Scroll down for this week's project. On tap this week: Jellyfish!
Reminder: Look for "The Inoculation Project" every Friday afternoon!
The Inoculation Project: Math & Science in Red State Schools
Solid science education is the best inoculation against ignorance.
The objective of this weekly project is to combat the anti-science push in conservative America by providing direct funding each week to math and science projects in red state classrooms.
Fortunately, a conduit organization for achieving this direct funding already exists: DonorsChoose.org. DonorsChoose.org allows you to make direct contributions to specific classroom projects (all vetted), resulting in tremendous and immediate impacts from small dollar donations.
Each week we focus on funding a single small-dollar project in a traditionally red state classroom. These are projects whose funding requests are expiring within the next week. If the projects are not funded by their expiration date, they die.
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This Week's Project
Project: Jellyfish are Oohey Gooey!
Resources Needed: 60 jellyfish to observe and study hands on an invertebrate
School Poverty Level: High
State: South Carolina
Total Cost: $275.48
Still Needed: $137.74 $97.74
Expires: Apr 25, 2011
Click to Donate
Teacher's Comments:
My Students
Absolutely yucky animals make for positively exciting learning. What an exciting way to explore animals with no back bone than with the real thing. Preserved jelly fish is just such a way to explore these fascinating creatures of the sea.
I teach fourth grade in a school where over 88% of the children are on free or reduced lunch. Our school is considered disadvantaged, but I want my students to feel advantaged in having these materials to learn with.
I believe one way to increase their enthusiasm and there by increasing their performance, is to enable them to perform as many hands-on minds-on science projects that I am capable of giving them.
My Project
Is it a vertebrate or an invertebrate is a concept that becomes more relevant to a student if they can actually see the animal in order to justify an answer. One such way to observe this phenomena is to witness it first hand by dissecting a creature. I want my students to dissect a jellyfish so that they can SEE and TOUCH this amazing creature that has no backbone and yet is able to live in the ocean.
As part of our fourth grade standards, students are to distinguish between animals with a backbone and those without a backbone. If my students could observe first hand a jellyfish that does not have a backbone, I believe they would not soon forget this concept.
I don't want my children to feel disadvantaged at school. I want then to have experiences they will carry with them throughout their years of school and will hopefully inspire children to love science and may even inspire a future scientist.
Please consider rescuing this project by making a small donation to it. Small dollars make a big difference.
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Good News
Last week's project, What Can I Do When I'm Through?, got rescued!
Here's what the teacher had to say:
Each year, my students love using hands-on materials to supplement my teaching of skills and their learning. These materials may even help to turn on a light bulb for the student/students that do not fully understand with just direct instruction. Math is just as important as literacy, and I'm glad you recognize that as well.
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Projects Funded So Far
Our list of successfully funded projects has gotten so huge, I gave it its own separate diary!
We're up to 98 funded projects.
Go check it out! (And be sure to click on the links for pictures of the kids working with the resources we provided for them.)
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Helpful Links
DonorsChoose.org
DonorsChoose.org Blog
DonorsChoose.org Donor FAQ
All DonorsChoose.org Math & Science Projects
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with DonorsChoose.org, or any of the classroom projects presented for funding. I'm just volunteering my time and pixels to make a difference.
