We’re a little more than half-way through this year’s Donors Choose initiative. To date we’ve raised $618, helped complete 16 projects, and reached 541 students. The support from our readership has been tremendous, and I’d like to personally thank everyone who’s given to Donor’s Choose through any of the blogs participating in the Science Bloggers Challenge, but we still have a long way to go. HP is matching all donations up to $50,000, so all your donations count twice as much. Any donation, from $1 up helps. If you can’t personally make a donation, please consider promoting our initiative through social media, e-mail, or just telling you friends. There’s so many great projects out there left to fund. Here are just a few:
Ever wanted to explore the ocean, or travel around the world, or even wonder if you could travel to the center of the earth? With the help of author, Jules Verne, students can do all of these things and read some classic literature with great vocabulary.
My students are identified gifted and talented in a school that is 50% impoverished. Many of my students have never traveled outside of our small town, so understanding the world and all of it’s wonders does not happen easily. Their quest for knowledge is something I admire and want to foster!! They want to explore and learn everything there is in all areas!
The three novels by Jules Verne will introduce my students to some classic literature, science fiction, and allow them to explore the world without ever leaving our town. They will be introduced to great vocabulary, science terms and questions to tweak their curiosity more as they explore the world around them.
What’s Flowin’ On? Water Quality Testing Kits
“There is no life without water.” ~ Albert Szent-Gyorgyi. Water is the most important factor in agricultural life. I want my students to understand the importance of this fragile and limited resource, because without water, there would be no life!
I teach mainly Agriculture Biology Students in the central valley of California. The majority of my students come from low income families who work in agricultural jobs. I am very lucky in that the students who I have want to be in my class. Agriculture Biology is a class that meet Life Science Credit for graduation, but the students must elect to take Ag Biology over Regular Biology in order to be in my class. My students are inquisitive, fun, and pillars of character. Most of my students are 10th graders, how ever, I do occasionally get 9, 11, and 12th graders. My students are encouraged to participate in leadership activities, community service, and expand their learning through after school activities at the school farm. Most of my students want to better themselves through education and hope to attend college.
With your support, I will be able to show my students how important water quality is. In Biology, we talk about the water cycle, water quality, and the importance of water on Earth. However, I have been unable to show my students how important water quality is since I have never had the supplies to do so. Agriculture needs water, and to be good stewards of the land, my students will be able to analyze and view the importance by preforming water quality tests.
Is there a field trip you took in elementary school that was one you will never forget? That is exactly what I am trying to give my 5th grade students. We are lucky enough to have gotten a date for just this type of trip. However, a few of the students cannot afford to pay for this opportunity.
At my school in the upstate of South Carolina, we have almost 500 students. Nearly 90% of our students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Although our students do not have much money, they usually do have good support from home. Many come from single family homes where the only parent works one or two jobs. Many of the students in the upper grades are responsible for caring for younger brothers and sisters at home while the parents are working.
What I am asking for is an opportunity for some of my least advantaged students to be able to attend a life-changing field trip. If you help, they will be able to travel to a barrier island here in South Carolina for 3 days and 2 nights. For many of the students it will be their first time away from home over night. For many of them it will be the first time they have seen the ocean. For many of them it will be the only chance they might ever have to stay in a camp setting. For almost all of them, it will be their first chance to roast marshmallows over a camp fire or actually hold a lizard or snake.
In addition to all of these first time experiences, the students will also be able to see first hand what we have been learning about in the classroom. What better way to understand an ecosystem than to actually walk around in one? What better way to understand the human effect on the environment than to see it first hand?
Let’s get some science into the classroom!
~Southern Fried Scientist