My students need 12 field guides to research specimens they collect from field trips to create a museum of New York State's local ecology.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. McManus's classroom raised $684
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
Growing up in an urban environment, many of my students do not come into contact with the natural world often. The ecosystem they live in is one of concrete, rats, and pigeons, instead of soil, deer, and hawks.
My students are 9th graders entering a high school with a theme of urban sustainability.
We are a small school in urban New York and most of our students are eligible for free/reduced lunch. For many of them, "environmentalism" is a completely new concept, and they may not have chosen to go to our school for its theme. My challenge as an Environmental Science teacher is to get kids excited about the school's theme and help them gain the motivation to change their community as environmental leaders.
My Project
I teach a project-based curriculum. This year, I plan to have students create a museum of local New York ecology using specimens they gather themselves on field trips.
Small groups of students will travel to a natural area of their choice - possibly beach, wetland, forest, or meadow - to observe the ecosystem and take home a specimen of their choice. They will create a museum display around their specimen, working with other students to show how the different parts of the ecosystem interact with each other.
After they bring back their unidentified specimen, they will need to identify and study it. This is why the field guide books in my request are so important. Our school does not have enough computers to conduct this research online, so books are crucial. These guides will open my students' eyes to the amazing biodiversity in their area and connect it to a piece of nature in their hand.
Donations to this project will give my students a way to access wilderness through a book.
I believe that seeing just how many amazing things - living and nonliving - there are, just in our immediate area of New York State, will inspire my kids to make nature a part of their recreational lives as well, and someday, part of their political lives as they become part of the environmental movement.
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
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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 Ms. McManus and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
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