I teach Eighth Grade Science in a low SES school in Indiana. I am trying to engage my students with more active learning instead of them just sitting back passively learning. With our school budget being so tight, it is extremely difficult to get the materials to actively engage my students in their own learning.
Many of my students come from homes where education sometimes comes in second to other daily concerns. It is this reason why I like to catch my students interest with hands on experiments. In my class I am trying to spark an interest in Scientific Investigation, not only to better their scores, but maybe also to help guide them in the growing fields of science and technology. This can be hard due to the fact that my room does not allow for gas burners for experimentation. That is why I have developed lessons and activities that use hot plates instead of flame to heat up the experiments.
I have developed many different lessons that allow the students to use scientific methods through different hands on activities to meet the academic standards. My class tries to do two or three activities a week, which helps intertwine the active learning in the information that is given to them. The problem is that when our school was redone, they took the gas out of the rooms. This makes it almost impossible for us to heat things up unless we use candles, which can be a bit of an inconvenience. So I am asking for hotplates, which can be used repeatedly to heat things up. It will help my class meet the Indiana standards, which can be hard to meet sometimes.
With your generous contributions you will make it possible for my students to actively engage in experimentation, collecting data, and analyzing results. You will allow them to do actual experiments instead of just reading lab reports. Your contributions will allow students to open their minds to new information, and open them up to the ability to answer their own questions.
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