PHOENIX – Students across Arizona will learn about robotics, renewable energy and Mars thanks to Learning Grants by SRP.
The grant program, which awarded more than $125,000 to 27 schools, provides a unique opportunity that allows schools, teachers and students to develop projects and programs that improve student performance objectives in math and science.
Below are the SRP Learning Grants for 2010-11:
- Anthem School (Anthem), $3,136. The eighth-grade curriculum will be enhanced through the use of the latest in classroom technology – classroom response pads. This remote response system will be used throughout the math curriculum for rapid and timely assessments.
- Casa Grande High School (Casa Grande), $5,000. The robotics team will bring robot kits and computers to middle school students to mentor the students in the creation and engineering of their own robots.
- Lone Mountain Elementary School (Cave Creek), $5,000. The school will add a LEGO Learning Lab to its curriculum. Kindergarteners and first-graders will learn about early structures and early machines; second- and third-graders will learn about simple and motorized mechanisms; and fourth- and fifth-graders will learn about engineering and design.
- Frye Elementary School (Chandler), $5,000. The grant will be used to expand the school’s math resource library, where students can check out themed kits with lessons along with the necessary materials that teachers can use to effectively teach math concepts using manipulatives.
- Fountain Hills High School (Fountain Hills), $5,000. Students will participate in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) class and benefit from expert engineering lecturers from the university level. They will use curriculum materials from MIT and get dual credit through ASU’s College of Engineering.
- Burk Elementary School (Gilbert), $2,900. Students will participate in career exploration in science and engineering, teleconferences with NASA scientists, LEGO machine kits to design a Mars rover, and a study of the topography of Mars. Students will travel to the Challenger Space Center in Peoria.
- Hillcrest Middle School (Glendale), $4,677. Students in the Project Lead the Way/Gateway to Technology program will address concepts of design and modeling, the magic of electrons, the science of technology, automation and robotics, flight and space, and energy and the environment.
- Sierra Verde School (Glendale), $4,717. The school will employ inquiry-based and technology-driven pedagogy as well as a school-wide theme on wind energy. Students will benefit from a variety of learning experiences, including building model wind turbines.
- Cesar Chavez High School (Laveen), $5,000. The robotics team will participate in the FIRST Tech Challenge (beginning level robotics engineering), FIRST Lego League (intermediate level robotics with an emphasis this year on Climate Connections), and FIRST Robotics Competition (an expert-level engineering competition involving improving the functionality of a robot system).
- Heritage Academy (Mesa), $4,900. Seventh- and eighth-graders will participate in hands-on, technology-driven science lessons with the use of new microscopes and curriculum kits, which will take their science lab into the 21st century.
- Page High School (Page), $4,994. A new class will study all aspects of renewable energy and green practices as it pertains to residential and commercial applications. Students will study conservation, photovoltaic systems, wind-generation systems and solar hot water heating systems.
- Arizona Agribusiness and Equine Center (Paradise Valley), $4,971. The Biology and Scientific Projects students will use a digital camera system attached to microscopes to generate images of their scientific samples that can then be uploaded to a computer, analyzed and shared with the entire class.
- Payson High School (Payson), $5,000. Students will participate in a project to analyze the health of the East Verde River system. The goal is to promote the awareness, appreciation and knowledge of water resources by performing water-quality assessments and riparian area study on the East Verde River.
- Frontier Elementary School (Payson), $4,810. Fifth-graders will work in a mentored partnership with researchers at Northern Arizona University in a cross-curricular project involving climate change and the piñon pine, a native species.
- Desert Winds Elementary School (Phoenix), $5,000. Students will monitor real-time weather conditions at their school with a WeatherBug weather station. Students will participate in weather reporting, analyzing data, looking for trends and seeing real world applications of science.
- Hidden Hills Elementary School (Phoenix), $5,000. Students will benefit from a salt-water aquarium habitat. Fifth- and sixth-graders will plan what to purchase as well as install, set up and maintain the tank. They will learn about the ocean biome through the use of the aquarium as a learning tool.
- P.T. Coe Elementary School (Phoenix), $4,943. Students in a cognitively-guided-instruction (CGI) based after-school math club for struggling students will use math manipulatives and other supplies to make math come alive.
- Phoenix Collegiate Academy (Phoenix), $5,000. The River Keepers enrichment class will explore desert flora and fauna. Students will read, listen to speakers and do hands-on activities to learn about the desert and explore the Salt River and South Mountain areas.
- Skyline Tech High School (Phoenix), $4,937. Students will participate in a physics class that will focus on STEM skills (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). This will provide a hands-on, inquiry-based experience for all students involved.
- Teleos Preparatory Academy (Phoenix), $2,265. The science lab will be enriched with the addition of six stereomicroscopes (three-dimensional microscopes used to dissect microorganisms). All students in grades 3 through 8 will have access to three-dimensional visualizations of specimens.
- Valley View Elementary School (Phoenix), $4,822. Students participating in the dual-language program will create and sustain a community garden. They will be working with science journals to document observations and practice writing skills.
- Prescott High School (Prescott), $5,000. The school is hosting a four-day AP Calculus and Statistics camp for rural county school students. The camp will review math concepts from the Arizona State Mathematics Standard and prepare participants for the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) exam.
- Frances Brandon Pickett Elementary (Queen Creek), $4,729. Kindergartners through second-graders will learn science while learning how to read using CD-Rom materials, vocabulary cards and other supplementary materials.
- Poston Butte High School (San Tan Valley), $4,885. Chemistry students will coordinate new science lab equipments with their state-of-the-art, one-to-one computing program. This opportunity will provide a robust inquiry experience for the students.
- Skyline Ranch K-8 School, (San Tan Valley), $5,000. Students and teachers will benefit from the creation of a math literature and manipulative library. Staff and parents will also be able to access these materials to assist students in the development of grade-level mathematics concepts.
- Connolly Middle School (Tempe), $5,000. Sixth-graders will participate in an integrated unit studying energy, including writing a research paper and participating in a Socratic seminar to discuss energy concepts.
- Country Place Elementary (Tolleson), $4,433. Students from the gifted program will teach other students how to build and program robots, allowing them to experience hands-on, practical applications of science, technology, engineering and math activities.