GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist and her five parrots are currently relocating to Germany, where she will continue writing her blog while also writing a book and learning German. (Meanwhile, her parrots will continue to nibble on her extensive personal library.) If you appreciate GrrlScientist's writing, you can help pay her living expenses by hiring her to "blog" your conference, speak at your club or write articles for your publication (or by clicking on the Paypal button below). If you read an essay on this blog that you especially enjoyed, please nominate it for inclusion in 
tags: DonorsChoose2008, education, public school education, fund raising, evolution education, nature education, bird education
Today's featured project is below the fold.
This teacher's proposal has only 26 days left to be funded, but only $25 has been donated so far! Mrs. R, who is starting her second year as a teacher, needs another $513 to add a special science lesson to her curricula. I think that Mrs. R has shown a lot of initiative by completing summer workshops that prepare her to teach science in her classroom, and when you read her proposal, you will find that she is especially determined to show her female students that science is fun. To do this, Mrs. R is seeking funding for a microscope and 2 sets of prepared slides.
Help Me Motivate My Students to Love Science!!
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, which includes shipping for any materials requested and fulfillment. [PDF].
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