In order to capture the hearts of my students for the sake of science, I need to make my classroom close to an actual lab. However, using outdated technology that doesn't always work frustrates that effort to do science. We need to modernize scientific learning if we want students to do real science.
One of the best parts about teaching middle school is that I get to work with a heterogeneous classroom of students with different abilities, race, socioeconomic background, motivation, and interest in science.
At my school, I have plenty of diversity in my classroom! My students typically come to me with with varying interests in science and I hope to capture their attention so that they are inspired to take on the challenges of high school AP science courses.
The school my students attend now has been rapidly changing due to the population shifts within the community. The school also went from a size of six hundred students to now over one thousand, with the hallways and classrooms bursting at the seams. But even with those challenges, we were one of only eleven middle schools to completely meet AYP in Oregon. My school has one with highest Hispanic populations, free and reduced lunch recipients, and special needs students in Oregon. Our success can be attributed to our fabulous teachers who work with all students regardless of their status.
My Project
My students are in need of real scientific equipment. We need two electronic balances to be able to accurately collect data. When our school was built 20 years ago, we received enough science equipment to cover two classes at one time. Now, we have that same science equipment from 20 years and eight science teachers vying for it. This is not a good situation. Not only that, this science equipment has been in the hands of eager middle school students, who do not have light and careful hands. Needless to say, this science equipment is not up to snuff for doing modern science.
What I am asking for is help in making a small step toward modernization by hopefully receiving two electronic balances. Triple beam balances are the bane of my and my students' scientific existence. Being able to find accurate mass is important, but being able to unbend metal, to zero the balance that can be ruined with the slightest of motions, and tap a tiny piece of metal that can go too far easily are not skills that real scientists, and therefore my students, need.
I need to convince students that science is meaningful to their lives, if not to their future career.
To do that, I need to give them modern scientific equipment like these electronic balances that show them that scientific observations can be fun and easy to get, along with accurate! You can't get better than that!
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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. Boettcher and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.