(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Inoculation Project 10/8/2023: New Science Curriculum, and Covid Catch-Up [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-08 This week, we’re helping some Nevada middle school classes get the digital scales they need for their lab work, and Georgia high school students get equipment for hands-on labs they missed during Covid remote learning. We hope that readers who support quality public school education will help by sharing or supporting our featured projects. The Inoculation Project is an ongoing, volunteer effort to crowdfund science, math, and literacy projects for public schools in low-income neighborhoods. As always, our conduit is DonorsChoose, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation that facilitates tax-deductible donations to specific, vetted projects in public schools. Sometimes, a project isn’t in an area we normally look at, but attracts my attention for other reasons. In this case, a never-before-funded teacher in this smallish city near Reno has a head-shaking reason to be seeking our help: her district has at long last approved a new middle school science curriculum, but NOT the resources to actually teach that curriculum. PROJECT #1 Project: Science is like Magic, but Real… Resources: Help me give my students have the best year ever in their science classes! We have finally gotten new science curriculum (after 15 years of the last approved curriculum) and we are so ready to jump into it! Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households. Location: George Dilworth STEM Middle School, Sparks, Nevada Total: $1,984.46 Still Needed: $ 145.46 $98.69 Project description by Ms. Balsley: Hello! After 15 years of the same science curriculum, our district has finally approved a new program (yay!) Carolina Science online. Our training this summer was very informative about how we would be teaching the units, and we are so excited to dive in! The challenge we face, however, is that the assumption is that we have many of the equipment and materials we need for the many labs. Especially digital scales! We measure every single thing in every single lab. Often multiple times. This is the big thing we all need~and will be shared by the 3 science teachers in our little middle school. Please consider helping us achieve success in our new program! Thank you! DONATE HERE Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference! Since we’re seeking to fund digital scales, it’s interesting to understand how they work. x x YouTube Video We’ve been at work on this project for a couple of weeks now, taking advantage of matching funds while they lasted. I think we’re quite likely to get in range to complete this in the time available. Another never-before-funded teacher is trying to catch her Georgia high schoolers up with the hands-on science they missed in middle school due to Covid. PROJECT #2 Project: Raising Raiders: Leveling Up Anatomy in a Post Pandemic Class Resources: Help me give my students preserved specimen and models that will show them the structures of the body. Economic need: An Equity Focus School; nearly all students from low‑income households. Location: Riverdale High School, Riverdale, Georgia Total: $682.13 Still Needed: $ 327.13 $255.07 Project description by Ms. Shands: Since returning to the face-to-face class after the pandemic, I have noticed many of the high school students that I teach have major learning gaps in science because during middle school they attended school virtually. The most notable gaps include the lack of hands-on science knowledge/skills. The county that I work for has, for the coming year, tasked the science staff with getting away from simulation labs and move back to wet and dry labs with actual real life materials. Funding this project will provide my students with some of the tools that will help them to develop dissecting skills and grasp concepts that are essential to fully understanding the subject of Human Anatomy. DONATE HERE Donations of ANY size can make a BIG difference! In keeping with the request for a “microstructure of skin” model as part of this project, this TED-Ed lesson created by journalist Emma Bryce explains the many jobs done by our skin. x x YouTube Video Our main project from last week was completed, with the persistent help of our readers. Project #1, Refreshing Our Bulldogs School Library: Part III: Ms. L’s Houston elementary school library needed a set of graphic novels that kids want to read. She writes: Thank you so much for donating to my DonorsChoose project, "Refreshing Our Bulldogs School Library: Part III!" I truly appreciate all who share and support this project to bring this popular book series to my Bulldogs scholars' school library. Literacy is a critical part of growing, and so I can't wait to update you soon on the progress! Thank you again! DonorsChoose has developed the designation Equity Focus Schools to describe some schools that submit projects. They meet two criteria: at least 50% of students are Black, Latinx, Native American, Pacific Islander, or multiracial, and at least 50% of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, the standard measure for school economic need. You can read more at the link about their efforts to address the longstanding inequity in education. Founded in 2009, The Inoculation Project seeks to fund science, math, and literacy projects in public school classrooms and libraries. Our conduit is DonorsChoose, a crowdfunding charity founded in 2000 and highly rated by both Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau. Every Sunday, we focus on helping to fund projects in neighborhood public schools where the overwhelming majority of students come from low-income households. We welcome everyone who supports public school education — no money is required! Finally, here’s our list of successfully funded projects — our series total is 1055! The success-list diary also contains links and additional information about DonorsChoose. 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