2015-16 Seed Grant Awards

Projects and Abstracts

Madison County Elementary School (Madison County, Alabama)
Mrs. Tina Hamlet
Increasing STEM Career Awareness with Robotics
MCES students need to experience how awesome STEM education can be! The Robotics Club at MCES would provide our students the opportunity to develop highly desired skills for the workplace, while learning more about STEM education. Stephan Turnipseed, from Lego Education stated "We must prepare our children for a world we cannot yet describe." Building and programming robots will increase our students' computer and technological literacy, along with their interpersonal, communication, analytical and problem solving skills.

Grissom High School (Madison County, Alabama)
Mr. John Wright
Digital STE(A)M Through Video and Digital Editing
Our goal is to continue our existing and expand our digital editing studio to create a variety of instructional and informational digital materials (podcasts, videos, interactive website, etc.) that any science or math teacher at Grissom High School can use to inform and instruct students. Teachers and students will use the equipment to record, edit and publish instructional and informational videos to support classroom instruction and general school functions.

Cherokee Elementary School (Marshall County, Alabama)
Mrs. Teresa Zimmer
Making Makers
The "Maker" approach to learning emphasizes creation and creativity with products and processes born from tinkering, playing, experimenting, and collaborating. The purpose of this project is to create a "makerspace" for elementary students that provides opportunities in three areas: personal fabrication, physical computing, and computer programming. This hands-on learning approach coupled with tools and raw materials that support invention provide the ultimate workshop for the tinkerer and the perfect educational space for those who learn best by doing.

Stevenson Middle School (Jackson County, Alabama)
Mr. Terry Williamson
Engaging Minds with Science Labs
I will be using the funds to purchase K'Nex DNA kits to engage my 7th grade students and help them learn about DNA replication and transcription through using the kits to build models. I will be purchasing butane burners that my 8th grade students will use during chemical reaction labs and solution labs. The grant funds will also be used to purchase student timers that the students will use for recording time observations for chemical experiments and motion experiments in which they calculate velocity and force.

Central School (Madison County, Alabama)
Mrs. Cindy Marsh
Go Pro Science
This "Go Pro Science" project will give my students an amazing opportunity to explore our Science CCRS (College and Career Ready Standards), interactively. Our students will have the ability to take introduced science standards and expand on them through self exploration and discovery using the latest 21st century technology.

Bridgeport Middle School (Jackson County, Alabama)
Ms. Shannon McClain
Stimulating STEM: Project Based Learning
Stimulating STEM is about engaging students in project based learning that encompasses a diverse curricula and skill set. Students are challenged to design,build, program and market a robot that performs a specific task. The finished product will compete with robots designed from other schools in a BEST robotics platform. In the spring semester, students will work in groups to design an efficient solar panel model car. After a school competition, the winning group will compete at the regional level of the Junior Solar Sprint event.

Riverton Intermediate School (Madison County, Alabama)
Mrs. Natalie Lane
Double the Teacher, Double the Learning!
This project will allow us to develop a math class that allows for a tremendous amount of small group instruction and individualized instruction. Using Ipads to view teacher made instructional videos will allow students to get instruction from the teacher while the teacher pulls small groups. While in this group rotation, students will get a double dose of the teacher by seeing the teacher in the small group and then again on teacher made instructional videos designed to meet the needs of that student.

Riverton Intermediate (Madison County, Alabama)
Mrs. Elisabeth Johnson
The Flipped Classroom Flipped ...Again
This project will challenge students to become more than just learners...it will challenge them to take a more proactive approach to learning and become a teacher. For years educational researchers have studied the positive effects of peer tutoring and peer mentoring in the classroom. Students learn from other students. With this project it is my desire to have a classroom full of teachers! With the use of Ipad minis in the classroom all things are possible.

Tanner High School (Limestone County, Alabama)
Mrs. Lydia La Grone
Let's solve a crime
This project is designed to allow students to learn the basics of forensics science through hands on activities. It will be a comprehensive study of the basics of forensics including evidence collection and testing of several different types of evidence. The students will then assemble their knowledge to solve a fictional crime. This will allow them to demonstrate their knowledge in a new and exciting way.

Buckhorn Middle School (Madison County, Alabama)
Ms. Gina Henshaw
Buckhorn Middle's PLTW Implementation
Through implementation of Project Lead the Way, students will learn the engineering design process through investigations, real-life problem solving, and unique hands-on experiences. It will facilitate growth in math and science as well as give our students a head start in the field of STEM. Being able to offer these courses would provide variety to our course offerings which we do not currently have. These courses will appeal to students with technical, math, and science aptitudes as well as introduce the world of STEM to students who have yet to find their passion.

Madison County Elementary School (Madison County, Alabama)
Ms. Pam Berry
Lights! Camera! Action!
Lights! Camera! Action! Project is to video tape instruction of STEM lessons presented by classroom teachers, professional personnel, students and other special guests. The tapped instruction will be cataloged and made available to other classroom teachers and students as needed through Edmodo and the Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX)website for other teachers and students to view and use as Science resources. Edmodo is a K-12 social learning network dedicated to connecting all learners with the people and resources they need to reach their full potential (www.edomodo.com).

Guntersville High School (Marshall County, Alabama)
Mrs. Barbara Boyles
Introduction To Engineering Design
Project Lead the Way is the nation's leading high school engineering curriculum being adopted by Guntersville High School. This grant will provide the needed core materials to cover the complete year of Introduction to Engineering Design. This course covers the Design Process, technical sketching and drawing, measurement and statistics,modeling skills, geometry of design, reverse engineering,engineering documentation, advanced computer modeling, and finishing with a final project solving a real-world problem.

Randolph School (Madison County, Alabama)
Mrs. Catherine Beck
Design Engineering Course
Randolph School is in the process of creating a new course entitled Design Engineering. Although current curriculum emphasizes the connections among science, technology, and mathematics, our hope is that this intentional STEM initiative will afford students the opportunity to investigate real-world engineering situations. Student teams will be presented with design challenges and then asked to research, design, build, and later present their solutions. Time to modify original ideas as well as the opportunity to test the effectiveness of the final solution is an integral part of the course.

Guntersville High School (Marshall County, Alabama)
Mrs. Kate White
Principles of Engineering: Materials and Structures
Project Lead the Way is the nation's leading high school engineering curriculum being adopted by Guntersville High School. This grant will provide the needed materials to cover a unit in the Principles of Engineering Course on Materials and Structures, including Statics, Material Properties, Material Testing, and a Bridge Simulated Structural Design. Force sensors and Go! Links can be used each year to explore the concepts of tensile stress, internal and external forces on structures, forces on trusses, and beam deflection.

Paint Rock Valley High School (Jackson County, Alabama)
Ms. Ashley Edwards
Learning By Nature
Learning By Nature will transform an existing irrigated and mowed outdoor area into a garden-themed learning site which will feature raised garden beds to grow carrots, beans, corn, and tomatoes. This grant will provide funding that will be used to purchase materials, including lumber, soil, tools, and seeds to construct the garden. We will use the school garden as a hands-on tool for food and nutrition education to teach children the importance of healthy eating and to enhance academic standards through expanded year-round teaching opportunities.

Greengate School (Madison County, Alabama)
Mrs. Lisa Bruton
Reaching the Reluctant Scientist
Colorful books with pictures intrigue elementary students. They want teachers to read entertaining books to them. Students get caught up in the characters and their adventures. This interest in books can be used to promote science inquiry and investigation-make observations, share ideas, model the book's adventure, explore, process, and record. Let's fit science into the elementary school day in a way that helps students discover how concepts we read about will unfold in real life. Science standards will be met and even the reluctant student will be enthusiastic about hands-on science.

Discovery Middle School (Madison County, Alabama)
Mr. Kelly Archer
Build and Control: The Saga of Boe-Bot
Boe-Bot is a wheeled robotic vehicle which must be built (assembled) and then programmed via an onboard microprocessor to perform tasks desired by the programmer. The level of complexity in the construction and coding is at the high end for our 8th grade students, thus providing the challenge required to maintain the interest and involvement of our top students, and provide an opportunity to grow for all students. Our program at Discovery is familiar with the coding language and circuit building requirements to allow students to be directly and immediately engaged to manage tasks assigned.

Excalibur Christian School (Madison County, Alabama)
Mrs. Tracy Wimberley
Electricity and Electronics in a Snap!
The purpose of this project is to teach kids about electricity and electronics in a fun and safe way. Students will use electrical components that snap together to build everything from simple lights and alarms to solar powered and computer interfaced projects. The world of STEM will be introduced in a whole new way!

Chaffee Elementary School (Madison County, Alabama)
Mrs. Lori Nelson
Rocket Week: Igniting STEM Learning with Rocketry
Rocket Week at Chaffee Elementary School is a collaborative effort between myself and a parent with students at our school who is a NASA engineer. Throughout the week, the fifth graders will engage in lessons about the history of the rocket program at NASA, forces of motion, engineering design process, building the rockets, and testing the rockets. The younger students at Chaffee will have an opportunity to learn about forces of motion and use stomp rockets, and also observe the rocket launch at the end of the week. In all, around 400 students will participate in the project

University Place Elementary (Madison County, Alabama)
Mrs. Cheryl Heldt
Family Math Night
University Place students K-5 will increase their math fluency skills, enhance their number sense, and strengthen family to school partnerships through Family Math Night. Students and parents will be able to attend Family Math Night one evening each semester. Eight hands-on math stations, each with three ability levels, will be offered so parents with more than one child may participate alongside their kids at the same station. The Nifty Numbers Family Math Night kit contains everything necessary for the fun evening including a video tutorial, activity sheets, and manipulatives.

Mill Creek Elementary School (Madison County, Alabama)
Ms. Jackie Smith
Engineering Design Process Lab Project
Mill Creek Elementary School is in the process of creating a STEM Lab curriculum that correlates to the Next Generation Science Standards. The Engineering Design Process Lab Program is designed to provide students with a variety of hands-on, engineering based projects that will challenge children to utilize critical thinking skills. Students will work collaboratively in small groups to design bridges, build towers, and test beam integrity. These activities will foster the concept of teamwork and strengthen student understanding of the engineering design process as it applies to problem solving

Danville Middle School (Morgan County, Alabama)
Mrs. Brandy Sutton
STEDTRAIN Type I Grant- Outdoor Learning Lab with Electronic Rain and Temperature Gauges
The outdoor learning lab will act as a hands-on interdisciplinary science and mathematical classrooms.The students will be able to watch and record growth of native plants, monitor watering needs through an electronic rain gauge, analyze the growth process of a pumpkin, record data of growth by creating mathematical charts, record and chart daily temperatures through an electronic thermometer, observe nature in it's habitat, use pumpkins in classroom activities, and create a composting area that correlates with ecosystems in science. This area will be one that students can enjoy for many years

Fayetteville Middle School (Lincoln County, Tennessee)
Mr. Mike Leopard
3D Approach to 8th Grade Bio-chemical Engineering
The 3D Bio-chemical Engineering Approach will allow students to get "up close and personal" with the periodic table as well as the process of creating their own molecular compound. 8th grade students will work in teams to create molecular structures using a variety of I-Pad Applications and turn their creations into simulation presentations for their classmates to see. Over 40 science applications will be accessed in the Engineering classroom to not only explore the depths of chemistry, biology, astronomy and math but to make connections to the career paths.

Woodville High School (Jackson County, Alabama)
Mrs. April Kennamer
Our Kind of Science in Kindergarten
Our kind of science is a project that allows me to buy STEM kits that provide enough science materials for the entire class already ready to use. These kits are selected by me and meet the Common Core Standards and Alabama Course of Study objectives and are also STEM correlated. Some of the kits are: gravity ( If it goes u, will it come down), Handy Engineering Robotics, Up over and on we go, and Sink or Float.

Seed Grants for Previous Years

The following documents provide abstracts for the Seed Grant proposals that have been funded over the past several years.

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