Note: The DonorsChoose.org site is down for maintenance, so we cannot fund any projects today. Next Sunday morning’s diary will feature projects as usual.
This is The Inoculation Project’s (TIP’s) new success list diary for tracking science and math projects supported by Daily Kos readers who have shared, cheered, or donated through DonorsChoose.org to our featured projects.
About TIP:
Founded in 2009, The Inoculation Project is an ongoing, volunteer effort to combat the anti-science push in conservative America by crowdfunding science and math projects in red-state classrooms and libraries. Every Sunday, we focus on helping to fund two science and math projects, preferably in neighborhood public schools where the overwhelming majority of students come from low-income households.
Because, as Michelle Chen points out in How Unequal School Funding Punishes Poor Kids (The Nation, May 2018),
Underfunding education doesn’t just leave the most vulnerable children ill-prepared for the world, it makes the world a crueler and more divided place to grow up in.
About DonorsChoose.org:
TIP’s conduit is DonorsChoose.org, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation that facilitates tax-deductible donations to specific, vetted projects in public schools. Founded in 2000 by Charles Best, a public-school history teacher, DonorsChoose.org is a crowdfunding charity, one that is highly rated by Charity Navigator and Charity Watch.
Here’s an introductory video about DonorsChoose.org featuring Michelle Obama and Stephen Colbert:
DonorsChoose.org is also the first charity to be recognized among the top 10 of Fast Company's list of the World's Most Innovative Companies and operates in accordance with a deceptively simple philosophy (my emphasis):
“Teachers know how to improve education,” [Best] says, “but they are a voice that is consistently overlooked or ignored.” [….]
“We’ve heard people say that teachers have no business going rogue and trying to select their own books, technology, and classes–and citizens have no business deciding what is worthy. And yes, we have a position on that, and a response to people who raise that question,” says Best, evenly. “ ’Screw you. We believe in teachers. We believe in the wisdom of the crowd.’ ”
Beyond helping classrooms and libraries on a regular basis, this ”How teachers at Mitchell Elementary are rebuilding after Hurricane Harvey” video illustrates how teachers and librarians also use DonorsChoose.org to crowdfund replacement materials after natural disasters:
Since our inception in 2009, TIP supporters have helped fund over 750 DonorsChoose.org projects! Here are our previous lists of successfully funded science and math projects:
TIP #s 1-200
TIP #s 201-400
TIP #s 401-500
TIP #s 501-600
TIP #s 601-750
Current list:
751. Weather It Up! Season It Up!
752. Space Books for Our Space Unit
753. Engineering With Stomp Rockets
754. Prototypes and Cardboard Creations
755. Morning STEM Bins
756. Tools for Social Good
757. Solar Energy Engineers
758. A Microscopic View of Science
759. Let’s Learn Math With Calendar Math Time!
760. Inspire Students to Change the World Through STEM Engineering Education
761. Ozobots for Coding!
762. STEM To The Rescue!
763. Owl Pellet Dissections
764. Math and Science Essentials
765. Destination Discovery — Earth, Our World
766. Closing the Gap with STEM!
767. Robots, Robots, Everywhere! Let’s Learn to Code.
768. Science Centers
769. S Is for Science in STEAM! Part 1.
770. S Is for STEAM in PreK! Part Two
771. The More You Read, The More You Know!
772. Outbreak! Design an Antiviral Before It’s Too Late
773. Circuit Bugs and Bouquets
774. A Closer Look at Cells
775. Our STEAM Dream!
776. Operation Hands-On Science!
777. Learning Impacts Community
778. Chemistry Class in Arkansas
779. Science Classroom Library!
780. Microbiology and Chemistry of Our Environment
781. Internal Investigation
782. Little STEM-gineers
783. Learning Enhancement with Math Manipulatives!
784. Butterflies Everywhere!
785. Fostering a Love of Mathematics & Reading
786. Stargazing in 4th Grade
787. Finding the True Colors of White Light
788. Re-invent My Learning, Please!
789. Benefits and Consequences of Scientific Discovery
790. Hand2mind Versatiles for Math
791. From Farm to Table: Indoors
792. Learning About Electricity Hands-On
793. Math Centers with Wooden Pattern Blocks!
794. Racing Newton’s Laws: Engineering Balloon Powered Cars
795. Hidden Nature: Exploring Soils on the School Farm
796. Garden Tools to Build Gardens that Will Transform Our School
797. Help Build Mr. Brown's Stem Library!
798. Introduction to STEAM
799. Learning and Creating
800. Help Us Build Our STEM Center
801. Cyber:bot Robotics course will be competition-ready!
802. Computer Science with Ozobots
803. Adventures in Space
804. Would You Look at That!
805. VersaTiles: Making Problem-Solving Hands On
806. What's Eating You? A Lesson on Food Webs
807. Learning From Our Living World!
808. Science Project
809. Science Olympiad
Projects completed during the pandemic:
810. STEM in the Classroom
811. Meeting Struggling Readers!
812. Spring Activities
813. Learn Math Through Literature - What Could Be Better!
814. STEM Indoors
815. Learning From Home COVID-19
816. Equity For All: Learning Science From Home During COVID-19
817. Accessible Distance Learning for All
818. At-Home Learning
819. Covid 19 School Closure
820. A Learning Box for Home
821. Readers are Leaders!
822. Help Us to Become Math Wizards in First Grade!
823. Ultimate Quarantine - Reading The Martian
824. Keep the Learning Going
825. Keep Scientists Investigating!
826. Materials to Make Distance Learning More Engaging!
827. Reading and Math Go Great Together
828. College Starts With a Computer
829. I Want and Need to Do My Work!
830. Nonfiction Readers!
831. Pre-K Plays Matters While Learning Math Concepts!
832. Making the Connecting Flight Between First and Second Grade
833. Smiles While Doing Math
834. It's Grow Time
835. Innovators Like Me!
836. Explore the World Around Me!
837. Generation of Geniuses
838. Heavy Lifting Made Easy
839. Girls Can Do STEM!
840. The Science and Saga of The Wild Robot
841. Math Isn't Just Numbers!
842. Magnificent Manipulatives for Everyone!
843. Distance Learning: Hands-On Edition!
844. Literature in the Science Class
845. iTeach Math!
846. Building Background Knowledge in Kindergarten!
847. Science Opens a World Through Books!
848. Back to the Basics in Geometry
849. Science Magazines
850. Learning After Laura
851. Make Your Own Lava Lamp!
852. Cell-A-Brate Microscopic Knowledge!
853. Goodbye to Quarantine. Hello to Project Learning.
854. A Chance to Grow More!
855. Make No Bones About it, We Need a Skeleton
856. Books + Math = The Best of Both Worlds
857. High Interest Math Topics for My Bobcats
858. Creations without Boundaries
859. S.T.E.M. Plus Reading and Art Equals S.T.R.E.A.M.
860. Mastering Science Through Media
861. Roll and Go!
862. Manipulatives Make Math Magnificent!
863. It's Time to Learn About Time!
864. Now N' Later-Make Learning Sweet at Home and School
865. Hand2Mind Math Fluency Kit Will Help INCREASE Math Skills!
866. Smart Scrubs
867. STEM Ready
868. Colorful Flames
869. Guts and Glory!
870. To Infiniti and Beyond with Reading!
871. STEM with a Splash of Literacy
872. Science: Generation Genius Class Subscription
873. Building Our Library
874. Math and Success Add Up!!
875. Ringing in the New Year With New Read Alouds!
876. Flow with Flocabulary
877. Learning Bingo
878. Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover
879. Robots for Little People
880. Oodles of Doodles and Laughs With Mo Willems
881. Science We Can See!
882. Science with Simple Machines
883. Reading With Pete the Cat
884. Culturally Relevant Science Classroom Library to Develop a Growth Mindset
885. We Will Win With These Books!
886. Help! 1st Grade Needs STEM activity Supplies with Plants
887. Make It Glow With Biotechnology!
888. Full Circle!
889. Indigenous Peoples Lit in the Classroom
890. Resource Books Help Prepare High School Students for College Writing
891. End of the Year STEM Read Alouds
892. Climb, Climb, Reach for the Lights!
893. We Love Reading!
894. Let's get Digital!
895. 21st Century Blended Learning with Nearpod!
896. Growing Roses Brings Smiles
897. Space On The Book Shelf
898. Craving Humor as We Read
899. Tarpon Rockets To The Sky
900. Marvelous Math Learning
MORE INFORMATION ON DONORSCHOOSE.ORG:
When projects are not fully funded by their expiration date, donors are contacted by DonorsChoose.org and asked to redirect their donations to another project. 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.org handles those donations in the same way as for expired projects.
How is a school’s economic need defined at DonorsChoose.org?
Our calculations of low-income households refer to the percentage of students at a given school who qualify for free and reduced fee 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 fee lunch, the family income must be within 185% of the poverty level (a max of $41,348 for a family of four). [….]
Projects on DonorsChoose.org will denote the approximate percentage of students at the school that qualify for free and reduced free lunch . . . :
- More than half of students from low-income households: 51-75%
- More than three-quarters of students from low-income households: 76-89%
- Nearly all students from low-income households: 90%+
More info at DonorsChoose.org blog and About DonorsChoose.org
Disclaimer: The Inoculation Project series is in no way affiliated with DonorsChoose.org or with any of the classroom projects presented for funding, except as specifically indicated (for example, when a Daily Kos community member is the teacher). Daily Kos community members run the TIP group and series; our efforts are neither directed nor endorsed by Daily Kos or Kos Media LLC.
