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Stimulating Science With Hands On Learning

School:: New Smyrna Beach Middle School
Subject:: Science
Teacher:: Rebecca Baker
Students Impacted:: 350
Grade:: 8
Date:: September 13, 2023

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

Duke Energy - $490.00

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 350

Thank you so much for all your help and for funding our project.

Growing up I struggled in science, mostly because it was boring and riddled with bookwork, worksheets, and tests. There weren't many hands on demonstrations or labs until high school, and by that point I wasn't interested anymore. When I became a teacher and was given a job as an elementary science teacher, I went in with aprehension because I had never really had any good experiences with the subject. I wanted to make sure that my students had fun and would therefore enjoy the subject more than I did. I tasked myself with finding hands on labs and demonstrations to help create an excitement for the subject and foster a true love of learning in my students. Not only did my students begin to love the subject, but I fell in love with it as well and have since gone from an elementary teacher teaching all subjects or math/sciende, to a middle school science teacher.

With your donation I was able to stock up the 8^th grade science teachers with much needed supplies that are both reusable and consumable. As teachers, especially in science, we spend quite a bit of money on materials for labs to help our students solidify the information we teach. It's so helpful when we are able to get support from members of the community to help.

The pictures attached are some of the labs that we have done throughout the year with students. Thanks to your donation we were able to complete some of those labs without having to come out of pocket and stock supplies to repeat the labs next year. The first picture is of some of the supplies that your donation helped us get. Take that image and multiply it by three, because I was able to order enough of those supplies for all of my team members. We are also sharing these resources, when needed, with the 6^th and 7^th grade teachers. We truly appreciate you and Duke Energy for helping us. Our science classes will be even more engaging, and hands on, thanks to your support!

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This is only SOME of the supplies we ordered.

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Hands on learning

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Halloween fun

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Original Grant Overview

Goal

My goal is to restock our 8th grade science classrooms with materials for hands on labs.

What will be done with my students

Students will be using the various materials listed throughout the year to complete labs that tie into our Florida Science standards. These labs will give students the opportunity to perform hands on experiments and demos to help them better understand the information being taught and reviewed by teachers. They will also help students when trying to better understand the nature of science standard below:
SC.8.N.1.1 Define a problem from the
eighth grade curriculum using appropriate
reference materials to support scientific
understanding; plan and carry out scientific investigations of various types, such as systematic observations or experiments; identify variables; collect and organize data; interpret data in charts, tables, and graphics; analyze information; make predictions; and
defend conclusions.

Some examples of labs are:
1. Using pH and litmus paper to show what substances, (such as lemon juice, vinegar, baking soda) are acids and bases and how they change the pH of that substance when mixed.
SC.8.P.8.8 Identify basic examples of
and compare and classify the properties of compounds, including acids, bases, and salts.

2. Mixing baking soda and vinegar to show chemical reactions, but also using the same materials to show the conservation of mass by mixing them and containing the gas that is created to show how mass does not change.
SC.8.P.9.1 Explore the Law of
Conservation of Mass by demonstrating
and concluding that mass is conserved when substances undergo physical and chemical changes.

3. Using density cubes to demonstrate that the density of a substance does not change, no matter the size, as long as the substance does not change.
SC.8.P.8.3 Explore and describe the
densities of various materials through
measurement of their masses and volumes.
SC.8.P.8.4 Classify and compare
substances on the basis of characteristic
physical properties that can be demonstrated or measured: for example, density; thermal or electrical conductivity; solubility; magnetic properties; melting and boiling points; and know that these properties are independent of the amount of the sample.

4. Using stopwatches, Alka-Seltzer and different temperatures of water to show how temperature affects chemical changes.
SC.8.P.9.3 Investigate and describe how
temperature influences chemical changes

5. Using glow sticks to also show how temperature affects chemical changes and using them to show the variation in the brightness of stars.
SC.8.E.5.5 Describe and classify specific
physical properties of stars: apparent
magnitude (brightness), temperature (color), size, and luminosity (absolute brightness).
SC.8.P.9.3 Investigate and describe how
temperature influences chemical changes

6. Showing endothermic and exothermic reactions using 30% peroxide, yeast and other substances. This also shows chemical changes. We also use calcium chloride to show these changes.
SC.8.P.9.3 Investigate and describe how
temperature influences chemical changes

Some of the materials are used to keep labs organized and areas clean, such as the soap, cups, and paper towels. These are used in various projects for storing liquids, and cleaning up any messes made. We use food coloring in multiple labs to make the liquids and changes stand out. We need stop watches for timing changes and experiments.

Benefits to my students

Hands on labs are the best way to help students see how science is used in real world situations. When learning is fun, it is retained and can be called back throughout the year as a reminder of material learned. I try to do as many hands on labs as possible with students to ensure that they not only see the standard in action, but so they can tie in the Nature of Science standards that they struggle with each year.

Budget Narrative

I located items on Amazon and Walmart. Some prices may change based on brand purchased, but cost should not increase.

Items

#	Item	Cost
1	6- Walmart 16oz. Cornstarch	$13.00
2	6 sets-Amazon- Litmus Paper Blue and Red	$72.00
3	3- Walmart-Salt	$12.00
4	3- Walmart-Vinegar	$12.00
5	1- Walmart-Washing powder	$8.00
6	6 packs- Amazon pH strips	$6.00
7	3 large packs Paper towels Walmart	$24.00
8	4 lbs. -Amazon Baking soda	$20.00
9	3 packs of 72 count - Amazon- Alka-seltzer	$30.00
10	Amazon 1 pack Balloons	$10.00
11	100 ct- Amazon 16 oz. Clear Cups	$14.00
12	2- Phenol Red solution Amazon	$30.00
13	3- Aluminum Foil Walmart	$15.00
14	40 pack- Amazon Stop watches	$68.00
15	3 packs - Walmart Food coloring	$12.00
16	6 jars-Walmart Fast Acting Yeast	$36.00
17	Amazon Density Cubes	$42.00
18	100 pack- Amazon Glow Sticks	$8.00
19	3 bags- Walmart Epsom Salt	$18.00
20	2 jars- Amazon Calcium Chloride	$40.00
	Total:	$490.00