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This teacher needs your help!

Mr. Davidson from Bronx, NY is requesting other through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Mr. Davidson is requesting

Help My Kids Try To Reach Space! Literally!

My students need 2 digital cameras to take pictures of the upper atmosphere from a weather balloon.

  • $469 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Celebrate Black Teachers and Students

This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.

My Students

Just a few short generations ago the space race captured the imagination of America and the world. Space tourism is starting for the ultra rich now, but for only a couple hundred dollars, I can send a weather balloon and a digital camera to space and take pictures of it all with my students!

I'm a special education teacher currently doing small group instruction.

In previous years I've done cooperative team teaching, so my classes were split up between higher functioning special education students and students that do not have learning disabilities. Our school is struggling however, so even our "normal" students are a bit behind. Test scores are up over the past few years, but our average students are not yet on grade level in reading and math. For this project I will also be working with a general education science class, as so many students expressed GREAT interest in this project when I first discussed it last year. Now that spring is around the corner I want to get the ball rolling and make this happen. My plan is to launch the first capsule in May, and the second one in June. I'm planning on two launches because it's entirely possible the first one won't be recovered - that's science in the field!

My Project

I got the idea for this project after seeing some MIT students post up their results and directions for their project a couple of years back. What this project will do is take a digital camera, place it into a specially created case to withstand landing impact, and attach it to a weather balloon. The balloon goes way up into the upper atmosphere, with the camera taking pictures the whole way. At its maximum height, it will take pictures of the blackness of space before the balloon pops. The camera will take roughly five minutes to fall back down to earth, and a GPS unit included in the case will help us to locate it. You can see more details and images of what I'm talking about by Googling "l337 arts Project Icarus." There are many other projects that I'm also drawing from, such as the SABLE space balloon, and the Brooklyn Space program. The other materials for this project (weather balloon, helium, GPS, etc) I will be purchasing myself separately.

How awesome is this project!?

Middle school students creating something that will travel to space and then recovering it! They'll be the ones designing and testing the camera package, and the science of overcoming all the potential problems will be gone over in several lessons. This is the ultimate year end school project! With your support, hopefully we can get the cameras, and prepare for a launch sometime in mid June. Please help!

Mr. Davidson
Grades 6-8
  • J.H.S 151 Lou Gehrig
  • Bronx, NY
    • Nearly all students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

    Equity Focus

    At this school, more than 50% of students are Black, Latino, and/or Native American, and more than 50% come from low-income households. Learn how your donation to this school supports a more equitable education.

    This project will reach 50 students.

    4 donors have given to this project.

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TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS - digital camera • Best Buy $172.99 2 $345.98

Materials cost

$345.98

Vendor shipping charges

 $12.00

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$5.19

Fulfillment labor & materials

$35.00

Total project cost

$398.17

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$70.27

Total project goal

$468.44

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $468.44

4 Donors

-$463.74

Donations toward project cost

-$398.17

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$65.57

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$4.70

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Davidson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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