I have been a science teacher for 14 years. Currently teach 7th grade science at New Augusta North in Pike Township. I received two grants from the Robert and Susan Kozlowski L.I.F.T. Foundation that provided a major impact for my students and helped me teach as I wanted to teach.

I will talk about both:

Isaac Newton Meets Pine Wood Derby teaches students about Newton’s Laws of Motion in a hands-on manner. Students create their own pine wood derby cars and then race them against one another. They are then to create a diagram that ties the unit together. Students are to include in their diagrams an explanation of each during their race: speed, force, acceleration, and each of Newton’s laws. The L.I.F.T. Foundation gave me a grant to buy the materials for this learning experience and the tracks and for the last two years have awarded me funds to continue this lesson with new students. We could not do these hands-on lessons without the funding.

Go Fly a Kite is a cross curricular activity with science, math and writing. In Math class, students designed their kites using all they learned about geometry and physics. In science, students built and flew their kites and in writing, students kept daily journals about their experiences. Again, the L.I.F.T. Foundation sees the value in students learning by doing and provided funding for the students to make their kites and do the cross curriculum lessons. IMPACT: Physics is quite a tough topic for many people and most especially 12 and 13 year olds. Through the grants, my students were able to literally witness the forces of physics at work through their own creations. Without the grant, the projects would not have been possible.