Help me give my students an inquiry based lab activity on Nuclear Transformations.
FULLY FUNDED! Mrs. Hill's classroom raised $262
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
My goal is to turn my chemistry students into a group of strong, independent learners. I am making them design their own labs and stressing the importance of intrinsic reward over extrinsic. I'm making them apply their learning in hands-on activities instead of multiple choice tests. I have created a classroom where teamwork and collaboration are at the heart of each assignment.
The focus has turned away from feeding them information to memorize and instead to take an inquiry approach where students form their own knowledge through a series of scaffolded, inquiry based lessons based on not only gaining content knowledge, but developing powerful process skills to better prepare them for future endeavors.
Following taking Chemistry this year, my students will not be required to take any additional science classes. Hopefully their experience this year will motivate them to the higher level elective sciences offered to them. Our school is a Title I school with nearly 50% of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch.
We are a high poverty, urban school, yet have a diverse range of socioeconomic backgrounds. We have a strong community presence, with an active Alumni Association composed of significant community members.
My Project
I have requested a Simulating Nuclear Transformations Kit so my students can explore radioactive decay, half-life, archeological dating, radioisotopes, and how and where radiation is found in everyday life. They will model half-life determination methods, observe the vapor trails of radiation passing through a cloud chamber, and estimate their annual radiation exposure. To cap off the learning, students will practice dating an organic artifact by studying the decay of a simulated radioisotope.
Instead of giving the students all the steps and expected results up front, inquiry based labs allow students to design their protocol and explore science, making mistakes and changing their process along the way; a much more realistic and accurate scientific approach.
More than half 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 Mrs. Hill and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
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