This week, we’re helping some Mississippi high school students to safely study chemical reactions, and joining an ambitious project to help Arizona 6th graders understand renewable energy. We hope that readers who support quality public school education will help by sharing or supporting our featured projects.
The Inoculation Project is an ongoing, volunteer effort to crowdfund science and math projects for red-state public schools in low-income neighborhoods. As always, our conduit is DonorsChoose.org, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation that facilitates tax-deductible donations to specific, vetted projects in public schools.
A couple of weeks ago, nomandates introduced this project late in the game, after early projects were quickly completed. We’ve made so much progress on it that I’m moving it up to main project this week!
Since it’s Women’s History Month, nomandates has been using a lot of female-scientist memes, and I’m going to add some short video biographies to this week’s diary.
MAIN PROJECT
Resources: Help me give my students consumable lab supplies, so that I can provide my students safety and help prevent or eliminate hazards while using chemicals.
Economic need: Nearly all students from low‑income households
Location: Holmes County Central High School, Lexington, Mississippi
Total: $671.58
Still Needed: $218.11 Completed! Thank you! Please see next project below.
Teacher’s Comments from Dr. SITRAM:
My Students: My students are creative, inquisitive and always ready to learn something new! They absolutely love hands-on, active, engaging projects and challenges that allow them to think outside the box to find solutions! They come to school each day ready to try new things and take brave chances in order to grow both personally and academically. They ask me if we are blowing out something every other day...….that's what they see learning Chemistry as.
Hands-on activities motivates every student in my class, and they demonstrate an intense level of curiosity in science.
Each child in my classroom absolutely loves learning chemistry. I incorporate a variety of learning strategies, labs, group work, and learning options to ensure that each student's needs are met, right where they are! They are truly an incredible group, and I am so lucky and thankful to have a group of learners that are excited and ready to learn each year!
Our school is located in Rural Mississippi Delta region, surrounded by Agricultural farms and 98% of my students are on Free and reduced lunch, 95% of them come from single parent families.
My Project: Very soon I will be teaching Types of Chemical Reactions and my students will need to be in the Chemistry lab. We know chemical laboratory classes include hands-on, inquiry-based investigations. Most of the laboratory activities involve the use of chemicals or equipment that may pose a health or safety danger to students and teachers if not handled properly. To ensure a safe and healthy environment in our classrooms and laboratories, student should use lab safety equipment.
Gloves and Safety goggles are consumables and need to be replaced periodically and when needed.
Before conducting any experiment, I access the hazards related to the work, including; what are the worst possible things that could go wrong, how would we deal with them, and what are the prudent practices, protective facilities and equipment necessary to minimize the risk of exposure to the hazards. As we know the basic things needed in lab are safety goggles and gloves which could prevent most of the hazards.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
This new long-term project is also ambitious, but I believe that, if we can take advantage of the current 2x 5x matching funds offer, these sixth graders will benefit greatly from getting the real story about energy and fuels: AT&T is delighted to ignite a love of learning through STEM resources! Through the DonorsChoose.org STEM Lab, supported by AT&T, teachers can bring hands-on learning experiences to their classrooms.
LONG-TERM PROJECT
Resources: Help me give my students hands on kits to help them understand climate change, including the STEM Challenge kit that lets them work as engineers to investigate renewable energy sources.
Economic need: Nearly all students from low‑income households
Location: Southwest Elementary School, Phoenix, Arizona
Total: $941.11 (2x 5x matching funds from AT&T)
Still Needed: $941.11 $609.93 ($122 from us)
Teacher’s Comments from Ms. Hardin:
My Students: My 6th grade students are creative, thoughtful and full of questions! They absolutely love hands-on, active, engaging projects and challenges that allow them to think outside the box to find solutions! They come to school each day ready to try new things and take brave chances in order to grow both personally and academically. Truly, they are my inspiration!
I'm entering this particular classroom mid-year and want to give these students a fresh start as they make the transition between teachers.
Our Title I school is nestled in the hills in south Phoenix. It is my hope to incorporate a variety of learning strategies, group work, and learning options, in addition to tangible resources, to ensure that each student's needs are met, right where they are!
My Project: Inspired by our novel study, Same Sun Here, and the environmental issues in Arizona, our class is interested in exploring how we get energy, as well as the impact of climate change on the desert. I teach project based science to 6th graders in south Phoenix. My students would benefit greatly from such a hands on experience.
Last week, Aliza, in the middle of an otherwise quiet class, yelled out suddenly, "But what happens when we run out of coal?" We had investigated how coal is formed over millions of years, and she began to wonder, what do we do if we don't have another million years to wait.
Additionally, we've been investigating the effect of mining and energy productions on populations - coal in the Appalachia, dams that have impacted India, and even Uranium mining here in Arizona.
What students need now is to have opportunities to conduct hands-on investigations, especially in science classes. In 6th grade science, we cover forms of energy and attempt to compare the advantages and disadvantages of each. Though my class has been excited, it is difficult for students this age to understand these concepts by simply reading about them in the textbook.
Additionally, as we learn of the need to transition from fossil fuels, I want my students to learn about STEM technical and engineering careers that could take their place, especially here in Arizona. I want them to learn how they could be part of the solution!
The kit I am requesting will make learning about renewable and sustainable energy generation an exciting and tactile experience using solar, wind, biofuels, and water power. Students will record questions, observations, and discoveries. We hope to then apply this information to our own communities as we explore what energy sources should Arizona be considering!
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
Our main project from last week, selected in honor of Women’s History Month, was completed with a big assist from our readers!
Mrs. Heinemann’s science and math club for girls at her South Carolina middle school is inclusive of special education students. Their project to create and maintain a pollinator garden will go forward, thanks to the project GEMS Pollinator Garden.
She writes: Thank you so much for making our environmental project a reality. Our GEMS club members are so excited to get started on our pollinator garden. This gift will keep on giving to our school and our community for many years. Thank you so much - words can not even express the gratitude that we feel. You have helped to create a generation of young female scientist who are ready to take on the world.
Our Dollars at Work
Just a month or so ago, we helped Ms. Griffith’s preschoolers in Port Arthur, Texas. They needed several collections of simple machines designed to be used with blocks the class already had, to allow them to explore the ways the machines help people do work. The project was Motion, Friction, Cause and Effect. (More photos at the link.)
We can't thank you enough for funding our project. Our children absolutely love the simple machines. The children have been manipulating the simple machines and exploring the different functions. They have asked questions and investigated different scenarios with each machine. They are in the block center at this time in our room and the children are loving every minute of discovery!
Thank you kindly for helping to make this dream a reality. The children are learning so much about the importance of simple machines and how they make our world an easier place to live.
Founded in 2009, The Inoculation Project combats the anti-science push in conservative America by funding science and math projects in red-state classrooms and libraries. Our conduit is DonorsChoose.org, a crowdfunding charity founded in 2000 and highly rated by both Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau.
Every Sunday, we focus on helping to fund science or math projects, preferably in neighborhood public schools where the overwhelming majority of students come from low-income households. We welcome everyone who supports public school education — no money is required!
Finally, here’s our list of successfully funded projects — our series total is 728! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.org.