My students need biome comparison kit, a digital balance, and an energy kit to help them understand concepts that are not easy to teach in a non-equipped classroom.
I think teaching might be easier for students if they have basic needs met. My students come in hungry and need nourishment but don't even have a seat to sit in if they come later. The sad part is that they fight over who gets to have a clipboard to write with.
I teach in an inner city school that serves underprivileged students.
Yet they are eager to learn and are concerned with what classes they are not getting due to lack of service or educational needs. It is hard to ignore students who want to learn and who are interested in science! They have the usual issues inner city kids have but they really want to change their lifestyle. I want to help them achieve but need such basic materials in order to do that. Recently, I had a parent come up to me and thank me for doing the things I have for them. Being appreciated makes you want to keep on going the extra mile with these kids. We have four walls and three graduated cylinders to work with. I want to bring things from the rest of the world to expose them to what's out there. Getting things into their hands will help them. I can't get technology so this is the next best thing.
My Project
Sixth grade needs to learn about energy and seventh grade needs to learn about biomes. I think these items will help them to understand the difference in landscape and human impact. Energy can be learned with simple things but I don't even have those items. Yet these children are expected to produce a science fair project worthy of going to the county fair which is one of the largest in the country. The digital scale will help to measure mass for those projects needing measurement and can be stored safely away so I have it for later use. These simple materials have items that can be used for other studies as well and will give me non consumable science materials such as test tubes and lesson ideas/assessments that will help them to understand science and achieve higher test scores in the process. I want to cause these students to love science and learning, and to look for ways that will enable them to seek out careers and a better lifestyle for their families. Here is tomorrow's future.
Having materials to work with will totally change their ideas of school and science.
Science is meant to be experienced not read from a shared, obsolete book. I am trying to gather information from home and print it out to bring to school. I show movies on my cell phone and walk around so they can all see parts of it. Having things they can use for hands-on science will help them learn the concepts so much easier! Students will see how science can change their lives and seek careers here.
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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