My students need samples of algae and water ferns for their photobioreactor project in the regional science fair.
$513 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.
Our students are excited about learning and come to class and club each day with determination and ambition. Each one of our students are special and come from diverse backgrounds. In our science classrooms, we teach critical thinking skills and language skills together, through the construction of interactive lab reports that utilize graphics, online simulations, and hands-on experiences. Additionally, we are unique in that we provide a high number of AP and dual credit programs. Thank you for your support.
My Project
Students are interested in constructing a photobioreactor on campus to test the feasibility of algae oil. Algae undergo photosynthesis and take in greenhouse gasses to produce sugar which can be later chemically turned into motor fuel. Several of my students wish to investigate the amount of oil that different strains of algae can produce as a replacement for conventional gasoline. The overall chemical process is similar to soap making and involves converting glycerol molecules using sodium hydroxide (lye) therefore this process may also produce algae soap as a byproduct.
We are seeking the listed algae strains so that we may individually test them as potential carbon neutral fuel sources.
Data will be presented at the Crockett high school science fair and at the Austin regional science fair in February.
Throughout this process, students will learn about photosynthesis, biochemistry, geoscience, and environmental systems.
Finally, we are seeking a set of samples of the water fern Azolla. Azolla is not a typical fern as it lives it's entire life floating on the surface of a body of water. Botanists have predicted that in the past Azolla cooled the Earth by trapping carbon in a massive global event, known as the "Azolla Event", thus cooling the planet into an ice age. We have a group of students that wish to study this fern in order to simulate and study the carbon/greenhouse gas capturing ability of modern living Azolla plants as a possible solution for global climate change.
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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. Kietlinski and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
