My students need triple beam balances to collect data, cow eyeballs, gloves, and forceps to engage in a hands-on dissection experience to understand the mammalian eye.
When students leave my classroom, ready to move on to the 8th grade, I want them to be collaborative, creative, and able to apply these skills to the world around them. Having the tools that scientists actually use will allow them to engage in science hands-on.
As I have gotten to know my students this year, I have learned that they are incredibly talented and motivated but most of all, they are genuinely concerned for the environment around them.
Our school strives to instill the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling. Our culinary arts students prepare the school food and we're all working on a rooftop garden to allow us to compost and reduce the impact on the environment.
Our school provides students with a challenging but nurturing environment to prepare them for a career in the arts and in higher education. We have an incredibly diverse environment where students are supported and invested in their school.
My students go above and beyond and want to further their knowledge beyond what is expected of the life science curriculum because that is just the type of students they are. They are incredibly busy and have hectic lifestyles because of their commitment to the arts. However, that does not detract from their desire to learn!
My Project
Our classroom will utilize the triple-beam balances to participate in hands-on inquiry based learning where students can develop their own problems, design an experiment, and solve those problems. This is a valuable learning experience because it will allow them to form conclusions from actual data rather than viewing it from a textbook.
We will also use the cow eyeballs, gloves, and dissection tools to allow students a learning experience they will truly remember. With proper technique, dissections can be a worthwhile tactile experience. This dissection will reinforce many of the concepts we have learned throughout the year including how structure fits function, how muscles work, and simply put, how the mammalian eye works.
Donations to this project will help my students gain a hands-on science experience.
The skills and ways of thinking students will develop from participating in such activities are so important in developing critical thinkers prepared for the world around them. The excitement and engagement in laboratory activities will help students recognize science as a possibility for their future. Help us bring more meaning to our science classroom!
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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 Ms. Beck and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
