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Goal

With this equipment, Immokalee Middle School teachers and students will be able to conduct a hands-on lab activity involving marine microorganisms. This lab will relate to many topics throughout the year. 

What will be done with my students

As students are learning science, they often have trouble visualizing the concepts and tapping into prior knowledge. With this equipment, every 7th grader at Immokalee Middle School will have the opportunity to participate in a group lab where they will prepare viable protozoan cultures from dry media containing encysted protozoans. The students will explore the cultures and observe different forms of protozoans and various methods of locomotion. Also, the students will compare the biodiversity of protozoans and how they fill a niche in a larger living world. 

Benefits to my students

According to the University of Albany report, “What Works in Middle School Science”, hands-on experiments and experiences are vital to student learning. The report states, “Hands down, hands-on stands out as the most popular approach to teaching middle school science students and is seen as directly connected to reinforcing that science can be fun and relevant to their lives. Hands-on activities are viewed as particularly effective for English Language Learners (ELLs) and special needs students in that they provide pathways other than lecture to sometimes abstract ideas. Balancing lecture with plenty of purposeful hands-on activity in middle school science is a way to both prepare students for more advanced science and still communicate the increasingly complex ideas.”

As Immokalee Middle School has both a very high ELL and special need student population, this type of classroom activity is particularly impactful with our students. There are other types of learning tools suggested in place of lab explorations, but time and again, many factors have shown that hands-on activities are best when it comes down to science.

There is no doubt that a hands-on lab experience will increase student engagement, learning, and understanding of scientific concepts. 

Budget Narrative

*5 protozoan discovery kits- includes:12 pipettes,12 slides, 6 petri dishes,2 culture jars,& lab book/fact sheet.(1 per teacher)
*4 Protozoan mixture
*Protists posters
*Protists, fungi, bacteria, viruses posters
*microscope slides
 

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