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 fifteen-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
Resources: acid deposition kit, predator-prey relationships kit, soil test kit, oil spill bioremediation kit
School Poverty Level: High
Location: Merritt Island High School, Merritt Is, FL
Total: $423.80
Still Needed: $419.80 $362.15
Expires: Feb 4, 2016
Teacher’s Comments from Mrs. Nick: My students need to learn through experience. They need real world applications to scientific experiments; then they see how they impact the world around them. The quote from the movie, The Lorax says it all, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not."
My AP Environmental class is filled with students who aspire to learn about the world around them.
They have creative minds and are active learners. Most of my classes realize that learning takes commitment and hard work. It’s important for them to continue in that direction and a hands-on approach will help them utilize the skills needed to achieve success. Science is based on cause and effect and students gain more insight by “doing”, this is especially true with labs. The materials I am asking for can be used in APES and biology. They need help expressing their desire to question the world around them and infer about what is and isn't science. My students all need encouragement and a little bit of fun in their daily routine, along with practicing what hard work feels like. Science labs will help spark much needed interest in the world around them and eventually generate understanding of key concepts.
My Project: The materials will help the students learn about bioremediation, soil and acid deposition, and predator prey relationships. Bioremediation is one lab that focuses on oil spill and pollution and helps the students see what can help save wildlife and reduce the impact of oil in aquatic ecosystems. The students have done this lab in the past and are amazed how scientific technologies can break up oil and save an entire ecosystem. The soil test kit can help the students have a deeper understanding of the necessary nutrients in the soil and how they affect the way different plants grow. Agriculture and botany are hot topics right now and the students are very interested in food nutrition, pesticides, GMOs, and composting. We spend a lot of time growing and studying different plants and how these plants are necessary for life. The students in my classes are interested in learning about how they can reduce their environmental impact through agricultural science.
I want my students to see how their lives impact the world around them.
These students need to see how science is not just a part of life, it is a way of life. Science is behind everything.
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.
HOUSEKEEPING
Last week’s main project, Fossil Fuels for the Future!, was completed. Middle school students in West Fork, AR will have the saltwater operated solar cars they need to learn about clean energy.
The long term project, STEM Materials For Female Engineering Elective, was also completed. Kindergarten and first grade female students in Raleigh, NC will have the STEM materials they need for their engineering elective. You can see the teachers’ thank-you note at the links. Many thanks to all contributors!
See our list of successfully funded projects. We're up to 495!
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
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.