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.
My Students
Winston Churchill said, "I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught." Most adults could agree with this statement because as children, we were receivers of the instruction. The students in my classroom are active participants in their own education.
My 4th grade students love science.
Why? Because it is an opportunity to be honestly inquisitive without already knowing the answer. The more that my students see their learning as real, the more fun they indicate that the lesson is. We are a performing arts school and my students are accustomed to being engaged and responsible for their own learning. As class sizes continue to increase, funding for lab activities in elementary school is decreasing. Teacher-led lectures don't reach every child. The only way for students to really have a meaningful education is for them to get the opportunity to engage in labs that require them to think and analyze.
My Project
Children are typically already interested in nature, the environment and how things work. It is my job, to use these interests as a source for engaging and motivating them to high levels of achievement. When we engage in scientific inquiry we usually think there is a set procedure, a scientific method – hypothesize, design an experiment, get data, analyze it, make conclusions. This process doesn't take into account a lot of the things that scientists do as they tackle a problem – follow hunches, use their imagination, discuss with others.
These owl pellets will be used in labs for all of my science classes as part of our unit on Ecosystems. Students will classify, organize, analyze, synthesize, and discuss with peers. Students are so actively engaged that often, they don't want to leave the lab.
By providing the funding for these owl pellets, students will make connections to how the interactions among organisms within an ecosystem affects the stability of the ecosystem.
Not to mention, how cool is it to reconstruct the skeleton of a mouse?
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. Wynn and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.