Help me give my students a hands on lab experience that extracts seeds from faux paper mache "elephant poop" made from timothy hay and soil.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Clous's classroom raised $179
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 Project
Students will have a hands-on experience by taking on the role of zoo keeper to learn about how herbivores digest seeds though a simulated "elephant poop" dissection. After they collect the seeds, they will grow them as a segue into learning about Photosynthesis.
Once the seeds are extracted, students will have a hands-on understanding to see how these animals disperse seeds and shape the ecosystem.
Students will be calculating metabolic rates so they can design a biologically appropriate diet for animals at the zoo. This unit involves making sense of the natural world through the use of authentic data while integrating different areas of science and using math to solve a problem.
When I last did this activity, prior to COVID, I remember the look and the comments (of disgust - hahahahahaha ) made by the students as they truly believed they were sifting through elephant poop. It was a believable experience for them and those are the core memories they keep (and I get amusement of). I'm at the same school and I am excited for this new group of students and look forward to pushing them beyond their expectations. They are special because they work hard to perform, they learn what it means to have academic grit and endurance. They can do hard things.
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 Ms. Clous and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
