Anamaria Moore, a 9th-12th grade Biology 1 and English IV teacher at Vardaman High School, recently received a classroom grant from the Mississippi Professional Educators (MPE).
She plans to use her grant funding for a project entitled “Interdependence of Plants and Animals via Aquatic Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration.”
This project will use technology to investigate how aquatic plants and animals depend on each other for survival.
“We’ll be using carbon dioxide sensors to measure the amount of carbon dioxide with some aquatic plants and snails,” Moore said. “During photosynthesis, plants use carbon dioxide, so the sensor should detect lower carbon dioxide levels when we measure the levels with just the plant. The snails produce carbon dioxide through cellular respiration, so the sensors should pick up higher concentrations of carbon dioxide when we measure the concentration with them.”
“When we measure the levels with both the plants and the snails, we should be able to see how the two depend on each other because the snail produces carbon dioxide that the plant needs to use, and the plant produces oxygen that the snail needs. The sensors automatically track the data on an app, which will be downloaded on an iPad, and we can then graph and compare the data.”
Moore sought out the grant to help pay for this particular lab project because it’s related to topics that are covered on the Biology I state test.
“Reading data is now a big part of the (state) test,” Moore said. “Hopefully by collecting their own data through this project and analyzing it, when they see it on a test they will have a better understanding.”
“I believe when they get the numbers themselves, rather than just being numbers on paper, they understand it a lot better,” Moore said. “When it’s something they observed and measured it makes a lot more sense to them.”
The MPE grant is for almost $900 and will cover the cost of the needed equipment for the experiment.
“It’s not enough to get enough for every student to have one, but it’s enough for a group working together,” Moore said. “The sensors themselves are approximately $300 and the iPad we need to connect it to is another $300. The rest of it is for miscellaneous stuff you have to have for the lab.”
Moore said the grant may not seem like much to a lot of schools, but for her Biology class it means a lot.
“Here, where we don’t have a lab budget, this is very helpful,” Moore said. “This year, with the test changing where they want more emphasis on experiments and the students collecting their own data, this is important for us.”
Cost is often a factor in preventing science classes from performing more lab experiments.
“You can do some things on very low cost, but to incorporate the technology that puts them on a level where they can compete today, we just don’t have the money,” Moore said.
That’s the significance of the MPE grant. Anamaria has been a member of MPE since 2013.
Founded in 1979, MPE is a statewide professional association with approximately 14,000 teachers, administrators and non-certified staff from kindergarten to graduate school level. MPE awards up to $40,000 in classroom grants to MPE members who wish to enhance instructional offerings or educational experiences for their students. For more information on MPE’s classroom grant program and other benefits, visit www.mpe.org.