This proposal has only 15 days left to be funded, and I am hoping that all of you can donate — even one dollar — to fund this project. You are strongly encouraged to set up a matching funds challenge for this or any other DonorsChoose proposal, either through your employer or among your co-workers or friends.
This teacher, Mrs. R., teaches grades 3-5 in a high poverty school in Tennessee. She seeks funds to purchase a microscope and two sets of prepared slides to help “her kids”, especially the girls, to become “WOW”ed by science. Won’t you help? Your donation might inspire one or more of these kids to become a medical doctor, a pharmacist or even a virus hunter!
My students, the girls in particular, need hands-on motivation in science! It’s very difficult to get my students interested in science when our only resource is a boring textbook. I will soon begin my second year of teaching, and I am determined to get my 4th graders excited about science next year. This summer I will attend a 2-week science seminar in which I will get all kinds of instructional information, teaching strategies, and ideas that will get me started in improving my science curriculum. I’m really fortunate to have been chosen to attend this seminar–I’m very excited about it. However, I need some equipment for my classroom, and that’s where I hope you can help. I know this microscope will “WOW” my students into really getting involved in our classes.
My school is a very small K-8 school in a rural community. We don’t have a science lab or any working science equipment. (I did try to use a donated microscope last year, but it didn’t work.) My kids loved our science class when they each brought in pond or creek water and we looked at the various “critters” through a magnifying glass–a real microscope would knock their socks off!!
With your help I’ll provide my students with a classroom microscope, a classroom slide set that features basic plant and animal specimens that are studied in life science. Finally, a human body slide set is included in the proposal which will help me teach how our bodies work.
You’ll make it possible for me to provide my students with memorable hands-on experiences when we study life science. Most (probably all) of my students have never used a real microscope. My goal is to get ALL of my students more actively involved in learning, and this important piece of equipment will make a huge difference in how my students perceive science. I also want to focus on the girls in my class. Too often, the girls consider science a “boy’s” subject. I want to show them how cool science can be! I thought about this a lot when one of my girls brought in frog spawn last year and we watched the eggs transform into frogs. All the girls were interested in the frogs. I really believe that adding some more hands-on aspects to science will make a difference. The science seminar this summer will give me inspiration, but I need your help, too. It will make a difference!
My students need a microscope and 2 sets of slides. The cost of this proposal is $538 [PDF], which includes shipping for any materials requested and fulfillment.