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, an organization founded in 2000 and rated highly by both Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau. Here’s an introductory video about DonorsChoose featuring Michelle Obama and Stephen Colbert. 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. We also carry along a more financially ambitious project as a long-term goal.
Since our inception in 2009, our donors have helped fund over 500 DonorsChoose projects! (The numbered lists in these previous diaries were broken by DK5, so we’re starting a new diary earlier than we otherwise would have.) Here are our previous lists of successes:
Numbers 1-200
Numbers 201-400
Numbers 401-500
Here is the current list, starting with #501:
501. Culturing Bacteria: Learning About the Microbial World
502. Explore the World VR Style!
503. Red Rockets Need STEM Materials!
504. STEM Student Activities
505. Eastern's Outdoor Classroom & Garden Initiative
506. Learning Across the Electromagnetic Spectrum
507. Can You See Me?
508. Hands on Activities Improve Student Engagement
509. INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO CODE!!
510. Chickens for Young Women Leaders
511. Growing Our Classroom Library
512. Extending Geometry and Literacy Skills via Origami
513. STEMing Ahead!
514. Turned On To Science
515. Future Engineers: STEM Opportunities in the Gifted Classroom
516. Hands on Genetics with Axolotl Breeding
517. Creating Environmentally Conscious Students With Compost Bin!
518. Create, Design & Engineer
519. Hands-On Exploration: Problem Solving STEM
520. Math Motivation
521. From Bare to There: Books for a New Classroom!
522. Think Outside the Barrel — Solar Energy!
523. Learning in the Outdoors!
524. Merging Math and Literacy
525. Hands-On STEM Learning
526. Our School Garden: Can You Dig It?
527. Gamifying Education
528. What's a Pirate's Favorite Amino Acid? Arrrrrrginine!
529. Making the World a Better Place: Emerging Energy Is Elementary!
530. Owls Puke So We Can Learn
531. Butterflies, Butterflies, Butterflies YEAR 3
532. Physics Rocket Lab
533. Exploring Our Love of Science on a Field Trip to the Liberty Science Center!
534. STEM in First
535. Maker Space Friday
536. Let's Investigate! Hands-On Science
537. Attracting Birds and Butterflies
538. My Students Deserve to See Award-Winning Books in Their Library!
539. Spanish Books/Math Material for Dual Language Learners
540. SIMS — Water, Wind, and Solar Energy
541. Seeds-The Start of Something New!
542. Help Us STEAM Up Our Library
543. I Know What You Did !!
544. Save Our Butterflies-Making a Native Butterfly Habitat!
545. Learning STEAM through Legos
546. 'Full STEAM Ahead' Teaching Mother Earth's Future Caretakers!
547. Looking into the World of Science
548. Full STEAM Ahead!
549. Cultivating Sun-Wise Students through Solar Explorations
550. Steamy Weather
551. Chemical Compounds Everywhere
552. Butterflies, Crystals, and Compost, Oh My!
553. Family Cafe Nights To Support Student Learning Through Games/Books
554. Engaged Learning With Living Animals, Habitats, Books and Games
555. Learning Geometry Hands-On (teacher cancelled project)
555. Dot and Dash Go To School!
556. STEMRobotics | STEM Education with a Robotics Implementation
557. Scientific Inquiry Using Lego Robots
558. Team Work
559: Fizzing, Popping, Color Changing Science Experiments
560. Caution! Scientists at Work! Proceed with Caution!
561. Gifts for a Garden: Help the RFP!
562. Hands-on Math
563. The Science Behind the Music
564. Literacy in Science
565. Science from the Flood
566. Science Mentor Texts to Promote STEM in the Classroom
567. Kinder Mathematicians!
568. Birds and Butterflies, What a Surprise for the Eyes
569. Discovery Class Weather Exploration Station
570. Lab Equipment for New AP Environmental Science Class
571. Blast Off!! Learning STEM Principles through Rocketry!
572. All Hands on Deck for Science!
573. Super Stem Scientists
574. Pioneer Engineers
575. Creating a Future for the Lakota Nation Through Computer Science
576. Shake, Shake It Off
577. Aquaponics Tank
578. Incubating Ideas
579. 5th Grade Mustangs Are Electric About Circuits!
580. Gearing Up for STEM
581. Antibacterial Soap: Does it REALLY work?
582. S.T.E.M. Supplies for Small Scientists
583. Making a Splash With the Water Cycle
584. Learn and Grow With Engineering and Science
585. Little Scientists
586. Safe Scientists Are Successful Scientists
587. Amazing Aquatic Ecosystems!
588. Legos Engage!
589. Kinder Crafty Kids
590. Basic Supplies Allow STEM Students to Strive!
591. Students Build Prosthetic Limbs for Children in Need!
592. Give Green to Go Green with Green Algae & Azolla
593. STEM: The Final Frontier
594. "Sustaining Pollination"
595. Little Einsteins Need Equipment!
596. Quality Petrology
597. Creating STEM Coasters and Art
598. Water, Water, Everywhere! Water, Water, Not a Drop to Spare!
599. Advancing Learning
600. Snakes and Water Samples and Night Hikes, Oh My!
More information on DonorsChoose:
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". Schools with 40%-64% of students receiving free/reduced lunch are denoted as "high poverty", while schools with 65%+ of students receiving free/reduced lunch are denoted as "highest poverty". For projects submitted from a school where free lunch rate data is unavailable or unreliable, "Poverty Data Unavailable" will appear.
DonorsChoose.org main page
DonorsChoose.org blog
About DonorsChoose.org
All DonorsChoose.org math & science projects search results
We are in no way affiliated with DonorsChoose.org, or any of the classroom projects presented for funding, except as specifically indicated (for example, when a kossack is the teacher).
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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.