As a Science teacher, I often find myself trying to make my students advocates for nature. As time progresses, I question...
How can we expect students to protect the environment before they have fallen in love with it?
My students come from a Middle School in Brooklyn, New York where 25% are English language learners and 80% of them receive free lunch. In addition, 25% of my students have disabilities that impact their learning. The majority of our students come to us below grade level in Math and English Language Arts. Throughout my six classes, I teach honors students, language learners, and special educations students in an ICT setting. Regardless of their academic success, students cannot be expected to learn at their full-potential when so many do not have enough food to eat, reliable shelter, and supportive relationships with the adults in their lives.
Despite the diverse backgrounds of my students, they come to school eager to solve real world problems. As they emerge themselves in these problem-solving tasks, they sometimes hit a wall based on available resources.
My Project
A few months ago, our class gained a few new members- African Clawed Frogs. Students come in eager to feed the frogs and talk about them. Often, students beg to be seated at the table near the tank. As the year progresses, my students keep asking what my next classroom pet will be. Just in time for our last unit, Biodiversity, we have walking sticks on their way! Although the sticks will be here soon, we need to basic tank set up supplies such as a tank, screen, plants, soil, and climbing accessories.
Introducing live insects into the classroom will help my students connect to our Biodiversity unit.
These insects will help students understand the similarities and differences between many species. With the help of these supplies, we can have our walking sticks in our room before the unit begins!
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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. Tilts and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
