My students need hands on science materials including owl pellets, construction paper, and other experimental items because they are very limited in their reading abilities and have problems following a lecture.
Recently the state of Florida changed the courses allowed for special diploma students. My students were told they need to take classed that will get them to college. The textbook I was given to teach with is probably 7-8 years above their reading level. Hands on is the best way for them to learn.
My students are high school age.
My class has students in grades 9-12. They are all special diploma students who are unable to academically succeed in the general education classrooms. Florida legislators decided that the vocational programing we had for them was too easy and didn't challenge them enough so courses were changed and now they need to take academic classes. This is a public high school and my budget last year was $70.00. I started this school year with an environmental textbook that the school has given me. The reading level is well above that of my students. In order for them to learn the concepts and meet the objectives of this course I feel it is imperative that we do hands on activities. I have already sent out a list of items to their parents that we will be using in the hopes that they will save some of these items and send them in. 2-liter soda bottles and empty film canisters are two of the items that I will be using in the class to build living ecosystems
My Project
My students are a great group of kids. They have struggled throughout their school years because of learning disabilities or developmental delays. I feel that by using hands on activities to teach them environmental concepts I will give them the opportunity to understand their community and how it impacts the ecosystems within it. My students will learn about different biomes, different types of pollution, using alternatives to fossil fuels, how different species rely on each other in a biome and the importance of biodiversity. As they learn these concepts we will apply them to their lives as adults so that when they do graduate they will be more informed consumers. I have requested owl pellets to show the need for predators and prey and explore biodiversity. I also requested beakers, test tubes and test tube racks so that students will be able to set up experiments using measurement and collect data daily.
Donations made to my project will be the difference between an exciting and true learning experience that leads students to making better choices as adults or another class of learning facts but being unable to apply them because they can't visualize or internalize the concepts.
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