My students need microscopes! Our classroom currently does not have any working microscopes and in a science classroom, it is important that they be able to look at specimens on this level to fully examine them.
My students come from various backgrounds and all over the city. They are smart, eager to learn, and so fun to work with and fostering their curiosity will lead them down great roads in their lives.
Each student has their own strengths that we focus on in group activities and allowing them to have all of the tools needed to foster those skills will not only build scientific skills, but also confidence in themselves.
Science has not been emphasized in their previous curriculum before, or it hasn't been made to be "important", however we are working to change that so they can see the world differently!
My Project
Science is all around us...it IS us! This subject area is so important as it also combines history, math, reading, and writing, along with exploring and putting the scientific method to use. We have been limited on our lab experiments this year because we were unable to look at specimens at a microscopic level. These microscopes will allow our classroom to have stations to use each of these during labs and activities.
Allowing students to have the freedom of choice when it comes to what they are exploring is extremely important in my science classroom, however since we are limited on supplies, it can limit the choice that they have.
We have various content areas, depending on what grade I am teaching at the time, however sixth grade can greatly benefit from these microscopes during our anatomy section so we are able to look at skin, hair, and other biological cells. Seventh grade studies a lot on ecosystems, so being able to examine water, plants, and even bugs from various ecosystems would give them insight on how these actually survive given their conditions. Eighth grade focuses a lot on DNA/RNA, cells, and with that, comes fingerprinting. We have done many fingerprinting and DNA labs but were unable to put things on a microscopic level to really examine. I fully believe these microscopes will not only allow them the experience needed handling this type of machine before high school, but give them a different view, literally, of the world around them.
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