Experimental Supplies for Learning About Changes in Matter and Astronomy in Discovery Education
Jonah Scher-Zagier
ID-4070
School Name:Marco Island Charter Middle
Grant Request Grade:8
Grant Request Subject:Science
Additional Details
The goal of this project is to promote student knowledge of and engagement with science by purchasing supplies for practical, hands-on science experiments to be carried out following the Discovery Education curriculum and in accordance with Florida grade level standards. Research consistently has shown that students are more engaged and show better learning retention when information and skills are linked with experiential and project-based components such as science experiments, so having the materials necessary to carry out science experiments is essential for promoting student learning. The transition to the Discovery Education curriculum requires the purchase of new science experiment materials to support a rich, student-centered project-based education curriculum with a proven effect on student outcomes. Funding this project will help support the goal, previously articulated by administrators at both Collier County Schools and Marco Island Charter Middle School, of improving student performance on state science assessments through practical engagement with relevant science investigations.
Students will participate in integrated project-based concept sub-units centered around the use of hands-on experimentation to further student understanding of the physical world and acquire scientific skills and a scientific mindset. These concepts rely on practical experiments to build student knowledge and require these experiments to be complete.
For instance, when studying the periodic table, students use collections of buttons, shells, or other objects with varying shapes and colors to create their own periodic tables, even identifying gaps in the table that represent combinations of shapes and colors that are not present in their collection, which helps them follow the process of early scientists investigating patterns in known chemical elements. Following this process helps them build confidence in their own scientific research skills and connect their knowledge of the periodic table to concrete experiential projects.
I expect that this project, if funded, will have the following measurable positive effects. First, it will promote student learning, which will be monitored through continual formative assessments, both those integrated into the Discovery Education curriculum and those designed by the teacher, as well as by post-concept summative assessments. Second, it will promote student engagement with and interest in science, which will have further downstream positive effects on high school and college performance, job success, and overall participation as American citizens. This engagement will be monitored by portions of the formative assessments, as well as the teacher's own professional impressions of student interest and engagement.
If funded, this project will support approximately 90 students, primarily in the 8th grade, in understanding science through connections between experimental research and proven concepts from state curriculum standards. Every listed item is directly tied to a specific experiment in Discovery Education that serves as the linchpin of an entire concept sub-unit, with the experiment providing the experiential component that helps draw a line between observations of a phenomenon made in the first lesson of the concept to a student-driven explanation provided in the later lessons of the concept.
