You're on track to get doubled donations (and unlock a reward for the colleague who referred you). Keep up the great work!
Take credit for your charitable giving! Check out your tax receipts
To use your $50 gift card credits, find a project to fund and we'll automatically apply your credits at checkout. Find a classroom project
Skip to main content

Help teachers & students in your hometown this season!
Use code HOME at checkout and your donation will be matched up to $100.

Your school email address was successfully verified.

See this teacher's page

Mrs. Gendrikovs from Grand Rapids MI is requesting lab equipment through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

Exploring Density With Geodes in an Urban Geometry Classroom

My students need geodes, other rocks, and chisels to investigate density.

  • $444 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

Celebrate 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

In my geometry classes, students ask questions and carry out investigations; this is real mathematics. I seek to make connections to the plethora of knowledge my students come to me with while fostering their natural curiosity to understand the world around them.

My students are diverse in many ways.

For starters my students are have a wide range of educational experiences. While some are taking geometry as an advanced placement others only have a few years of formal education due to spending much of their lives in refugee camps. While many of my students grew up in the United States, others are refugees who speak over a dozen different home languages. From black to white, monolingual to multilingual, or ponytail to hijab, my students are eager to engage in genuine learning experiences that will help them understand the world around them.

My Project

Density, the relationship between the mass and volume of an object, is a concept that can be hard to truly understand without meaningful real-life connections. The written materials out there are often dry and do not connect to my students' experiences. Most practice problems relate to the density of different rocks, something most of my students do not have hands-on experience with. I want to make our density unit relevant to my students experiences by providing them with a hands-on opportunity to investigate the density of different rocks including geodes. For this inter-curricular project we will start by finding the density of a pumice stone (low density), gabbro (high density), and several other rocks. This information will be recorded on a graph for each class. Students will then journal about how they found the density of these rocks.

This will help my students better understand the relationship between mass, volume, and density.

Next, pairs of students will receive unopened geodes. Each pair of students will find the density of their geode and add their geode's density to the class graph. Then students will journal about how the density of the geodes compare with the density of the other rocks?

The next day students will get to crack open their geodes and share their observations with their classmates. Students will journal about the relationship between a geode’s density and its crystal formations. This engaging hands-on, inter-curricular project will not only provide my students with the real-life experiences they need to truly understand density, but will give them a learning experience they will have for a lifetime.

Mrs. Gendrikovs
Grades 9-12

Boost your odds

Add a profile photo in addition to your classroom photo. If you add a photo, it'll show up right here on your project page.

You are more likely to receive funding if you put a face to your name.

Upload a photo

Top rated for efficiency and transparency.

You donate directly to the teacher or project you care about and see where every dollar you give goes.

Expand the "Where your donation goes" section below to see exactly what Mrs. Gendrikovs is requesting.

See our finances

TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

You can start a project with the same resources being requested here!

Where Your Donation Goes

Materials Cost Quantity Total
ROCK GEODES SET OF 72 • Frey Scientific $89.99 2 $179.98
Crack Open 15 Geodes and Explore Crystals with NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC • Amazon Business $49.99 1 $49.99
25 Break Your Own Geodes, 90% Hollow-Small ( 1-1.5") Crack Open & Discover Amazing Surprise Crystals Inside! Educational Info and Instructions Included, Fun Party Favors & Prizes, Dancing Bear Brand • Amazon Business $24.95 2 $49.90
Bastex Rock Hammer Pick , 11 Inch, 20 oz. Pointed Tip Geological Hammer • Amazon Business $13.80 1 $13.80
Stanley 16-298 3 Piece Cold Chisel Kit • Amazon Business $11.22 1 $11.22
PUMICE GRAY LS • Frey Scientific $8.09 1 $8.09
GABBRO BROWN TO BLACK LS • Frey Scientific $6.29 1 $6.29

Materials cost

$319.27

Vendor shipping charges

$23.32

Sales tax

$0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$4.79

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$377.38

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$66.60

Total project goal

$443.98

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

$443.98

5 Donors

-$443.98

Donations toward project cost

-$377.38

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$66.60

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

$0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

View complete list Show less

Support your local school!

Donate directly to any school in the US. Your donation will go towards directly purchasing urgent supplies.

Find a local school

Project Activity

{"pmaHash":"","schoolCity":"Grand Rapids","showProjectRecommendations":true,"teachersOnPage":[1401808],"isTeacherViewingTheirOwnProject":false,"hideTeacherDetails":false,"schoolState":"MI","teacherPossessivePronoun":"her","PMsManager":null,"schoolGradeType":{"id":4,"name":"High School"},"TeacherPMForms":{},"proposalId":3136569,"proposalMessageFormModel":null,"numActiveProjects":0,"completingDonationAmount":0,"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"proposalURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/project/exploring-density-with-geodes-in-an-urba/3136569/","verifyShowPhotos":"","eligibleToBeCopied":false,"mayHaveReplacements":false,"numStudents":250,"teacherScreenName":"Mrs. Gendrikovs","isEquityFocus":true,"authorIds":{"1401808":{"owner":"Mrs. Gendrikovs","donationSalutations":{}}},"displayedPercentFunded":1.0,"proposalsOnPage":[3136569],"proposalHash":"-1681713611","isApplePayMobileOnly":true,"progressBarPercentage":100.00,"pmaId":"","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp1401808_272x272.jpg?width=136&height=136&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1448308053649","teacherHasProfilePhoto":true,"currentWorkflowStatusCode":21,"teacherChallengeId":20469471,"photosPublished":true,"queryString":"","DonorPMForm":null,"isApplePayEnabled":true,"fundedByTarget":false,"activeProject":null,"donorIdsForImpactPhotoCheck":["NTM0OTc1MQ==","MTQwMTgwOA==","NTM1MjU5Nw==","NTM1NDQ2Mg==","NTE3NTM1Nw=="],"teacherId":1401808,"schoolCounty":"Kent","fullyFunded":true,"isStudentLed":false,"isExpired":true,"schoolStateObj":{"code":"MI","name":"Michigan"}}