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This teacher needs your help!

Mr. Mitchell from Burbank, CA is requesting lab equipment through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Mr. Mitchell is requesting

Learn Financial Literacy by Designing Cost Effective Balsa Structures

Help me give my students supplies for a balsa wood structure building project including balsa wood, Lumberjack Cutting boards, t-pins, Dremel rotary tools, and a scale to test how much weight the structure holds.

  • $580 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

My Students

Students in my Exploring Engineering class are interested in a variety of engineering-related fields including computer programming, electrical engineering and electrical circuits, 3D modeling and design, robotics, Arduino coding, and structural engineering. Girls in the class have been recruiting other girls for the class and our school robotics team. Many students work after school in our lab organizing equipment and helping to keep our labs running smoothly.

Students enjoy learning new concepts and then doing hands-on activities based on these concepts.

Students love building and programming robots, designing and building various Arduino projects, and want more hands-on activities where they can build and test things. They also love to compete.

My Project

This project will help improve our structure building project. This year we did our first balsa building challenge where students had to design a 4-inch cube using balsa wood to support as much weight as possible or have the highest strength to weight ratio. A sample model weighed less than a third of an ounce and supported a 64-pound student. We will be testing actual student models later this week.

The additional Lumberjack cutting boards will speed up the model building process, the Dremel rotary tools will allow groups to remove excess glue from their models to improve strength to weight ratios, and the balsa wood and t-pins will make sure we have supplies to do the project next year.

The scale will make it easier to accurately measure how much weight each model can hold.

Next year we will also incorporate financial literacy into the project. Students will need to come up with a project budget (including parts and labor) and compete to build models with the lowest cost to strength ratio. Combining engineering design principles with financial budgeting and financial efficiency will help students understand the skills they need for successful real-world engineering projects.

Mr. Mitchell
Grades 6-8

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Pitsco Lumberjack Cutting Board • Amazon Business $44.95 3 $134.85
Pitsco Heavy Density Balsa Wood Strips (Pack of 100) • Amazon Business $45.52 2 $91.04
Business Source 32351 T-Pins 5-PACK • Amazon Business $12.86 4 $51.44
Dremel 7300-N/8 MiniMite 4.8-Volt Cordless Two-Speed Rotary Tool • Amazon Business $21.34 2 $42.68
Hanging Scale 660Lb 300Kg for Farm, Hunting, Bow Draw Weight, Big Fish & Hoyer Lift with Accurate Sensor (Digital, Professional, Light Case) • Amazon Business $39.95 1 $39.95
X-ACTO Craft Tools #1 Knife With Safety Cap, Pink • Amazon Business $9.63 4 $38.52
Think Tank Photo Red Whips Reusable Bungee Cable Ties V2.0 • Amazon Business $9.75 2 $19.50

Materials cost

$417.98

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $38.25

3rd party payment processing fee

$6.27

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$492.50

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$86.91

Total project goal

$579.41

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $579.41

3 Donors

-$255.25

Donations toward project cost

-$255.25

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$0.00

Matching donations from our partners

-$279.12

Match offers toward project cost

-$237.25

Match offers to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$41.87

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$45.04

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. Mitchell and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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