Last week’s long-term project is close enough to completion now that I’m promoting it to our main project today. Here’s what belinda ridgewood said about this project: “I like to do an owl-pellet project when I see a good one — there aren’t many better examples of a hands-on biology study of real-world materials, that can be done in the classroom for a reasonable price, and that does not involve discommoding any living or formerly-living being.”
MAIN PROJECT
Resources: Help me give my students the chance to see the food web in a new and interesting way by dissecting owl pellets and learning about the owl's varied diet.
Economic need: More than three-quarters of students from low‑income households
Location: Hennessey High School, Hennessey, Oklahoma
Total: $313.67
Still Needed: $131.02 Completed, thank you! Please consider 3rd project below.
Teacher’s Comments from Ms. Fehring:
My Students: I have three Biology, two Anatomy and Physiology, and an AP Biology class every day. They are full of ninth through twelfth-grade students that are VERY excited about hands-on learning! We are learning, investigating and experimenting every day!
My students are working hard, learning new things, and gaining self-confidence in their abilities every day in my classroom.
My students come from many walks of life, some are from "way out in the country", some live "in town", many come from bilingual families, and most of them are recipients of free or reduced-price meals. But they all have one thing in common, they love hands-on activities in science!
I teach life sciences so my students are learning every day about how everything from the cells in their bodies to the world around them works. One way to make this information stick is to give them as many hands-on experiences as I can that show them how science relates to their lives and the world in which they live.
My Project: Food webs, food chains, and energy pyramids are items on my Biology student's standardized tests, as well as on the ACT. This lab and the lessons that go along with it are ingenious in how they make the written material come to life!
Students will gain hands-on knowledge of how a food web works when dissecting the owl pellets.
This is not some run of the mill worksheet. Students will have different animal bones in the pellets and they will use comparative anatomy to try and figure out what items were on the menu for the owl. Since owls usually have several meals before regurgitating the bone and hair of their meals, there is a good chance that there will be different animal skeletons in a single pellet. At the very least we will have different animals in the different pellets in the class.
While this may sound a little on the gross side, it makes an impact on the student's memory and they are much better at recalling how food webs work.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
Our new long-term project will help students in a never-before-funded classroom at a South Carolina rural school practice their math skills. Plus, North, South Carolina is the hometown of Earth Kitt. Who could resist?
LONG-TERM PROJECT
Resources: Help me give my students more confidence with math by providing them with hands-on skill practice.
Economic need: Nearly all students from low‑income households
Location: North Middle High School, North, South Carolina
Total: $507.68
Still Needed: $312.68 Completed, thank you! Please consider bonus project below.
Teacher’s Comments from Mrs. Carter:
My Students: I teach a diverse group of sixth and seventh grade students in a small rural town in South Carolina. They are an energetic bunch who love to complete hands-on activities and work together. The more opportunities that they have to work together or compete against one another (friendly of course!) the better.
These curious, creative, and energetic mathematicians love activities that require them to think outside of the box.
They truly enjoy activities that inspire them to take risks and chances. I am so inspired by their willingness to try new things with me every day.
My Project: Instead of seeing groups of students using the same worksheets and white board activities, imagine walking into my classroom and seeing my students collaborating to improve their math skills using hands on skills-practice. They'll also be able to know right away if they got the correct answer by simply flipping the answer case over and checking!
In addition to improving their math skills, students will also improve their social-emotional skills.
These soft skills will be honed through the use of small groups in which students will work together building relationships & learning to work together to achieve a common goal.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
Updated to add a bonus project from a never-before-funded teacher at a rural junior high in Alabama. Donations are currently doubled.
BONUS PROJECT
Resources: Help me give my students a robotic arm that will help to expose my students to robot design for competitions.
Economic need: Nearly all students from low‑income households
Location: Livingston Junior High School, Livingston, Alabama
Total: $674.59 (2x match offer)
Still Needed: $574.59 $483.71 ($242 from us!)
Teacher’s Comments from Mrs. LaTresta D. Maxwell:
My Students: My students are special to me because they are dedicated, excited, and eager learners. I would like for my students to have access to more technology in the instructional classroom.
My students are in a rural area school district.
My students receive free and reduced-price school lunches. Technology is limited to most of our students and we are in need of many classroom resources for instructional time. STEM education is very important in my class and I would like to offer this learning to all my students.
My Project: The following items selected would provide my students with the opportunity to engage in more hands-on learning through STEM!
Because we are a rural school and have access to limited resources to expose our students in STEM education, this project would help to expose and engage my students in STEM learning.
We have a robotics team and this will help to motivate more students to have an interest in being part of this awesome team. Students will also benefit from the coding and exposure in robotics design. Because we compete in the local robotics competition, this classroom project will allow students to be familiar with coding and building engineering process.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
Last week’s main project — Would You Look at That! — has already been completed with the assistance of TIP donors! Here’s the teacher’s thank you note:
Thank you for your generous donation to our project. My students will be so excited. This project impacts my entire school as the microscope will be set up on the science table in the library where students may use it everyday to explore the microworld around them. It makes me happy as an educator to know the table will once again be a meeting place of kids, bustling with activity and chatter about what they are discovering.
With gratitude,
Ms. Rogers
Founded in 2009, The Inoculation Project combats the anti-science push in conservative America by funding science and math projects in traditionally 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.