"Here it is, another school year and our teachers are bringing out the same old tired plastic compasses and metal thermometers to teach us science this year. When will they get in the 21st century?! I always get the compass with the bent needle. Man, there has gotta be a better way! What about those cool GPS machines, can't we learn the same stuff and more with those?”
This fictional passage might very well be the words of one of my seventh or eighth grade students this year when I pull out our compasses and thermometers to teach environmental science. Teaching in an urban middle school with predominantly minority students, I constantly find myself challenged with ways to engage their interests, as well as convince them that a compass is worth their time.
Adding a hand held GPS to our classroom would bring in current technology as well as continue to legitimize our simple tools. The GPS unit would be used by students along with our regular compasses as we learn how to read map coordinates, create data points on a map, and collect scientific data at these points such as temperature, humidity and altitude. I would like to engage students in a game by mapping collections sites at the lake near our school with GPS coordinates and then allow groups to find these coordinates using the GPS and compasses to complete their data collection. This would help teach important scientific skills in an engaging way.
In addition to class use, we would be able to utilize the GPS unit on our yearly school field trips. Our seventh and eighth grade science students take two field trips at each grade level to state and national parks with scientific and historical significance. We would incorporate the GPS unit as a means of logging our trips and collecting additional scientific data.
I am requesting a Magellan handheld GPS and USB cord. Along with its GPS capabilities, it can be linked with a computer so that we might load maps of the areas we visit on trips. In addition, it has a thermometer, altimeter, and barometer for scientific measurement.
My students come from homes with few resources, let alone computers, but they see school as a kind of extended home and take pride in the tools available there. Your donation will enable and empower my students to be successful in today’s technologically immersed world.
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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