It has been said by the great Senegalese conservationist, Baba Dioum that, "In the end, we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught."
It is with this intent and expression that we ask ourselves as teachers- how do we provide the environment outside of the classroom that will help our students engage in the world around them.
This will be built through observation, interest, experimentation, justification, and conclusion which will become the nexus to that love for the natural world.
Instruction without the necessary scientific basic tools will be challenging for these eager and budding 5th-grade scientists to perform simple experimentation in and around their homes while distance learning. These fifty 5th graders will learn methods for looking deeper into their natural environment, learning to love all their discoveries. With these home sciencing kits, we will be able to extend learning beyond the 4 walls of the classroom. These scientists come from a small suburban school of roughly 350 students surrounded by natural settings that they will learn to discover and cherish.
My Project
In order for children to perform science experiments, they need basic materials and tools to apply the scientific method using their own investigations based on their own questions. Because we will not be in the classroom until later this year, as teachers we are learning very quickly how to implement high leverage and meaningful science learning. Engagement is even more crucial when teaching online, and allowing students to create their own questions to pursue, is optimum.
These science kits full of basic supplies are broad enough to encourage open-ended curiosity, which is conducive for home learning.
Fifth-grade science standards are varied and dense and providing these materials will support a wide range of those standards. More importantly, building an understanding of the scientific process is crucial to any subsequent science standard taught. The materials included in the kits support the facilitation of this scientific process, alongside good instruction and encouragement for inquiry.
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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. Jones and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.