Help me give my students an aquarium to build, maintain and explore environmental simulations and a model marine (salt-water) habitats in our AP/IB Environmental Science courses and enhance the mood of our classroom/students.
FULLY FUNDED! Mr. Arsenie's classroom raised $987
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
My students are natural-born scientists and explorers. They just don't know it yet! They are inquisitive, they want to learn, they're analytical, they crave new learning experiences, want to search for meaning and truth, share their own stories, and become agents of change to make the world a more verdant place. And it is my job to facilitate and give them access to the knowledge and the skills they need to get the answers and purpose they seek. We, like many public schools, struggle with purchasing new supplies, especially technology, and we must then rely on your generosity to fill in the financial and ultimately learning gaps that allow us to get the technology, experiences, and opportunities our students need to grow into passionate academics and global citizens.
My Project
During my 14+ year career as a science educator, I have always been fascinated by teachers and professors who have maintained aquariums and terrariums in their classrooms. The ability to enhance the classroom space and the mood of the students by having these mini ecosystems with their funky lights and mesmerizing fish, also give students a chance to explore new worlds and habitats right there on the lab bench, anytime, all the time. I am fascinated by the dedication and discipline it takes to maintain aquariums and the potential skills students can develop in starting and testing and adjusting these beauties as we progress through our studies.
I think I am ready to undertake the start of an aquarium and terrarium to give my students a chance to explore concepts in our course, like the nitrogen cycle, competition, biotic and abiotic factors and population dynamics.
For now, I would like to start an aquarium myself and learn how it all works, supplying the kids with a live video feed streamed online to monitor their ocean ecosystem fish, and also follow along with a live data stream from existing probes we have from Vernier. However, as we return to school in September, I hope the addition of this living, dynamic habitat can bring students closer to performing science in a more authentic setting, especially in the cold winters and teach them to develop a sense of responsibility and passion for aquatic habitats. Students will have an opportunity to manipulate variables, make qualitative and quantitate measurements and watch their fish grow and engage with their environment, all while exploring factors such as competition, limiting factors and abiotic-biotic component interactions.
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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. Arsenie and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
{"pmaHash":"","showProjectRecommendations":true,"leadGenEnabled":true,"hideTeacherDetails":false,"schoolState":"IL","teacherPossessivePronoun":"his","PMsManager":null,"schoolGradeType":{"id":4,"name":"High School"},"TeacherPMForms":{},"completingDonationAmount":0,"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"proposalURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/project/an-ocean-in-our-classroom/5077772/","mayHaveReplacements":false,"numStudents":150,"isEquityFocusV1":true,"teacherScreenName":"Mr. Arsenie","isEquityFocus":true,"proposalHash":"-572948173","isApplePayMobileOnly":true,"progressBarPercentage":100.00,"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":false,"photosPublished":true,"queryString":"","DonorPMForm":null,"shouldTrackEquityFocusV2":true,"schoolCity":"Chicago","teachersOnPage":[235758],"isTeacherViewingTheirOwnProject":false,"minimizedLeadGenEnabled":true,"proposalId":5077772,"proposalMessageFormModel":null,"numActiveProjects":2,"verifyShowPhotos":"","eligibleToBeCopied":false,"schoolId":5533,"schoolName":"Schurz High School","authorIds":{"235758":{"owner":"Mr. Arsenie","donationSalutations":{}}},"displayedPercentFunded":1.0,"proposalsOnPage":[5077772],"pmaId":"","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp235758_272x272.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1448579805328","teacherHasProfilePhoto":true,"currentWorkflowStatusCode":21,"teacherChallengeId":47950,"isApplePayEnabled":true,"fundedByTarget":false,"activeProject":{"completingDonationAmount":450,"proposalURL":"project/science-movies-in-4k/9929270/","proposalTitle":"Science Movies In 4K","proposalId":9929270},"donorIdsForImpactPhotoCheck":["NzMzODc2OA==","MjM1NzU4"],"teacherId":235758,"schoolCounty":"Cook","fullyFunded":true,"isStudentLed":false,"isExpired":true,"schoolStateObj":{"code":"IL","name":"Illinois"}}
