My students are an eclectic mix of amazing children. Some excel at everything they do, some can barely read. Some are inspired by the arts, some academics, and some athletics. Some seem to take everything in stride, some are crippled by their intense anxiety. Some grew up right down the road, others just came our country. Some make me laugh, and others make me cry.
My students are the reason I teach.
I have been at my school for about 14 years and in that time, the population of our students has changed from about 1400, generally affluent and college bound students, to about 2000 students from very diverse backgrounds, home situations, and life goals. The class I teach is required for graduation and so the imperative, and challenge, is that every kid is successful.
I am always looking for new and better ways to create opportunity for learning, build relationships with students, and engage them in the content so they experience success in school.
My Project
My students learn about four types of molecules that build all life. Mastery of our standards require students to understand some of the chemistry involved in the formation of the molecules, then apply concepts such as structure and function to some of the metabolic processes that are a part of living organisms.
Many of my students come into biology having very little background in chemistry.
Having model kits help to give kids a hands-on way to learn about simple chemical properties like atoms and chemical bonding, and more complex ideas like shape of molecules.
Student kits will be used by students to build monosaccharides, specifically glucose. Student kits will also be used to model how monomers bond together to build polymers. Protein and lipid kits will be used to model more complex organic molecules for students and help them to connect what molecules look like to how they are represented in 2-dimensional diagrams found in print resources.
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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. Niesl and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.