This week, we’re helping a Kansas fifth grade to get science magazines, Florida high school biology students to do a series of labs, and a Texas school library maker-space to let kids explore the physics of dropping things without breaking them. 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.
Today I am putting up three projects, because I have already sat up far too late trying to narrow it down and I am throwing up my hands at trying to dismiss any of these three.
This Kansas teacher has little time left to teach science after she gets through all the requirements, so she’s finessing it by asking for a science magazine so it can count as reading. Geez. Matching funds here from the Marks Family Foundation.
PROJECT #1
Resources: Help me give my students a class Super Science magazine subscription to supplement our curriculum.
Economic need: More than half of students from low‑income households
Location: Mound Valley Elementary School, Mound Valley, Kansas
Total: $202.44 (2x matching funds from Marks Family Foundation)
Still Needed: $202.44 Completed, thank you. Please consider Project #3.
Teacher’s Comments from Mrs. Shaw:
My Students: I have a group of amazing fifth graders that are eager to learn new things. Technology in the classroom is one thing that engages my students, but living in a rural, lower income area becomes a struggle for them at home. It is also harder for our school to come up with these resources in the classroom.
I want all students to have the same opportunities to use technology that will prepare them for their future careers.
With your help, we can make this happen.
My Project: My students love science and I am always trying to fit in more science in our day. These Super Science magazines will be an excellent way to integrate science in reading. By the time we have finished our reading, math, and intervention requirements, our time that can be allocated to science instruction is very limited. With these science magazines, I can utilize our reading time and use cross curricular standards that will help master their reading skills as well. With this subscription I will receive a class set of magazine for eight months. They will be filled with fun and exciting science articles and experiments!
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
In this Florida high school, the biology students love labs, and we can help with the equipment. Since no matching offer is in place here, one could use the per-donor matching offer GrowingMindsinSC brought to us last week, assuming there are funds left — there are as of this writing.
On the projects that don’t already have a match offer, if you put code PWCBASICS in the box at the top of the checkout page, your donation will be DOUBLED!
There is a $500 per donor cap. Available while funds last.
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PROJECT #2
Resources: Help me give my students hands-on laboratory experiments to learn about the connection between photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
Economic need: More than half of students from low‑income households
Location: Wesley Chapel High School, Wesley Chapel, Florida
Total: $172.19
Still Needed: $102.19 Completed! Thank you! Please see Project #3.
Teacher’s Comments from Mrs. Fine:
My Students: My students are all really great kids with mixed interests, abilities and goals. They try hard and are motivated when interested in the topic. They are taking Biology 1, Biology 1 Honors, or Marine Science. My students have diverse backgrounds and really enjoy working in small groups doing inquiry activities.
It's those hands-on/minds-on activities that get kids excited to learn and keeps them engaged throughout the lesson.
My students get so excited about these activities that they talk about it for days after. These activities are what my students work for.
My Project: My students LOVE laboratory experiments. I constantly hear "When are we doing another lab?" Labs not only increase student understanding but also build that excitement around science. It's what makes kids love science and want to pursue a future STEM career.
By donating to our project, you may be helping to inspire the next generation of doctors, botanists, or biologists.
My biology students need to see real life science, not pictures, textbooks, or videos--real life. It is biology, after all. Photosynthesis and cellular respiration can be very confusing to first year biology students. They often mix up the two different processes and just don't get how they are related. This laboratory kit on cellular energy gives them real life -- students utilize both elodea and snails to see how interrelated the two processes are. Then, they will connect these processes to the carbon cycle and see how we, as humans, can affect our environment. My students have shown an astonishing interest in lab investigations, and this project will allow for additional investigations to help enrich their experiences with science and encourage potential future scientists.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
Our third project comes from a Texas elementary school librarian whose enthusiasm is infectious! This project currently enjoys 3x matching funds from the Overdeck Family Foundation: Overdeck Family Foundation is thrilled to help bring the Boston Museum of Science's best-in-class STEM kits to classrooms across the country, and help facilitate exciting outside-of-school learning experiences for your students.
PROJECT #3
Resources: Help me give my students a "To The Rescue: Engineering Aid Drop Packages."
Economic need: More than three-quarters of students from low‑income households
Location: Woodview Elementary School, Houston, Texas
Total: $477.84 (3x matching funds from Overdeck Family Foundation)
Still Needed: $477.84 $146.54 ($49 from us)
Teacher’s Comments from Mrs. Caesar:
My Students: I am a librarian in a suburban school in Texas. This will be my second year as a librarian and it is the best job ever! There are about six hundred students from Pre-K to fifth grade at this Title I school. 85% of the students are Hispanic and 93% of our students are economically disadvantaged.
We are proud of how hard the children work and want them to be successful!
Our school's mission is to provide the appropriate tools and strategies to ensure the success of every child.
My Project: Our library makerspace needs some "Engineering Drop Package" to add some additional fun and learning for our 4th and 5th grade STEM students. This kit will have kids learn how to drop items from airplanes and buildings and the item not break! What a great kit! I bet many people have done the famous "egg drop" project. It teaches students not only engineering skills, but critical thinking and team work. Our students are economically disadvantaged, so it is important that we provide them with as many different experiences as we can. Our ELL students really benefit from these hands on learning experiences. We appreciate your support and generosity!
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
Both of our projects from last week were completed with a big assist from our readers! The selected projects were in Nebraska and Iowa in recognition of the disastrous flooding in those states (although these projects pre-date the floods and are not flood recovery projects).
Mrs. Mihai’s Omaha middle school class will get the materials they need to investigate the properties of bubbles and create various bubble wands they predict will blow various kinds of bubbles. The project is Bubble Engineering Kit for Science Class (I’m embedding a relevant video between this project and the next to give a better idea of the research opening to this class.)
Mrs. Mihal writes: Thank you for helping me show my students what science is really about - an exploration of the surrounding world that will positive influences in everyone's life. I am very thankful for your investment in the lives of my students and I appreciate your willingness to share your hard-earned resources.
Meanwhile, in Des Moines, Ms. Leonard’s middle school class will be turning a classroom space into a grow station for plants, to learn about “life cycles, agriculture, carbon emissions, and air pollution.” The project is Grow, baby, GROW!
She writes: I am beyond grateful for your donations and kindness! My students will be thrilled to learn about our end of the year project and I can't wait to tell them of your generosity. I am overwhelmed by the extreme goodness that can be found and your support of my students!
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 732! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.org.