Past projects 40
Digital Balances for a Digital Classroom!
Funded Dec 28, 2017Thank you for donating funds to supply my classroom with up-to-date electronic digital balances. My lab activities that involve getting the mass of items can now be done much more efficiently by my students and they are getting experience that will easily translate to their college days and beyond if they end up working in a lab environment. The balances are very easy to use and are quite accurate. It is very satisfying to see students who are no longer struggling with the triple beam balances (which are a rarity to find in real labs anymore). The balances have been integrated seamlessly into my lab activities. My students and I greatly appreciate your generosity.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stewart
Charging Stations to Supercharge Learning!
Funded Oct 11, 2017Thank you very much for the supplies you have provided to my classroom. The new pencil sharpener is used everyday. The students are loving the new dry erase markers and blue and gold erasers... they are the right colors for our school! The projector bulbs will keep my projector running for years. The phone chargers are a great incentive for the students to drop off their phones when they arrive to class. I now have enough for every student to charge their phones while class is going on. I have noticed a great uptick in productivity now that their main distraction is gone. Thank you very much!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stewart
Engaging Escape Room Excitement In Physics Class!
Funded Oct 11, 2017Through your generosity my students will be able to work together in "escape room" type activities. The first time we did this, the students enjoyed it immensely and were engaged in trying to find clues to solve the problem facing the groups. It really brought the students in the groups together and as a first week of school activity they got very comfortable with working together. This translated to their lab groups when we moved on to lab activities. I only had enough materials for 4 boxes which meant that I had to have 8 students in a couple groups. This isn't ideal. Now with your donation I have enough for 8 total groups bringing the students in a group down to a much more reasonable four. My students and I thank you very much for your generosity.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stewart
Graph Mats and EXPO Markers for my Physics Students!
Funded Jul 30, 2017This project got funded over the summer and I received the materials sometime around the second week of school. We were going over how to make graphs at the time and these graph mats were a great way for students to practice without worrying about mistakes. They could easily revise what they were working on with the dry erase markers and learn on the fly if something wasn't quite right. Now I have plenty of dry erase markers to get my students through the year (and beyond). I want to thank you for enhancing my classroom with the graph mats and dry erase markers. You have made an immediate difference in my classroom. These materials are easily some of the most powerful tools I now have in my arsenal of methods for students to practice new skills. With one side being a graph page and the other side as a white surface, they can work on plotting and graph skills on one side and practice problems or writing on the other side. The mats are versatile and durable. We appreciate the generosity you have shown to us and we will put the materials to good use.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stewart
Teaching Magnetism Through a Floating Earth and Levitating Platform
Funded Apr 20, 2017Thank you so much for donating to my classroom. I teach a full load of Physics students (~150 total each day). The floating platform really gets a 'rise' out of students, haha! They can see and feel the repelling magnetic effects as the platform floats above the LED lit base. It looks like magic when there is an object spinning above the platform. The Euler's Disc was also a hit with my students. They couldn't believe how long it would continue to spin. They all wanted to try it out. The current record for spinning it sits at just over two minutes! It is a way to teach about conservation of angular momentum and precession. My students also enjoyed the floating globe. It delicately sits in the c-shaped base and slowly spins. Finally, my students were amazed by the magic mirage double concave mirror. When you place a small object in the base, it seems to magically appear a few inches above where it actually is. All of the items got my students talking about the science they were witnessing. I thank you for that. I will be able to use all of the items for many years to come. Thank you again for your generosity!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stewart
Charging Stations, Cables, Kleenex and Soap: Help my Students Focus!
Funded Mar 29, 2017Thank you so much for all of the supplies for my classroom! My students are very happy to have a place to charge their cellphones while we are in class. They willingly put their cellphones in the "cell block" and then attach a charging cable. I also have cleaning supplies and some much needed soft disks I can attach to the bottom of my lab stools. I will be starting off the year in August with plenty of colorful expo markers for my students. They each have their own whiteboard to do practice on during class. The kleenex and magic erasers will come in very handy. I appreciate not needing to worry about these things once the bustle of school starts. Many thanks to you for your generosity!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stewart
This classroom project was brought to life by Aspect Ventures and one other donor.Escape Room Excitement in a Classroom Science Environment!
Funded Mar 30, 2017Wow! I haven't had as much excitement in my classroom in a long time as I did when I broke out the escape room lock boxes. I told my students a story about a deadly virus that was going to overtake the world unless they worked together to solve clues to open locks to get at the antidote within 45 minutes! The students attacked the problem immediately and were able to navigate the clues and solve the problems to find the antidote in time. It was very much an activity where I could see the wheels turning as they worked together to solve a common problem. Most of them came up to me after class and commented on how cool it was and that they hadn't done anything like that before. I thank you again for your generosity you showed to my students. It was something they will remember for a long time!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stewart
Electronic Balances for an Electronic World!
Funded Jan 13, 2017Thank you very much for giving to our project "Electronic Balances for an Electronic World". With your generosity we were able to purchase a number of high precision electronic balances for our Physics lab. This has reduced the time factor in our lab activities where we have to get the mass of an object. Instead of using the triple beam balances throughout the entire school year, I can use those at the beginning of the year until the students are adept at using them (maybe for the first three activities). Then, after they have mastered that skill, I can move on to using the much faster electronic balances. It's as easy as turning on the balance, waiting for it to zero the mass, placing the object on it and writing down the resulting mass in grams. All of this can be achieved in about 5 seconds. This allows us to focus more time on the Physics of what's going on and less time with the data collection. The focus will return to the science of the activity and not in the time consuming "massing" of objects. My classes very much appreciate your generosity and we will be using the balances for the rest of the school year and in many years to come.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stewart
We Desire (Need) A Review Book for the AP Physics 2 Exam!
Funded May 28, 2016Dear Donor,
Thank you so much for supplying my new class of AP Physics 2 students with a worthwhile review book. My students were excited when I told them that you gave a class set to them. Before the school year started, there were 22 students signed up for the course. Because it couldn't fit into all of the students' schedules, some students couldn't take it this year. I currently have 15 students who are in the course and taking advantage of the extra resource you provided. Each of them thanks you very much. I had the students put their names in the books and they are to turn them in at the end of the year so future students can use the books as well. The one good thing about having such a small class is that I have extra brand new books available for the coming years as this course hopefully grows so that I can offer it multiple periods throughout the day (thereby allowing more students the flexibility to fit it in their schedule).
Already my students have seen the value of the book. It gave them a way of reviewing for the Optics test we had last month and the Fluids and Thermodynamics test we have coming up. Thank you once again on behalf of myself as well as the 15 students who are in AP Physics 2 this year!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stewart
Optics & Thermodynamics & Electronics, OH MY!
Funded Apr 19, 2016Dear Evan and Tracy Segal Family Foundation,
Thank you very much for the generosity you have shown to our classroom. The materials you funded will bring excitement and learning opportunities to my students for years to come. Last week I used the resistors you purchased to create lab activities that my students utilized to learn about the differences between resistors set in series compared to parallel configurations. In the coming days they will be assessed on their learning of this objective.
The students really took to the gyroscopes. It's a topic we covered earlier in the year (angular momentum and rotation), but they were amazed at the different things they could do with them. The stability of the gyroscopes is something that needs to be experienced and I thank you for allowing them to have that genuine learning moment.
I am set for the next year with the scantrons. Thank you. I make my tests to gauge understanding through written out problems as well as a multiple choice component.
Next year I will be incorporating the materials into more specific lessons dealing with rotation, thermodynamics, optics, and electricity. The AP Physics review books will provide much needed practice for my students as they prepare for their May exam. Some of the books already helped my current students to be more prepared for the worldwide AP Physics 1 exam they took last week (May 3).
It is through the generosity of donors like you that I can enhance my classroom with more authentic, hands-on activities with my students. I thank you so much for that opportunity. If I am able to inspire my students to pursue their dreams, whether those dreams are in science or not, I feel like I will have done my job.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stewart