved ones and communities. Without you, this real-life application could not be possible, and valuable science (and life) lessons would be lost.

I am thrilled to be able to share this inspiring experience with my students and colleagues. Thank you so much for your generosity and support!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Mucha

Thank you so much for the white board markers! My students use these markers every day, during math they are using whiteboards to show their work and solve the problems. They can bring the white boards and markers to the carpet and they are able to write better than if they are using paper. This allows us to see if they have the correct answers quickly. We are also saving paper! The students take the whiteboards, and markers with them to the computers to help them work out their problems. They find it is easier to use the white boards than paper, because they can write on their laps.Thank you for helping our class work in a more efficient way!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Schafer

I've done this project with my class numerous times over the years, but I must say, with your help this has probably been the most comprehensive version. The students have learned a lot about food chains and webs, owls and mammal skeletons.

We first read Owls and The Book of North American Owls in small groups. The 3rd book on our list was unavailable, so I found another book that fit the bill, and although we only got 1 copy instead of 5, that book came with access to a website that had some cool videos. This ordering complication was the cause of the delay in the project being implemented, and consequently in the tardiness of this thank you letter. Please accept my apology for this.

Next the students carefully dissected the owl pellets, separating the bones from the fur. Everyone had to breathe lightly during this part! Bones were identified and sorted, and the kids counted skulls to try to determine how many animals the owl had eaten before coughing up the pellet. They also worked to determine what kind of animals had been eaten. Then the kids reconstructed the most complete skeleton they found and glued it to cardboard. The bones were labeled and each pair of students wrote either on what the owl pellet was or the process they went through to produce the mounted skeleton. The skeletons and writing are now displayed in the hall outside our room.

Each student has also been responsible for writing about, and responding to, 2 books on owls in their Reader's Notebooks. The books available included the 3 titles from the Donors Choose project and books available from the school library.

Thank you all again for helping me provide my students with an engaging project that they really loved, and from which they learned a great deal!”

With gratitude,

Mr. Gregory

Words cannot describe how grateful I am to you all.  It has been a blessing to see my students grow and mature into the individuals that they are now.  The dictionaries that you've donated have helped them learn so many new words that they are now writing full and complete sentences; some of them are even writing full paragraphs and stories!  They truly love those dictionaries because it is a daily necessity for them, especially when they are using the great resource for homework, writing poems, and taking tests.

Our school is facing a tight budget and without your help and those dictionaries, it would not have been possible to help them face their linguistic challenge.  For English language acquisition students, vocabulary is their number one asset and with these dictionaries, you have given them a plethora of words to add to their daily language.

Without your generosity, my classroom would not be where they need to be and for that, we are all very thankful for your support”

With gratitude,

Ms. Vu