PO BOX 92564
08 February 2008
Special filter for telescope eyepieces to block light pollution. The astronomy class is having trouble observing faint objects, such as star clusters, nebulas and galaxies, due to increasing light pollution. This filter will block out many common sources of light pollution, improving the visibility of faint astronomical objects.
Materials to build twelve bluebird nesting boxes. The class is constructing a bluebird trail as a long-term investigation in their Regents Biology laboratory program. The addition of these nesting boxes will make part of the school property an ideal habitat for Eastern Bluebirds. The class will collect information on the use of these nesting boxes by bluebirds and share their data with the Upstate New York Bluebird Society. The class will build both traditional and experimental design nesting boxes.
Aquarium set-up with six lizards and a mealworm culture kit. The class will study habitats and environments. They will create the habitat for the lizards in the aquarium and raise the mealworms to provide a steady diet for the lizards. The class will improve math skills by tracking the growth of the mealworm population through reproduction and decrease through consumption.
Optical Society of America Optics Discovery Kits with lenses, filters, diffraction gratings, and activity booklets. Barbara and Robert will use these kits to enhance the teaching of the Optics and Optical Technology unit.
Kodak single use cameras for use in teaching Regents level Earth Science to academically challenged students. The students will use the cameras over the summer break in a lab/journal writing activity. Carol hopes that this summer activity will keep the students thinking about the science they learned in the fall and spring.
Donna Proietti Grade Kindergarten World of Inquiry (#58 School)
Levers, Pulleys, Gears, and a Water Mill for a science unit on energy and motion. Donna will use these items to give her class hands on activities with simple machines. She will encourage students to look for things at home and in the classroom that use levers, pulleys and gears.
Veronica Scully Grades 1 & 2 Victor Primary School
Twelve duck eggs, incubator and other supplies to hatch and feed ducklings. A class of about 12 special education students will observe hatching process and keep journals on it. The project includes related reading and speaking skill activities.
Materials to build a brooding barn to house young chickens, ducks and pheasants. This barn will extend the life cycle studies of these birds by providing proper conditions for their care beyond hatching.
Live sea urchin kit from Bio-Pacific Supply. This kit will allow students to directly observe fertilization and early development of sea urchin eggs. The AP Biology class and at least six Regents Biology classes will participate in this activity. Study of sexual reproduction in sea urchins will also open lines of discussion in other areas.
Electronics parts to build an electronic timing device with 10 millisecond resolution. Students will build the timer and use it to study the physics of moving bodies. They will attempt to relate their experimental data to an interpretation of Einsteins theory on the curvature of space near masses. The class can use the timer for other physics experiments and demonstrations.
Two pH meters and one pH testing kit. The 120 sixth grade students will use the meters to monitor pH and salinity in fresh and salt-water aquariums. They will also study conditions in Lake Ontario. An after-school science club of 6-8 grade students will also use the meters for more elaborate investigations.
Bird feeders, birdseed and other bird food, binoculars and other observing tools. The students are working with Cornell university in a pilot program Classroom Feeder Watch. Students will set up feeders and record observations related to the birds visiting the feeders. They will record data on time of day, temperature, the numbers and species of birds. They will regularly report their observations to Cornell through the Internet.
Amy Savoie/Donna J. Sereno Grades 6-8 Nathaniel Rochester Community
Purchase a kit from the Wonderwise Women in Science Learning Series. The kit includes a videotape and hands on study materials showing women scientists solving problems or doing studies and allowing the classes to participate in the action. The kit will also support activities in Womens History Month.
Lynn Gatto Grade 4/5 Rochester City #39 School
Buy materials to design and build model covered wagons. Lynn plans to teach an integrated unit on the theme of Westward Ho! Twenty-five students will engage in activities covering all subjects. Groups of students will design and build their model covered wagons from scratch using problem solving concepts learned in class. They will use ideas from the 4th grade curriculum in math, science, technology and social studies.
Buy two aquarium set-ups, gold fish and fishing equipment. Robin will build on the students' high level of interest in fishing. The class will study the resources that support fishing, including aquatic ecology. The class will gain a greater appreciation and sense of responsibility for New York's diverse aquatic resources. Students will study the fish in the classroom. They will also collect and study pond water specimens to learn about the many macro-invertebrates found in fresh water. The project finishes with a student/parent fishing trip. This project will continue in future years.
Marjorie E. Lewis Grade 1 Greece Central Paddy Hill School
Buy a giant prism, solar print kit, Jumbo Bean and Plant Puzzle, spring scales and platform scale. All 175 first grade students will celebrate math and science days using these materials for hands-on, integrated lessons developed by the eight grade one teachers, including a co-teaching special education team.
Buy a 33.6 kbaud fax/modem for the classroom computer to access the Internet. Students will visit the NASA web sites and other space related pages to gather data on the final frontier. They could also correspond via e-mail with former Pittsford, NY resident Major Pamela Melroy. MAJ Melroy is an astronaut who visited Alex's class last year.
Buy materials for long term observations of organisms. Students will be able to observe, handle, and care for plants and animals for longer than the current two-month period. Students will compare needs, behavior and changes in the plants and animals. The materials would offer small group observation and responsibility throughout the school year.
Edit about two hours of video coverage of the 1998 regional Science Olympiad events to about 25 minutes, make copies of the edited tape, and mail copies to prospective schools. The Regional Science Olympiad Committee wants to expand the Regional Competition to 20 or more schools. The proposed videotape will help promote regional Science Olympiad competition.
Buy materials to create various plant habitats, including desert, rain forest/exotic plant and terrarium. All 150 grade one students would work with these habitats in a subject integrated plant exploration. The teachers will maintain these habitats for use by future classes.
Patricia Massa Grade 5 Rochester #54 School
Buy owl pellets and bone sorting charts for a joint science unit between regular and special education classes. Each student will dissect their own owl pellet, using the bone chart to identify rodents the owl ate. Students will classify bones and create skeletons on paper. Students will also write short reports of their experiences and display their skeleton diagrams and reports for other students to see.
Amy McCabe Grade 10-11 Greece Athena Sr. High
Buy an Analysis of Drugs and Poisons kit for use in two General Chemistry classes. Amy and another teacher will use this kit and other materials to add a forensics unit to the General Chemistry curriculum. This new unit will show students some of the many uses for chemistry in forensics and police work.
Gregory Sahm Grade 8 & 12 Bolivar, Bolivar-Richburg SD
Buy a Planetview Camera and CU-SeeMe software for use by 8th grade and Physics students to digitally document their work. This purchase will help students to provide the required documentation of their lab work. In addition, students will be able to share their work with students from other schools. This equipment will benefit students for years to come.
Barbara Barker Grades 9, 10 Nazareth Academy
Buy ten ground water model kits from the Denver Earth Science Project. Students will use these kits to simulate groundwater contamination. They will apply their findings to their studies of non-point source pollution of the Lower Genesee River Gorge. Students will analyze and present their findings in both written and group presentations.
Pearl Wostl/Cher Marrett Grade 1 & 2 Penfield Harris Hill School
Buy two Fisher Scientific Academic ESM microscopes to study plant materials and soil samples. The students in two 1st and 2nd grade classes are learning about life cycles by creating and maintaining flower gardens, vegetable gardens and a compost heap.
Theresa Gerchman Grade K-11 Spencerport High School
Buy materials and chemicals for AP Chemistry students to teach science concepts to elementary school students. The AP class will visit 52 elementary classrooms to show students the "magic of chemistry." The goal is to motivate as many elementary science students as possible.
Joyce Donsky Grade 6 Durand Eastman School
Buy materials for hydroponics, soilless gardening. This will allow students to experiment with hydroponics technology. The planned unit links with concepts from the Jason XI project and a 6th Grade BOSAT plant unit the school uses.
Buy four kits for hydroponic gardening experiments. Students will compare the effectiveness of hydroponic methods vs. growth in soil. Students will apply scientific methods to develop this experiment. Students can use these kits again in future years.
Jessica Kimmel Grade 10 East Rochester High School
Buy three compact flash cards for digital cameras. These cards will expand the usefulness of the schools digital cameras to take digital images during laboratory activities. One specific project requires students to develop a digital portfolio of genetic traits.
Pay for a Create-A-Bird program by a naturalist-storyteller. This presentation will enhance the life science curriculum for the advanced students in the class.
Buy sets of gears and building wheels to supplement a unit on wheels, gears and axles. Students will discover how wheels and gears work by building their own structures.
Purchase materials to introduce students to the science and technology of radio astronomy. The class will use prisms to explore the optical spectrum. They will then examine the effects of electrical discharges and light energy on radio reception. This will lead to discussion of how radio astronomers can hear solar flares, sunspots and pulsars. Finally, students will use a simple AM transmitter kit to send and receive signals. They will also learn about the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) through the Planetary Societys SETI @ Home project on the Internet.
Roben Findlay/Carolyn Weishaar Grade 3-6 Francis Parker School, #23
Buy additional compasses for an Orienteering program. This program reaches 350 students from four city schools. The program teaches map reading and compass reading skills through the competitive sport of Orienteering. In addition to the valuable map and compass skills, students benefit from physical activity while practicing problem solving and decision making.
Melissa Frost Grade K-6 Andrew J. Townson School, #39
Buy new science materials and a measurement activity kit for the school Media Center. These purchases will provide a current slide set and manual on the universe, a Natures Fury video from the National Geographic Society and an Inch by Inch activity kit with additional Inchworms.
Edith Marion Grade 4-5 Mary McLeod Bethune, #45
Buy STAR MATH software to accurately assess students math achievement levels. This software uses adaptive branching technology to adjust the difficulty of the questions to each students ability. It also tracks each students progress throughout the year. It also helps the teacher guide the student to material that challenges them without frustrating them.
Purchase a Vernier Turbidity Sensor for use in Regents (Living Environment) Biology, AP Biology, Environmental Science and Envirothon Club. Turbidity sensors are extremely useful in water quality studies and other applications where the observer needs to measure the clarity of a solution quickly and accurately. The Biology classes are focusing on the Allens Creek Irondequoit Creek watershed. They are regularly monitoring Buckland Creek, which flows across the school grounds, in a long-term project with benefits to the 400+ students involved and to the surrounding community.
Purchase immunological reagents for an Immunology unit. This purchase will supplement $7,000.00 of donated equipment from laboratory suppliers. The class will use the reagents to learn how the ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) technique detects prostate cancer. Course material on human immunology and ethics of costs and benefits in prostate cancer treatment will accompany this simulation of the PSA test for prostate cancer. This Immunology lab will enrich the minimum program and support educational creativity since it has never been taught anywhere before. This lab will also benefit another district school through a guest teaching program.
Buy a Pangaea Continental Drift Globe to help demonstrate the concept of lithospheric plate movements. This steel globe has 15 plastic continent pieces and accessories to attach them to the globe while allowing students to move them around on the globe. The movement of lithospheric plates is a core concept in Earth Science and Biology and Environmental Science also cover the concept. This will benefit about 120 students in the Young Mothers program, giving them a better understanding of the abstract concept of plate tectonics.
Buy materials for the students to construct a Land of the Dinosaurs Museum designed by them. They will create a large papier-mache T-Rex model, fossil replicas, time lines, mobiles of flying dinosaurs, rock collections and other informative displays related to dinosaurs. They also will turn a hallway type coat closet into a walk through volcano. The students will develop process skills in developing and carrying out their plans. They will practice communications skills by creating museum like display signs for everything they exhibit. These second grade experts will then guide over 500 children and teachers through their museum.
Lynn Gatto Grade 3 Rochester City School #28
Purchase brine shrimp eggs, flakes, hatching jars, aquarium salt and marine Hygrometer to help students develop an understanding of how growth and survival of organisms depend on the physical conditions of the environment. Using brine shrimp as the focus of inquiry, my third grade will not only begin to understand the major concept of interdependance, but to also design experiments with manipulative variables.
Karen Soanes Grade 3 Rochester City - School #50
Purchase 15 six-liter terrarium containers with lids. This will enable the students to set up differing plant habitats, readily observe crickets and ladybugs, tadpoles growing into frogs and to do sink and float experiments. These demonstrations are currently being done in cardboard boxes with nylon nets stretched over the tops, in glass mixing bowls and toy plastic buckets. The terrarium containers provide better observations as well as a more professional setting.
Donna Proietti Grade K World of Inquiry - School #58
Purchase materials so the students can explore the concepts of color and light. These non-consumable materials will supplement consumable materials, such as paint and food coloring to enhance the color unit. Students will be able to manipulate them, make hypotheses, observe and form conclusions. The items will benefit 20 students in this years kindergarten class and many other students in the years to come.
Amy Peterson Grade 9 Gananda High School
Purchase three power supplies for running gel electrophoresis experiments and a poster detailing the process. This equipment will give about 110 students in AP Biology and Living Environment courses hands-on experience with current genetic techniques. This will better prepare them to understand the genetic science concepts now receiving greater emphasis in Regents Living Environment. In addition, this equipment can provide demonstrations for the rest of the school science teachers at monthly K-12 Science Department meetings.
Purchase two Franklin Speaking Homework Wiz and headphones to provide additional assistance to a number of students in my inclusive classroom who need adaptive or assistive technology in math, science and language arts and help motivate them to become independent learners. This will directly benefit my five inclusive students in addition to other needy general education students in my classroom.
George Smith Grades 9-12 Brighton High School
Purchase plankton net, plankton counting slides and cover slips for the Ecology Unit in Regents \-level Biology courses and as part of our weekly program of stream sampling in Environmental Science. Plankton counts will provide another method of assessing short-term changes in biological parameters of water quality. We already sample bottom-dwelling organisms, but plankton algae are a more sensitive indicator of environmental change as well as responding more rapidly. This material will serve 9-10th grade students in Regents Biology and 11-12th grade students in Environmental Science for our weekly assessment of water quality in Buckland Creek.
Purchase three student microscope kits with slides and two study books. These items will help equip a Science Station in the Library Media center. This media center serves over 650 students in grades 2 and 3. Students will be able to use the Science Station equipment and materials independently or in group instruction.
Purchase eleven books in the Insects Series from Pebble Books. These books will supplement the FOSS Scientific Kits the school will use. These books will also support the Interactive Environmental Habitat Exhibit in the front foyer of the school. Individual classrooms will research, tend and become experts on one habitat in the overall exhibit.
Purchase electrophoresis gel boxes. The additional boxes would maximize our power supplies, allowing multiple classes of 25 students to experience the technology and process of molecular genetics. Additional gel boxes would reduce the student/gel ratio from twelve to four students per gel plate. On any given year about 175 students would benefit by the smaller group experience provided by the additional gel boxes.
Purchase Kool Aid colors electrophoresis kit and teachers kit. We are currently using paper and pens to introduce this concept and a demonstration of how the process works is done using the AP Biology equipment. The NY State Living Environment curriculum places a much stronger emphasis on genetic engineering. than the traditional Regents curriculum has in the past. We do not have sufficient numbers of the plates to allow our Living Environment lab group (170 students) to actually perform the process. Our students need to, at the least, be introduced to the topic of gel electrophoresis.
Purchase six computer programs to reinforce student mathematics skills. These programs support and extend the mathematics text series the school is using. Students will use these programs in the classroom and in after-school programs. Several teachers will be able to use these programs to help their classes.
Purchase a Texas Instrument overhead graphing calculator. Students will use this calculator as a tool to aid the investigation, organization and comparison of mathematical situations. This calculator will support the work of at least 250 students, giving them and their teacher a tool for presentation of their work.
Karen Soanes Grade 4 Rochester City #50
Purchase collections of fossils, rocks, minerals and gems. Also purchase supplies to provide mini-geological dig sites for 42 students. Students will dig for fossils, rocks, minerals and gems. They will then sort their finds and perform different tests to identify the rocks and minerals. This project enhances out fourth grade science program by providing students a hands on project that stresses scientific process and reasoning skills. These materials are reusable for future classes.
Lynn Schramel Grades K-6 Rochester City #1
Purchase display poster boards for use by sixth-graders to display their required science projects. Also purchase award ribbons for the students. Students must use the Inquiry Method with a specific question, a control, a variable, data and a conclusion. These projects will enhance student learning by reinforcing the scientific method within the state and district curricula. These supplies will benefit about 36 students. The school will reuse the boards where possible for future Science Fairs.
Roben Findlay Grades 3-6 Rochester City #23
Purchase additional controls designating trail markers to expand the number of map courses available. Orienteering is a lifetime activity that uses compasses and maps to help participants to navigate around a marked course. The Orienteering program in the Rochester School District has grown from 200 students in 1966 to over 700 students today. An RCSS Minigrant of $125.00 in 2000 allowed the program to expand from two to four city elementary schools. Today, the program serves seven schools, with students participating at beginning, intermediate and advanced levels.
Donna LaMura Grade 11-12 Waterloo High School
Purchase ray boxes and small lenses for the Physics class. This will allow hands-on exploration of optics. The school does not have any satisfactory materials for hands-on study of optics.
Joan Matzner Grade K-5 Rochester City #50
Purchase four classroom sets of geoblocks. These sets, each with 330 pieces, will allow a hands-on study of 3-D geometry. Students will sort these blocks and construct models of buildings from pictures. Students will learn geometrical terms, such as symmetry, reflection, faces, vertex, prism and pyramid. Upper grade students will use the blocks to study area and volume. There are now nine classes, from kindergarten to fifth grade, wanting to use these blocks.
Brittany Morgenegg Grade 1-12 W. Irond. Helmer Nature Ctr.
Purchase Finder Series pocket field guides: ten each of the Tree Finder, Winter Tree Finder, Track Finder, Flower Finder and Bird Finder. The Helmer Nature Center teaches students outside the classroom in the four different habitats at the center. Many of the Centers programs require identifying plants and animals in their habitats. These guides use a dichotomous key component which will allow students to use the same identification process as working scientists.
Thomas W. Yehl Grade 9 Brighton High School
Purchase an earth/moon/planet activity model, a plant/animal cell model, a CD-ROM showing the balanced forces applied to an object and a periodic table wall poster. These items will improve the tutoring program for 40-50 students, several with special educational needs.
Barbara S. Corman Grade 2 Rochester City #50
Purchase Fossil Excavation and Strata Deposition Lab Activity kits. These kits will help students discover how scientists discover the age of fossils and how fossils are formed over long periods. They allow the students to recreate the processes of fossil formation and excavation. Teachers can share these kits between classes and reuse them from year to year.
Patricia A. Godleski Grade 6:1:1 Special Ed. Rochester City #2
Purchase books, materials and insect specimens for study in the classroom. This project will bring Ladybug Beetles and Praying Mantises into the classroom. The class will be able to follow their development through their many life stages. Once the insects reach the adult stage, the class will hold a Mini Bug Fair to introduce their insects to other classes.
Alexander Johnson Grade 1-6 Rochester City #2
Purchase presentation boards and parchment paper. The school is holding a science fair in early June 2004 for the first time since 1991. Students will be able to use the presentation boards for their projects. With care, the boards can be reused for several years. There should be enough boards so each class has one for their class project. Students can also develop individual projects, using their own materials, with help from school. The school will use the parchment paper for customized Science Fair certificates.
Carla Roberts Grade K-6 Rochester City #20
Purchase microscope slide materials, video tapes and books to support a school-wide investigation of the human body. This project will enhance the science program by involving students in hands-on learning related to anatomy concepts. These materials will benefit all 264 students in the school. Younger students will enjoy the videos and view pre-made microscope slides. Older students will be able to prepare their own slides using skin scrapings, saliva, fingernail and hair clippings.
Ananda Weigand Grade 5 Rochester City #33
Purchase an Explore the Planets CD/ROM and a dry erase weather board. These items will enhance study of the solar system, seasons and climates in the science curriculum. The CD/ROM provides NASA footage and information on volcanoes, earthquakes and plate-tectonics. The weather board will let the class chart daily weather measurements over a month, building math and communication skills.
Karen Desso Grade K-6 Rochester City #43
Purchase science reading books for young readers to start building a small library of science reading materials for K-2 students. A main goal of the school is to provide guided reading materials and grade-leveled books for our Reading Workshop Curriculum. These books will serve over 300 children this year and each year to come.
Janet Siegel Grade 9-12 Rochester City School Without Walls
Purchase one Vernier LabPro data collection unit. Teachers can connect this six-channel unit to a computer or Texas Instruments graphing calculator for data analysis. This unit works with a variety of probes to measure many parameters, including PH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity and temperature. An upcoming project for the 2004-2005 school year will involve water chemistry monitoring in Irondequoit Creek as part of the Community Water Watch program.
Paige Smith Grade MAP 6(Gr. 7 Math) Rochester City #50
Help to purchase three more graphing calculators to supplement the one now available for the teachers classes. This will provide additional resources to enrich the math curriculum. Additionally, students will be able to tackle challenges they may not be able to otherwise. The teacher will supplement the grant money with his own funds to purchase these units.
Thomas Rende Grade 5-6 Rochester City #43
Purchase materials for a combined Math/Science culminating project for 5th and 6th grade classes. Teams of students will design and build a 2-dimensional Biome Zoo. Each team will have a biome that they will research, select animals, and design and build an area to fit the needs of the chosen animals. The teams will coordinate their designs to insure the overall design provides the needed public services and that all trails and walkways connect from one biome to the next. In the end, the teams will display the completed project to other classes.
Rachel Mutter-Leonard Grade 3 Rochester City #50
Purchase two Franklin Spellers, film processing services, material for edible maps and planting supplies. Franklin Spellers are already helping students in this class. Having two more will help more students with a learning style that benefits from using them. The class has single use cameras available to use in exploring their communities and their natural surroundings as part of the science curriculum. Students make edible maps from peanut butter, powdered milk, powdered sugar, sparkles, licorice rope, food coloring, frosting, popsicle sticks, wax paper, chocolate chips, M&Ms and sandwich bags. The students will replicate their knowledge of landforms in their surroundings and world by building a map they can later consume. Students will use the planting supplies to participate in a scientific investigation involving science and mathematics. They will grow a variety of seeds in varied situations, measuring and graphing the growth of the plants over time.
Nate Kench Grade 1 Rochester City #50
Purchase four Leap Frog electronic learning systems and the accompanying math skills reinforcement programs. Students in this 1st Grade LEAP class all have English as their second language and many are recent immigrants. The Leap Frog systems will allow students to practice and reinforce their math skills in a fun, motivating way, without the need for 1 to 1 teacher attention. The students can work at their own pace, develop a sense of success and allow the teacher to direct his focus on the students with the greatest needs. These systems will service the present 18 students and all future LEAP classes. Programs are also available for other curriculum areas.
Joseph A. Henderson Grade 8 Roth Middle School
Purchase a La Crosse Technologies Wall Mount Wireless Weather Station to support the Regents Earth Science curriculum. The school will place this station in a foyer across the hall from two science classrooms. About ten sections (almost 230 students) will use this unit to collect long term weather data as part of their weather and climate studies. The unit will provide most of the data items they need in a central location.
Eric Dahlstom Grade 9-11 Victor Senior High
Purchase materials for two labs and two demonstrations. These relate to the Biology (genetics) and Chemistry (catalysts, energy, matter) curricula. The instructor will use a hydrogen peroxide solution in a catalyst demonstration and an elephant toothpaste demonstration. A classroom set of Chromosome Beads will help the classes understand the processes of mitosis and meiosis in chromosomes by manipulating the beads. A quantity of nuts, bolts and washers will help illustrate the concepts of mixtures and compounds, using the hardware items as simulated atoms of three different kinds of matter in a hands-on activity.
Brian McDowell Grade 9 Hilton High School
Purchase two Garmin eTrex Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, rechargeable batteries and charger. Ninth grade earth science students will use these units, along with two others owned by teachers, in activities involving hiding and locating geocaches and creating topographic maps of the area. These activities will reinforce concepts of latitude and longitude that repeat throughout science, math and social studies.
Brian Young Grades 9-12 Churchville-Chili High School
Purchase two mini Cameras with real time color video and sound for use with two existing remote control helicopters. The students will use the cameras attached to the helicopters to take photos of different areas around the school campus from a remote location. This new activity will combine ideas from Design, Photography and Communications courses. Students are learning about the growing need for surveillance in both personal and government projects.
David Pulhamus Grades 10-12 Churchville-Chili Sr. High School
Purchase a hand held radar unit. Students will use the radar gun to examine the motion of objects, to demonstrate the principle of the Doppler Effect and the generation and use of electromagnetic radiation. Students will use this instrument in the classroom and outside to quantify the motion of objects such as students riding kinematics carts, moving students (running or walking) launched toy rockets, pendulums and other objects whose velocity they wish to measure.
Tracy Nail Grade 5 Nazareth Hall Elementary
Purchase an interactive whiteboard. Funds from the school and a grant from the manufacturer will pay the balance of the cost. The teacher is working to develop inquiry skills in the classroom, especially in the areas of math, science and technology. The whiteboard will introduce the use of technology into the classs math and science lessons. Students will be able to experience websites in real time, have access to notes and diagrams presented in class and be able to participate in an everyday use of technology. Other teachers will have opportunities to use this whiteboard and it will be available for future classes. If this model is successful, the school may purchase whiteboards for other classrooms in the future.
Barbara Switalski Grade 1 Nazareth Hall Elementary
Purchase five teacher resource books on dinosaurs. The teacher is developing a new unit on dinosaurs for first grade. The current science curriculum at Nazareth Hall Elementary does not cover dinosaurs. These books will be available to other grade levels. In addition, this grant will make possible a classroom visit by the Rochester Museum and Science Center. The museum visit will include making fossils and a mock dig. Children will explore, through role-playing, how the dinosaurs moved, ate and defended themselves. The students will do a group project for the school-wide science fair with hands-on activities and a Power Point presentation.
Beckie Schultz Grades Pre K-2 Nazareth Hall Elementary
Purchase six non-fiction big books that target science concepts for Kindergarten through grade 2 students. The books combine photographs with simply written essential science content. They introduce young learners to science in a big book format that supports early literacy and discovery. The books work well with hands-on lessons. These early science materials meet National Science Standards and Benchmarks for the Science Literacy (Project 2061). The school already has some books like these and this purchase will extend understanding in other themes, such as food, nutrition, the environment and physical sciences. A total of 100 students in six classrooms will benefit from this purchase.
Khieta Davis Grade 3 Flower City School, #54 RCSD
Purchase books and materials for five science inquiry kits. The teacher wants to further develop inquiry-based classroom projects in their third grade integrated (general and special education) classroom. Teachers at the school are trying to deliver content to their classes based on techniques they learned at local professional development workshops. Many students in the class are reading below grade level and the science textbook the district provides is inaccessible to most of them. The teachers goal is to assemble inquiry kits consisting of picture books and materials. Some of the books needed are not available from the county library system. This grant will help purchase books and lesson materials that are not readily available in the classroom.