Welcome to The Inoculation Project, an effort to help fund science and math projects in red-state public schools in low-income neighborhoods. This week, we’re continuing to fund a project studying rocket science for high school students in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.
As always, our conduit is DonorsChoose.org, an organization founded in 2000 and highly rated by both Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau. If you’re short on cash, don’t worry — we’re glad to see you anyway! And your comments and shares are a good free way to help.
Today, we’re trying to complete our long-term rocket science project. I’ll add another project later if this one is completed early.
LONG-TERM PROJECT
Resources: My students need model rockets, engines, launch pads, fin guides, and an altimeter. Students will build the rockets as part of a cross-curricular STEM project that will teach how to measure trajectories, altitude, and engineering variables.
School Poverty Level: Nearly all students from low‑income households
Location: Valley View High School, Pharr, Texas
Total: $664.71
Still Needed: $178.53 Completed! Please consider second project below.
Expires: July 30, 2017
Teacher’s Comments from Mr. Ochoa:
My Students: I teach at a T-STEM school within a school in a low-income/high poverty school district. My students are faced with several challenges both in and out of the classroom. Despite the many challenges they face, I am looking to always challenge and provide my students with creative and meaningful learning experiences.
My students are eager for new experiences, excited to learn and always willing to work on projects.
They like to create, they love to read, and they crave challenges. Many of them are being raised in single parent households and receive a free lunch based on their socioeconomic status. These things may prevent them from getting ahead early in life and may not provide them with the life experiences many of us see as "typical". From the minute they walk in the door of my classroom I focus on their potential and growth while they are with me. I may not be able to control their home lives, however, I can certainly control their experience during the school day. By doing this in a creative and positive way, I am hopeful to inspire creative learners to continue on a path of academic excellence.
My Project: Being part of a TSTEM campus, students are expected to learn STEM principles in all disciplines. Every item purchased will aid in the instruction of those principles from teaching Newton's Laws of Physics to writing a letter to the astronauts at the International Space Station. These materials will also be used to introduce students (and especially female students) to the field of model rocketry.
This 'hobby' makes a great platform for teaching students mathematics, science, engineering, and technology.
Using these rocket kits and altimeters we can spark the interest of students in rocketry and then go on to have them work on teams and compete in our school's Rocketry Challenge which will not only task them with STEM skills but also with skills in project management, collaboration, and communication.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
Edited to add this match offer project since our long-term project is almost completed now:
MATCH OFFER PROJECT
Resources: My students need high interest hands-on materials to do science investigations and experiments. We need tornado tubes, snap circuits and more.
School Poverty Level: Nearly all students from low‑income households
Location: Lindbergh Elementary School, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Total: $638.14 ($320 with matching offer!)
Still Needed: $638.14 $432.14 ($217 w/ match offer)
Expires: September 20, 2017
Teacher’s Comments from Mrs. Cagle:
My Students: My students are endlessly curious about the world around them. They are voracious learners who love hands-on activities and exploring their environment. They are a great bunch of kiddos who through no fault of their own find themselves in situations that are less than ideal.
My students live in a high poverty metropolitan area.
Many of my students are bilingual, speaking both English and Spanish, and most of those students are called upon to be interpreters for their non-English speaking parents and relatives. They are also expected to help care for younger siblings when their parents are at work. They have a lot of responsibility at such a young age.
My Project: My students absolutely adore science. They love being able to learn about science topics and create things that they use to conduct hands on experiments. I am requesting a variety of science materials for my students to use in whole group settings, small group settings, and individually during self selected center time.
My students will use these materials to complete activities that reinforce and extend the science concepts that we are learning about in class.
The magnifying cards will be used to create a model of an eye so that students will be able to broaden their knowledge of vision. The owl pellets will provide students with an opportunity to explore the food chain in a fun and interesting way. The marble mazes will help the students understand the concepts of energy and motion and the magnets will allow students to get a greater understanding of invisible forces.
Students will also use the materials to conduct self directed exploration activities in areas that interest them. Students who have an interest in geology will be able to learn about different rocks and minerals with the geology game while students who have an interest in electronics will be able to build circuits using the circuit building kits. Students with an interest in engineering will have the opportunity to construct and test bridges and other structures using legos and other materials while students who want to learn more about plants will have the materials available to create and experiment on their own plants.
Your generous donation will allow my students to participate in high interest activities that will foster a love of science in each and every one of them. Thank you in advance.
Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference!
Last week’s Lab Equipment for New AP Environmental Science Class project for a Wisconsin high school has already been completed, thanks to a matching offer from Herb Kohl Philanthropies and our donors, as well as others from around the country! Here’s the teacher’s thank you note:
Thank you so much for helping to fund this project! Now, more than ever, students need the chance to explore the beauty and issues, our environments are facing. Thank you again for helping to make this exploration possible for some of our most hard working and deserving students! Make sure to be on the look out for pictures of my students exploring these phenomenal new labs!
With gratitude,
Mr. Dallas
Founded in 2009, The Inoculation Project is an effort to combat the anti-science push in conservative America by providing direct funding to science and math projects in traditionally red-state classrooms and libraries. Our conduit is DonorsChoose.org, an organization that allows you to contribute to specific, vetted projects in public schools, resulting in tremendous and immediate impacts from small-dollar donations. Here’s an introductory video about DonorsChoose featuring Michelle Obama and Stephen Colbert.
Each Sunday morning, we focus on helping to fund one or two science and math projects in red states, preferably in neighborhood public schools where half or more of students are from low-income households. We welcome everyone who shares our interest — no money is required! Feel free to post a video, or just tell us how your weather is.
Finally, here’s our list of successfully funded projects — our series total is 570! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose.