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.”
Thank you so much for your support in our science program. With so many programs getting cut and funds being taken from the students, its great to see that so many people still care and want to provide a quality education for our youth.
This activity was used in a high school zoology classroom. This classroom includes 16-18 year old students. The best part about this lab is each day these "almost adults" get so excited to see their caterpillars developing. Each partner group get one caterpillar and watch it develop into a butterfly. They monitor the growth, and life cycle. Its funny to soon watch the students become competitive with their peers as to whose butterfly will develop first.
This lab's main purpose is for a student to actually witness the entire life cycle of an insect. From larva to pupa to adult. This form of complete metamorphosis is monitored and recorded to understand how much time is spent during each stage.
In a few days the students will be releasing their butterflies into the environment. They will watch their named butterfly head in to the real world. And as cheesy as it sounds, many will be sad to see them go.
Thank you for providing a memorable hands-on experience for these kids. They will remember this process for years to come.
The students of the Zoology class appreciate your support!!!”
Thank you so much to everyone who made this lab possible for our students. It was a wonderful experience for them that I am sure they will not forget. The lab was a great success and we made thousands of beautiful green glowing bacteria! It gave them an opportunity to "feel like real scientists" as one student said. It is so gratifying as teachers to see students so excited about science and learning. Without your support we would not have been able to make science come alive for these children!
Thank you so much for funding "Do Plants Wear Genes"! I have been truly moved by your generosity. Your donation has provided my students the opportunities to make informed and balanced decisions about how science impacts their lives through the use of a student-centered active-inquiry-based learning.
Genetics is a very abstract, difficult subject for most 7th graders to fully grasp and the activities you funded helped my students not only connect genetics to themselves, but it also reinforced the scientific method and provided connections between science and math concepts. Specifically, students used the materials provided to address multiple concepts such as Mendelian genetics, inheritance, segregation, variation and mutagenesis, influence of environmental conditions on organisms, and change over time. Learning these concepts using inquiry-based activities that emphasize problem-solving skills has ensured a lasting and holistic understanding of genetics for my students.
Once again, thank you, your donation will allow me to integrate the activities into my yearly curriculum thus impacting students for years to come.”
Thank you for the life science lab supplies! My students have already used many of them in labs. There level of engagement has greatly increased with these hands-on supplies.
The labs added important elements of inquiry and investigation to our Genetics unit. Visualizing the structure of DNA can be difficult. The class worked together to build a giant DNA model and enjoyed twisting it to give it the spiral shape it needed. They absolutely loved working with living creatures. They examined fruit flies and saw a wide variety of genetic variation with mutations. Their favorite lab was experimenting with termites. They found the termites moderately interesting to observe at first. Then they drew a line with a BIC pen on paper and watched the termites follow the line. They were extremely excited to figure out why the termites followed the line, if they would follow different pen inks, and if they could follow different patterns of lines. They became true scientists using the scientific method.
Thank you again for supporting us and bringing memorable, hands-on science to students!”
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!”
Thank you very much for your donations that made my project "Back to School is Just Around the Corner" a big success. As you know, I work in a high needs, urban, diverse, school district and my students don't always have the school supplies that they need to be successful. As a result of your donations, I now have a supply of pens, pencils and composition books for students in need of them. My students now don't feel embarrassed to admit that they don't have the supplies that they need. They know that they can just ask and I have the supplies available. Thank you for making this possible.”
The human torso has been dubbed "Musculus McOrgans" in my anatomy and physiology class. Students have repeatedly told me how helpful it is to see a life-size version of their own organs and muscle system. As you can see from the pictures, my students can't get enough of taking the torso apart and putting it back together. This has been an invaluable learning tool for all students, but especially the ones who have difficulties relating to 2D images in books or on websites. Now they have access to a deeper level of learning that was not available before. Thank you so much for making that possible! This durable torso will be contributing to hundreds if not thousands of children's lives over the next few years! ”
I can't tell you how encouraging it was to me to find out how many of you took the time and trouble to donate or use the donations that Starbuck's made available to us through Donors Choose. Just your willingness to do this and the time it took was meaningful to me and my classroom of 25 first graders. A big thank you goes to the Gates Foundation which funded the Donors Choose program and through you, my classroom.
The books that we have received have gone a long way in helping my beginning readers, read nonfiction materials at their reading level. It is hard to find leveled nonfiction books and expensive to purchase these materials for my classroom. This is the first time that I have used this means of obtaining books for my students to use. In the past I have either scoured garage sales, used book stores or the Goodwill I have also purchased most of my classroom library at my own expense for my students. My students come from a very diverse background. We speak eight different languages and for 16 of my 25 students English is not their first language. This makes learning to read much harder than for other students. I love their excitement over learning something new or mastering difficult tasks. First grade is an exciting time in a child's life because often it is where reading begins. My students love being able to read about insects, (which we studied in science), Octopuses, Desert Animals, as well as Unusual Machines. I have students that bring up a book to read to me and will tell me about something that they learned because they read about it in the science library. I didn't tell my students that we were getting these books so when they arrived and I unpacked the boxes the students were very excited. We sat and read through a few of them and then I let the students explore the books. I hadn't told them that the books were leveled yet, but they soon discovered this for themselves when they went to read them. I put the stickers that came with the books indicating the reading level on the books then put them in separate containers. After that I put a corresponding sticker on all of the student book boxes as a starting level for their reading. I told them to start at that level and then when they have finished reading at one level to then move up to the next. They became very competitive with this and were encouraged to keep reading. I think most of my students have a favorite and are looking for more books in our classroom and the school library on their favorite subject. Again, thank you for your part in supporting education and in particular my beginning readers. First grade is such an important year in a student's education and having plenty of books that they can read encourages them. This has encouraged me to find more nonfiction books for students to read.”
My students and I are elated to have our supplies and materials. The students could hardly wait to get started on their experiments.Their first experiment was on the discovery of light. The manipulative and guide questions made learning about light extremely exciting.
Each day during science the anticipation level is of high interest. Students are very attentive, and they are willing to cooperate and collaborate with each other.This project has helped strengthen our class community and to build a love for science.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Johnson
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