Many of our school district's elementary schools have few if any Science labs. My students need hands on experiences with basic equipment, which many of them have never experienced. When we have to share one or two pieces of equipment, labs take too long to be meaningful. Kids get bored waiting.
I teach the best kids in the City.
My students learn fast, retain well, and sometimes stump me with their questions. All they need is a chance to experience real Science, and hands on learning, and they take off with excitement. It is a privilege to teach these students, who are often brilliant, and sometimes humbling because they do have so much natural intelligence. I want them to be able to investigate, solve problems, work through inquiries to develop their own problem-solving skills.
Our school does have some equipment, but almost no classroom sets of anything. We have five thermometers, for example, that are immersion thermometers. I am glad we have five. However, my classes are thirty-two children big. Sharing only five immersion thermometers means the other five groups sit doing nothing until their turn comes to use the thermometer, or balance if we are weighing. Children need to experience these discoveries for themselves, not watch others participate.
My Project
An additional three triple-beam balances, and five immersion thermometers will mean that when we do density labs, each group of four students will have their own scale, and can proceed without waiting in line for measuring. We can do a lab on the colligative properties of water (the collected properties of water) and each group can proceed at their own pace, not worrying that they are missing a measurement while their ice melts, or their water comes to a boil. At this point, we either wait, or we have huge groups of students working together, six per group. That is not a good set-up, as several students in the group, then have nothing to do most of the time. Two or three make the measurements, and the rest of the group of students sit idle. This produces a student who is bored with Science, thinks the subject is uninteresting. If they each could have access to their own triple-beam balance, they would, and do, begin measuring everything in sight! This helps to build knowledge.
The materials requested are not consumable.
They will last a long time. Our current triple-beam balances, (six of them), have seen heavy use for nine years, with good results. The students appreciate the equipment they use and take good care of it. Our school does a good job of providing students with consumable materials (construction paper, color pencils and so on), but the larger investment for building a student "tool-chest" is beyond our budget at this time. Donors-Choose can help!
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. Punch and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.