THIS WEEK’S MAIN PROJECT
Resources: KNEX building sets, STEM creator kits, and building activities.
School Poverty Level: Highest
Location: Delco Primary School, Austin, Texas
Total: $236.66
Still Needed: $236.66 $139.89
Expires: May 5, 2016
Teacher’s Comments from Ms. D.:
My Students: Every morning, we start off the day with a pep talk about how we are the future engineers, doctors, and scientists of America. My students get excited and pumped about being at school as soon as they walk through those doors!
My students are lovely little light bulbs who come from low socioeconomic households.
Most of their parents work multiple jobs just to make ends meet. My lovely little light bulbs need many sparks to help them become well-rounded whole little people whose light bulbs shine bright.
My Project: I am exposing my students to as many STEM and CODE activities as possible. I want them to know how powerful (and fun!) science and computer programming can be! My students need KNEX building sets, STEM creator kits, and building activities. These materials will be used in a STEM center fashion where groups of future little engineers will gather and explore these amazing materials! My students will get into small groups and will work together to build and explore each new STEM center. They may construct bridges and towers while exploring each shape and each mechanical concept. Through using these materials, they will strengthen their math, science, and social skills!
My students do not have access to many educational experiences outside of the classroom.
While they are in my classroom, I want them to be exposed to many different facets of life. Learning how to use science, math, and engineering will help them become well rounded bright little light bulbs. These students are our future, and they deserve to have some exciting STEM activities! I want to inspire and educate to the best of my ability.
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.
LONG TERM PROJECT
Resources: My students need a variety of magnets like the Dowling Classroom Attractions Level 1 Magnet Kit, 2 Neodymium Magnets, and Neodymium Disc Magnets. They also need 5 Aluminum Alloy Tuning Forks, Pulley Set, Unmounted Optical Lenses Double Convex, MACT Ball Transfer Game, Refraction Block, and a variety of other materials to reinforce their understanding in science.
School Poverty Level: Highest
Location: Susan Stripling Elementary School, Norcross, Georgia
Total: $749.32
Still Needed: $136.38 Completed! Thank you.
Expires: Mar 29, 2016
Teacher’s Comments from Mr. Warren:
My Students: A typical day in my classroom consists of students participating in STEM related lab and technology activities. I want all of my students to exceed in the Science and Math subject areas by the end of the year. I tell my students daily that "the only easy day was yesterday."
My school is located in the Atlanta area and has a high population of diverse students from poverty stricken communities.
They are great students that are supported by an awesome teaching staff and administrators that really care. We do receive support from local churches and community supporters, but we can always use more resources. The majority of our students are Latino and they really assist the teachers by educating us about their culture.
My school has a warm climate and welcomes everyone with a smile. The school is environmentally friendly and we even have a garden to teach students how to grow their own healthy foods.
My Project: The students will really take advantage of these resources by assisting each other with indoor and outdoor group activities. They will use these resources to build, measure, and practice their math skills. They will also be able to apply the science concepts that they have previously learned to their activity. My students love working with rock collections, so I know they will benefit from learning about the magnetic lodestone rock. They also love learning about refraction, so the refraction blocks would be a great additional resource for them to solidify their understanding of this concept. Students on every grade level love working with magnets and enjoy doing experiments with attraction and repel. I am hoping that these magnets will ignite my students learning even more with these hands on materials.
Donations will improve my classroom environment...but more importantly change the lives of many of my students.
These resources will be an outlet that many of our students need to remain excited about the learning process, and just may what they need to spark a new interest in the field of science. Many of our students do not have these resources at home, so this is a grand opportunity to show the educators what they can do when provided with various, fun resources.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
HOUSEKEEPING
Last week, our main project — Explore the World VR Style! — was completed. Kentucky elementary school students will receive Virtual Reality Kits.
See our list of successfully funded projects. (Ha! New list coming soon!) We're up to 502!
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". Schools with 40%-64% of students receiving free/reduced lunch are denoted as "high poverty", while schools with 65%+ of students receiving free/reduced lunch are denoted as "highest 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
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We are in no way affiliated with DonorsChoose.org, or any of the classroom projects presented for funding, except as specifically indicated (for example, when a kossack is the teacher).
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