The Inoculation Project, founded in 2009 by hyperbolic pants explosion, is a group of Kossacks who gather weekly to combat the anti-science push in conservative America by providing direct funding to science and math projects in red state classrooms. Our conduit is DonorsChoose.org, a fourteen-year-old organization rated highly by both Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau. Here's a little introductory video about DonorsChoose. DonorsChoose.org allows you to make direct contributions to specific, vetted projects in public school classrooms, resulting in tremendous and immediate impacts from small dollar donations. *Each week*, we focus on funding a single small-dollar project at a time, in a traditionally red state classroom and preferably in a high-poverty district.
THIS WEEK’S MAIN PROJECT
Project: Graphing the Way to Understanding
Resources: Water-based Sharpies, Post-it Self-Stick Easel Pad Flip Chart White, Grid
School Poverty Level: Not Given
Location: Brandon Fletcher Intermediate School Ortonville, MI
Total: $306.41
Still Needed: $173.51 Completed!
Expires: Nov 26, 2015
Teacher’s Comments from Mrs. Spencer:
My Students: Reading and interpreting graphs is crucial to analyzing information presented by many sources. I want my students to be able to think critically about graphed data, and creating those graphs is an important first step.
My caring, compassionate 6th graders, who would give anything to help each other, attend a rural public school in Michigan.
Some come from supportive homes, while others come from homes struggling to provide basic needs. Some have learning or emotional difficulties, and their classmates support them with intense friendships and peer mentoring. All are eager to learn about the world around them.
My Project: Students will use these large grids to create graphs using various data. Once constructed, we will project information using trends and patterns found in the graphs and draw conclusions. In addition, we will share and discuss as a class how the decision of scale and type of graph affect the reader's perception of the data.
A mathematically literate society can take information presented in a skewed format and reconstruct it into a more fair and less biased format.
By consistently practicing and discussing this skill, my students will be able to do that.
COMPLETED
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
We'd like to be able to assist both small and large projects. Our hope is to present a new relatively modest project each week, and then feature a more ambitious project with a long-term deadline, so we can chip away at it each week when our main project is completed. Since DonorsChoose has something similar to a "rec list", every time we create a flurry of activity on a project, even if the dollar amounts involved aren't large, we can push the project up that list so it gets shown to more donors outside Daily Kos. In that way, we can help finish projects that may be beyond our means when only our own dollars are considered.
LONG TERM PROJECT
Project: Staying Grounded: An Earth Science Study
Resources Needed: American Educational Weather Forecast and Recycling Videolabs, Worm Factory Composter, Scott Resources Plate Tectonics Videolab, Geosafari Motorized Solar System, American Educational Hardness Collection with Test Kit, Cross-section Earth Model and other learning resources
School Poverty Level: Highest
Location: A R Johnson Health Science English High School, Augusta, GA
Total Cost: $1,295.05
Still Needed: $1,095.05 $334.75
Expires: Feb 12, 2016
Teacher's Comments from Mr. Rountree:
My Students: "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." - Nelson Mandela My students are the next generation of change agents that this world needs. My students have the ability to think critically and communicate complex ideas.
I teach sixth grade magnet students.
My classroom provides a space where students can gather and learn in multiple settings: whole group, independent, and small group/cooperative learning. The school and classroom climate support the development of the adolescent learner. Although, there is great classroom and school support, supplies are limited.
My Project: Sixth graders are eager to learn about earth science. Videolabs will help support diverse modes of learning in lab stations. Videolabs will scaffold and engage students in learning about earth's systems. Games will reinforce instructional concepts learned throughout earth science. Students will learn about plate tectonics, weather, and conservation. Students will explore the impact of humans and climate and past/present/future affects on the earth.
This is the year that students will fall in love with science and decide to become geologists, solar engineers, paleontologists, and geophysicists.
Donated materials will support enduring understandings of the earth's dynamic systems. Students will understand the earth and the world that they live in to better address learning needs.
DONATE HERE
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
HOUSEKEEPING
Last week's main project, Science: Taking a Closer Look, was completed. Elementary school students in Omaha, NE will have the digital microscope that they need for their science labs. You can see the teacher's thank-you note at the link. Many thanks to all contributors!
See our list of successfully funded projects. We're up to 488! We are rapidly approaching the '500 projects' completed milestone. Due to the upcoming holiday season and our busy schedules, we will not be able to celebrate the occasion until after the holidays regardless of when we reach the milestone.
When projects are not fully funded by their expiration date, donors are contacted by DonorsChoose and asked to choose another project to which to redirect their donations. Occasionally, a fully funded project is called off for some reason internal to the school/teacher, and funding is returned. We have no way of knowing why, but DonorsChoose handles those donations in the same way as for expired projects.
How is the poverty level defined at DonorsChoose.org?
Poverty level refers to the percentage of students at a given school who qualify for free and reduced lunch, which is considered a measure of economic need. To be deemed eligible for free lunch, a student's family income must be within 130% of the poverty line (a max of $29,055 for a family of four). For reduced lunch, the family income must be within 185% of the poverty level (a max of $41,348 for a family of four). Schools with 10%-39% of students receiving free/reduced lunch are denoted as "moderate poverty" while schools with more than 40% of students receiving free/reduced lunch are denoted as "high poverty". For projects submitted from a school where free lunch rate data is unavailable or unreliable, "Poverty Data Unavailable" will appear.
More information: DonorsChoose.org, DonorsChoose.org, DonorsChoose.org, DonorsChoose.org
We are in no way affiliated with DonorsChoose.org, or any of the classroom projects presented for funding.
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You are welcome to use The Inoculation Project avatar as your DonorsChoose avatar if you wish. If you need instructions for uploading it to your DonorsChoose profile, you'll find them in this diary.