My students need soil testing equipment a soil thermometer and soil testing tubes.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. B.'s classroom raised $386
This project is fully funded
I teach freshman level Biology to students with a wide range of academic abilities. Students often work on inquiry investigations in cooperative groups structured with a heterogeneous mix of ability levels and motivation.
Our freshman biology curriculum covers a wide variety of topics including ecology, classification of living things, biochemistry, and genetics. It has been my experience that any time I can provide hands on, real world experiences to my students they achieve a greater understanding and mastery of biology concepts.
I've recently developed an ecology unit that is centered around local ecosystems like the Illinois prairie and wetlands. One very important aspect that creates an ecosystem type is the parent soil material. Physical properties such as aeration, water infiltration, and heat transfer greatly influence the kinds of vegetation that exist in an area, and the vegetation of an area provides resources for the kinds of animals that exist there. Plant growth is influenced also by the temperature above and below the soil surface during the growing season. Plants require soil nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Furthermore, the pH of the soil influences the rate of nutrient absorption by various plants.
It is a key concept for my students to understand the link between nonliving factors (like soil) and living factors that create ecosystems. My hope is that by allowing my students to analyze soil samples from a variety of local ecosystems and then identify and compare the kinds plants and animals that live in each ecosystem, they will gain a clearer understanding of the interconnectedness of all aspects of the biosphere.
Your support in bringing this soil testing equipment to my students would allow them to "get their hands dirty." My students love going outdoors to study and this equipment would facilitate their acquisition of a key ecological concept. Additionally, this equipment would allow my students to more effectively create and maintain a classroom garden that is used to aid in the study of other topics like genetics, classification, and biochemistry. Finally, this equipment would facilitate the creation of schoolyard ecosystems that would serve future classes at my school for years to come.
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