This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
I teach Oceanography to students from a high poverty area using as many hands-on activities as I can afford to buy for the students.
My students are from a high crime, low socioeconomic area and many struggle in school. The students have taken an interest in sharks. We are finishing a unit on sharks which includes shark types, shark attacks, and shark anatomy and physiology. I have had more success with sharks in getting my students to write and complete their assignments than the other topics I teach. I would love to be able to dissect sharks in class. The students are looking forward to dissecting sharks, but we do not have the funds to purchase the sharks.
I am requesting 35 sharks so that my students can works in pairs to dissect the shark. We do not currently have the funds to purchase the sharks. I have had great success with increasing attendance during our shark unit. Students that do not normally take an interest in school have be very attentive during this unit on sharks. I would like to keep the momentum going with a lab on shark morphology using a preserved shark. After studying the external features of the shark we will then dissect the shark to study the internal features. Students will be required to write a complete lab report on this lab.
Your help in this endeavor will give my students that "something special" that most of them do not get during their years in high school. The students have really taken an interest in the Shark Unit and are working harder than I could have imagined. Consequently, I have expanded this unit to include objectives from the science curriculum that the students would not normally participate in.
I hope that you see how important this project is to my students. This will give them that feeling of getting "something special" and help some of them gain a little more self esteem-something their family situation does not provide them.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Carr and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.