My students need grow lamps and supplies to bring the wild world of plants into our sterile, nearly windowless classroom!
$695 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My students are mostly 9th graders attending a public high school. I don't really know them yet because it's my first year at this school, but I know that many of them are dealing with challenging circumstances. These students deserve interesting, relevant, and exciting science classes. My bet is that ALL of them will jump right into hard work if they are hooked by interesting phenomena.
Each and every one of the one hundred fifty students I teach wants to learn and wants to succeed.
My challenge is showing them that science is relevant to their lives. Once they understand the importance of a topic, they take responsibility for the hard work of learning it. Your gift can bring the world of science to them.
I'm asking you for this support after reflecting on my own motivation to become a scientist and finally a science teacher. I am who I am because of E.O. Wilson, entomologist and social researcher supreme. He said:
"Humanity is exalted not because we are so far above other living creatures, but because knowing them well elevates the very concept of life."
My Project
This grant will purchase T5 fluorescent grow lamps, HydroFarm "Hothouse" growing trays, a TM01715D Dual Outlet 7-Day Grounded Digital Programmable Timer, heating mats, and other supplies to bring living plants into our dark, nearly windowless classroom. Students will use these supplies to grow beautiful plants for experiments.
I want my students to be biophiles, utterly in love with the miracle of living things.
Practically speaking, they're going to need to feel this way: my biology course is a hard class that asks a great deal of them, and if they don't feel a love for the tangled bank of living creatures around them, they may wonder why it all matters. Inspiring this wonder shouldn't be hard. All we need to do is get lots of life into the classroom in the form of extraordinary plants.
Unfortunately, the physical space of our room isn't doing us any favors. We're lucky to have the two tiny windows we do, but they won't bring in enough light to grow plants. I want every student, regardless of their background, to start a seedling in the first week of school. I want them to run experiments on these plants as they learn about photosynthesis, respiration, and what it means to be alive. And when they're not growing plants of their own, I want them surrounded by a jungle of fascinating creatures.
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 Mr. Kealey and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
