My students stand out from the rest of the school due to their passion for science; but most of our students do not take any elective science courses after 10th grade. These students would stay in Science if it is meaningful and had some real life application. These students want to solve problems.
These students have a passion for science; are motivated to study and pursue a career in science.
They also want to understand the real life applications of science by problem solving in our society.
Before coming to my class, these students must take all the required courses in Science and Math (Chemistry, Biology, Algebra) and then want to connect these subjects and understand the real life applications of Science. They are a mixed bunch of college prep, honors, and AP students who co-exist and succeed in this unique setting. In the beginning of first semester, they learn all the scientific concepts by designing and conducting simple and short experiments.
These students also are leaders and mentors for our younger students who are not so good in Science and Math. My STEM students are responsible for mentoring younger students and getting them started on their County Science Fair projects on campus and through other outreach events to the local Middle Schools.
My Project
These resources will change my students' lives by giving them an opportunity to complete the experiments that they otherwise cannot.
They will be doing an experiment on the growth kinetics of E. Coli or some other microbe. In order to set up and conduct this experiment, they need a couple of bench top shakers. They will inoculate the Luria Broth with E. Coli in flasks. Then, at different time periods, they will remove culture samples under sterile conditions. They will measure optical density and cell number in these samples, pool the class data, plot and analyze data in MS Excel. They will apply and understand statistics in this section. More experiments will be based on these growth kinetics later on in the semester.
By conducting the growth kinetics experiments, my students will understand and apply Science, Technology, Engineering and Math better. This will prepare my students for the STEM workforce in the country. My students will also motivate younger kids to enter STEM careers.
My students need the bench top shakers to grow the microbial cultures uniformly and faster; the pipette tips will be used to remove 1 mL sample from the culture for measuring optical density; the pipette racks will hold the pipettes during experimentation.
This project is extremely important to keep our students in science and STEM subjects. My students understand STEM subjects by designing and conducting inquiry lab experiments and are more likely to choose a STEM career after high school.
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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 Mrs. Malhotra and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.