Future Scientists Are Working to Fight Water Crisis
We need the opportunity to learn about water conservation first hand, and then bring back the knowledge to host a Social Change Day for our entire school.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Reid's classroom raised $8,275
This project is fully funded
About My Students
As a former scientist who teaches predominantly African-American and Latino students, I am committed to making science come alive for my students and helping them realize that science offers an exciting alternative career path. Our class leaders, Imani and Brianna, are also committed to this cause.
I have created a unit that focuses on the water crisis in Tanzania, and I would like to see a group of students make a difference in that country after learning all about it. Since only a small group of students from our middle school will be traveling to Tanzania, those students wanted to find a way to bring their trip back to the entire school population. Engaging students in co-inquiry and experiential learning deepens their understanding of the sciences and fosters a love of science that will hopefully follow them throughout their lives. My students have designed a "social change" day that will allow students who traveled abroad to lead their peers through a series of short films, hands-on activities, and volunteer guest speakers here in New York.
Giving these students the opportunity to travel abroad will allow them to test their scientific chops alongside specialists working in the field. Their time abroad will be spent working on water conservation in rural areas of Tanzania where they will have to test salinity and health of drinking water, track depths with local wells, and interview members of the village to better understand the importance of working filtration and conservation. They will take this knowledge back to New York where they will design hands on activities on a smaller scale for their peers. Once such activity will be five seemingly same glasses of water that students will have to test before determining which is the only one safe to drink.
In Their Own Words
My name is Imani and I am a student panther at our school. We read A Long Walk to Water with our teacher and working with our class to better understand the problems in Africa especially the environmental ones. Getting the chance to travel to Africa will give us the chance to talk to people and learn directly from them. I want to have the information so we can share with our class and they will believe that there really is a problem and that we can help.
I am working with all the students who will be traveling next year and we are creating a list of activities we want to finish when we are in Africa. These activities include interviews and taking movies of people living there as well as working with the scientists who are trying to solve the water problem. Our teachers are also coming to Africa and we will all bring back our stories to share with the school. We want to excite people and that should get them involved.
Lots of my friends did not want to travel and do the work over vacation time. I think when they see how important this work is and they see in person how easy it could be to help they will want to travel on future trips and they will think twice about wasting water. My teacher says experiences make people who they are and our school community should see that even though we are young we can do something on the other side of the world that is more than just about us.
Nearly all 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
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