Absolutely yucky animals make for positively exciting learning. What an exciting way to explore animals with no back bone than with the real thing. Preserved jelly fish is just such a way to explore these fascinating creatures of the sea.
I teach fourth grade in a school where over 88% of the children are on free or reduced lunch.
Our school is considered disadvantaged, but I want my students to feel advantaged in having these materials to learn with.
I believe one way to increase their enthusiasm and there by increasing their performance, is to enable them to perform as many hands-on minds-on science projects that I am capable of giving them.
My Project
Is it a vertebrate or an invertebrate is a concept that becomes more relevant to a student if they can actually see the animal in order to justify an answer. One such way to observe this phenomena is to witness it first hand by dissecting a creature. I want my students to dissect a jellyfish so that they can SEE and TOUCH this amazing creature that has no backbone and yet is able to live in the ocean.
As part of our fourth grade standards, students are to distinguish between animals with a backbone and those without a backbone. If my students could observe first hand a jellyfish that does not have a backbone, I believe they would not soon forget this concept.
I don't want my children to feel disadvantaged at school.
I want then to have experiences they will carry with them throughout their years of school and will hopefully inspire children to love science and may even inspire a future scientist.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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 Mrs. Weathers and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
{"pmaHash":"","schoolCity":"Spartanburg","showProjectRecommendations":true,"teachersOnPage":[19112],"isTeacherViewingTheirOwnProject":false,"hideTeacherDetails":false,"schoolState":"SC","teacherPossessivePronoun":"her","PMsManager":null,"schoolGradeType":{"id":2,"name":"Elementary School"},"TeacherPMForms":{},"proposalId":477999,"proposalMessageFormModel":null,"numActiveProjects":2,"completingDonationAmount":0,"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"proposalURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/project/jellyfish-are-oohey-gooey/477999/","verifyShowPhotos":"","eligibleToBeCopied":false,"mayHaveReplacements":false,"numStudents":60,"teacherScreenName":"Mrs. Weathers","isEquityFocus":true,"authorIds":{"19112":{"owner":"Mrs. Weathers","donationSalutations":{}}},"displayedPercentFunded":1.0,"proposalsOnPage":[477999],"proposalHash":"-1522342746","isApplePayMobileOnly":true,"progressBarPercentage":100.00,"pmaId":"","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/136/teacher-placeholder-2_136.png","teacherHasProfilePhoto":false,"currentWorkflowStatusCode":21,"teacherChallengeId":44839,"photosPublished":true,"queryString":"","DonorPMForm":null,"isApplePayEnabled":true,"fundedByTarget":false,"activeProject":{"completingDonationAmount":291,"proposalURL":"project/teachers-pay-teachers-can-you-help-me/8211818/","proposalTitle":"Teachers Pay Teachers, Can You Help Me?","proposalId":8211818},"donorIdsForImpactPhotoCheck":["MzU4Mjcz","NTE3MjQz","NTE3MjE3","NTE3MjE4","NTk2MDUy","NTQ5ODcw"],"teacherId":19112,"schoolCounty":"Spartanburg","fullyFunded":true,"isStudentLed":false,"isExpired":true,"schoolStateObj":{"code":"SC","name":"South Carolina"}}