My students are curious, hardworking and excited to learn. Given the chance, many would stay in my science class all day. We live in a rural community that has seen many jobs leave. As a result, important opportunities pass us by. I am fighting to change that.
My school serves approximately 1000 students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades.
47% of our students receive free or reduced-price lunch, 13% are students with disabilities. I am lucky to be teaching them.
My Project
After many years of use by thousands of students, our mineral samples have become worn down. In spite of careful handling, student use has taken its toll on our minerals. As a result, these teaching tools are getting very small. I am frugal by nature and often sort out pea-sized mineral fragments to save for the following year.
I can say with certainty that mineral samples the size of a baseball are much more intriguing to middle school students than that same sample the size of a pencil eraser.
Renewing our mineral collection with larger samples will help to foster enthusiasm that can lead to a lifelong interest in science. We also need tools to explore the properties of minerals, such as UV flashlights.
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