Learning from Life!: Organisms for a Middle School Science Classroom
Help me give my students the opportunity to learn from live organisms in their own classroom. We are requesting supplies to build and maintain aquatic mini-ecosystems, including live hornwort plants, clean jars, and tap water conditioner.
$1,082 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 school represents the vibrant city of San Francisco. We are a large comprehensive Title I middle school. My students speak Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog, Samoan, Korean, Japanese, Danish, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Urdu and Arabic. 58% of students are socioeconomically disadvantaged and 15% are English learners.
My students have amazing ideas and a remarkable capacity for exploring and explaining their world.
They are eager to learn about the world around them, prompting my growth as an educator as I learn alongside them through their questions and insights.
My Project
Our school is located in the heart of San Francisco. Students have access to a wide array of cultural and educational resources in this world-class city, but relatively few opportunities to closely study and learn from natural ecosystems as they are surrounded by a built environment. I strive to provide students with opportunities to learn from a variety of living organisms in our Science classroom. I have numerous plants in addition to three reptiles (a Russian tortoise, a Bearded dragon, and a Ball python) living in the classroom. Students are able to observe and handle these organisms, which stokes their curiosity about animal behavior, evolution, and diversity within the animal kingdom.
Experts estimate that over 83% of Earth's ice-free land area is directly influenced by human activity: it is imperative that the citizens of our planet become knowledgable about how to manage and sustain these natural systems as soil, water, and biodiversity resources quickly degrade with the pressure of the growing population.
My goal for next year is to obtain materials so that my students can learn through direct observation of micro-ecosystems in addition to learning from the current residential organisms (a.k.a. class pets).
This grant will provide students with the opportunity to build micro-ecosystems in sealed jars using aquatic plants and small crustaceans. We will also have a compostable worm bin as a class that students can observe, and then attempt to replicate the composting system on a smaller scale with worms or other detritivores of their choice. Through experimentation, students will learn about the delicate balance that exists in such a system: to optimize the conditions for their organisms, they must learn about energy transformations and biogeochemical cycling within their living system.
Aquatic Arts Live Hornwort Plant - 2 Extra Large Bunches of Pond Plants Over 10 Stems
• Amazon Business
$18.38
8
$147.04
Ball Regular Mouth Quart 12 Pieces Jars (32oz) Made in USA, Clear
• Amazon Business
$23.95
6
$143.70
Worm Factory 360 Composting Bin + Moisture and pH Testing Meter Worm Farm Kit (Black)
• Amazon Business
$136.95
1
$136.95
CO2Meter AZ-0004 Indoor Air Quality CO2 Meter, Temperature and Relative Humidity, White
• Amazon Business
$109.00
1
$109.00
Aqueon Aquarium Fish Tank
• Amazon Business
$27.99
2
$55.98
Compostizer Introducing Stainless Steel 1.3 Gal Kitchen Compost Bin Kit, Special e-Vent Technology, Double Carbon Filters, Paperback Book, Composting Thermometer,4 Double Filters
• Amazon Business
$44.50
1
$44.50
AsiaPPump Aquarium Air Pump Quietest Energy Saving 1-1.5W 24-40 Gallon Fish Tank Oxygen Aerator Pump (Black Fish)
• Amazon Business
$17.99
2
$35.98
TradeKing Natural Dried Crickets - Food for Bearded Dragons, Wild Birds, Chicken, Fish, and Reptiles - (8 oz Resealable Bag) - Veterinary Certified
• Amazon Business
$16.95
2
$33.90
Zoo Med Reptile Bark Fir Bedding, 24 Quarts
• Amazon Business
$18.99
1
$18.99
Premium Complete Aquarium Water Conditioner for Fish Tanks, Instantly Removes Chlorine, Chloramines, Ammonia and Nitrites from Fish Tanks Without The Awful Smell, Made in The USA (1 Pack)
• Amazon Business
$13.99
1
$13.99
CNZ Aquarium Natural River Gravel 5-Pound
• Amazon Business
$13.58
1
$13.58
Deli Food Storage Containers with Lids, 16 Ounce (50 Count)
• Amazon Business
$12.68
1
$12.68
Exo Terra Sun-Glo Basking Spot Lamp, 100-Watt/120-Volt
• Amazon Business
$5.69
2
$11.38
Aqueon Shrimp Essentials, 4 fl oz
• Amazon Business
$8.95
1
$8.95
Penn Plax Aquarium Fish Net – Aqua Blue Quick Catch Mesh Wire Net Safe for All Fish – 4 Inches
• Amazon Business
$3.18
2
$6.36
TetraFin Goldfish Flakes, Balanced Diet Fish Food
• Amazon Business
$5.59
1
$5.59
Materials cost
$798.57
Vendor shipping charges
$5.99
Sales tax
$73.07
3rd party payment processing fee
$11.98
Fulfillment labor & materials
$30.00
Total project cost
$919.61
Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
$162.28
Total project goal
$1,081.89
How we calculate what's needed
Total project goal
$1,081.89
17 Donors
-$1,016.65
Donations toward project cost
-$891.15
Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
-$125.50
match offer
-$33.49
Match offer toward project cost
-$28.47
Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Frisardi and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
