2011-12 Seed Grant Awards

Paint Rock Valley High School (Jackson)
Mr. Terry Williamson
Using Technology to Teach Biology
Usingtechnology to teach students and allowing them to learn and explore for themselves is a key part of my project. The school has received some donated computers from a local business. Through creating a small computer in lab in my classroom, I will be able to provide my students with numerous learning opportunities that will not be disrupted by walking to the computer lab. The usb digital microscope, the owl pellets, the animal cell and heart models, and the microscope slides will provide my students with enriching learning experiences in the science lab.

Paint Rock Valley High School (Jackson)
Mr. Terry Williamson
Using Technology to Teach Biology
Usingtechnology to teach students and allowing them to learn and explore for themselves is a key part of my project. The school has received some donated computers from a local business. Through creating a small computer in lab in my classroom, I will be able to provide my students with numerous learning opportunities that will not be disrupted by walking to the computer lab. The usb digital microscope, the owl pellets, the animal cell and heart models, and the microscope slides will provide my students with enriching learning experiences in the science lab.

Weatherly Heights Elementary (Madison)
Mrs. Leslie Easterling
The Watering Hole
The Nature Center at Weatherly Elementary has been home to various projects since 1998 when it was first developed. The Weatherly Garden Club of 25 students wants to get the garden certified as an Alabama Outdoor Classroom, but needs some funding to help reach this goal. A water source, shed, and some basic supplies will help reach this goal and teach lessons across the curriculum.

Guntersville High School (Marshall)
Mrs. Kate White
Go Green!
Alternative energy sources are a big topic on the news and a big part of students' futures. The "Go Green" project creates a unit on alternative energy to be used in engineering and physics classes. Students will explore solar energy, wind energy, and fuel cells. Students will explore how fuel cells work to power cars and see a windmill create electricity. The goal of this unit is to inform students about energy sources and teach them the physics behind these sources.

Ridgecrest Elementary School (Madison)
Mrs. Rachael W. Turner
Multiplication Master's
Multiplication and division mastery is a necessity in order to build a strong mathematical foundation in students. With the addition of four netbooks, my students will have additional resources to practice and master their math facts. Using the Math Plus/Minus program, students are able to practice specific math facts, or a mix of facts. The program motivates students and makes learning math facts fun and exciting. I have seen a great deal of improvement this year in multiplication mastery, and I feel that with the addition of four netbooks, I will see this improvement again next year.

Whitesburg Middle School (Madison)
Mr. Greg Hicks
Shake, Rattle and "Quake"
The seismograph project will offer a special opportunity for capturing student's innate curiosity about natural phenomena in the world around them-and this curiosity can be used as a platform from which a wealth of fundamental principles of physics and earth sciences can be taught. Earthquakes, by virtue of their awesome power, their unpredictability, and the broad, sometimes tragic, impact they can have on the daily lives of people, have tremendous potential to capture the attention of students. This project can be used as a 'hook' and a starting point for teaching fundamental skills.

Greengate School (Madison)
Mrs. Judy Sweatman
Automatons and Stop-action Animation
Automatons and Stop-action Animation will take students through the vision, creative process, and teamwork of early cinema pioneers. Students will plan and construct their own optical toys and mechanical automations used in the early cinema and use modern dgital cameras to record the action. There will be a marriage of creations of the world in 1931 with high-tech stop motion animation. Students will learn through planning, struggles, and teamwork this visually appealing, creative, sequential, historcal technique used to make a story come to life.

Huntsville Center for Technology (Madison)
Mrs. Mary Kaye Jordan, RN
Vitals for Life
Healthcare students learn the dangers of high blood pressure and the effects of bad eating habits. They are tested on the normal, average, and above average readings along with healthy eating choices. The students will perform a Health screening in our school to help other students become aware of their weight, blood pressure, heart rate,respirations and healthy eating. Students who have elevated vital signs will have a recommendation to take to their family doctor. Mrs. Jordan will coordinate the health screening with Mr. Turner, the principal of the school

Weatherly Elementary (Madison)
Ms. Heather Bardwell
Roadrunner Morning Show- "The Technoloy Leader In Me"
The Roadrunner Morning Show "Technology Leaders in Me" is a project that will allow students to implement technology with our morning announcements. The morning show will introduce the students to the world of telecommunication. The crew will consist of 5th grade students. While the show will be ran by 5th grade students, every student will have opportunities to participate throughout the year.

Lacey's Spring School (Morgan)
Mrs. Cheryl Hall
Classroom Clickers
"Classroom Clickers" would provide a Dell Classroom Response System to be used in conjunction with a Smartboard interactive whiteboard.The system lets you use wireless remotes (or clickers) so you can created planned or spontaneous quizzes and instantly tally responses. This would allow for immediate adjustment in lesson plans to meet students needs. The clickers would be used with existing programs such as Study Island and Scott Foresman Math for instruction and assessment.

Madison Cross Roads Elementary (Madison)
Ms. Barbara West
Podcasting 101
Students will be involved in creating podcasts on various subjects throughout the school year. They will learn how to take an idea from their grade level content area, develop a storyboard, record video and audio clips, use Audacity and Windows Movie Maker, and download other web resources to make a podcast that will be submitted to ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange)for posting on their website.

Holy Family School (Madison)
Mrs. Betty Snow
Learn and Serve: Raising a Healthier Generation of Kids through School Gardening
Youth gardening programs provide a tremendous opportunity for children to learn firsthand the benfits of growing, harvesting, and eating healthy foods. Additionally, this project give students the opportunity to study hydroponics, butterflies, plant anatomy, and worm anatomy (including dissection). We also intend to provide cross-curriculum learning by using mature plantings within the art department for modeling. The greatest benefit to the program is the fact that the materials can be used by all grade levels within the school.

Central School (Madison)
Mrs. Kimberley VanHooser
Immersed in Science
Immersed in Science is a project in which 3rd-8th grade students will explore Science through an in-depth look with a document camera and writing tablet. Students will be able to use the investigative skills of science with an emphasis on critical analysis and concept comprehension.

Lacey's Spring Elementary (Morgan)
Mrs. Nicole Robinson
Making Math Work
Making Math Work is a project that will provide third grade students with developmentally appropriate hands-on math experiences. The materials provided will be designed to use during small group instruction and math stations as well as whole group instruction.

Madison Cross Roads Elementary (Madison)
Mrs. Amy Cagle
Engineering 001: Kindergarten Style
Engineering 001: Kindergarten Style is designed to be an introduction to problem-solving and engineering skills for small children. This project will allow for children to design and create moving masterpieces by using gears, pillars, cranks, connectors, interlocking plates, and simple machines. Children will problem-solve as a group while trying new pieces together to explore success and failures in creating models that work.

Madison Cross Roads (Madison)
Mrs. Julie Maney
Science in Our Hands
Science in our hands will help our teachers and students to build on science areas that are not always covered by our AMSTI units. We will order science manipulatives to help us expand on areas such as magnets, light and shadows, things that sink and float, and hand magnifiers for our science centers.

Madison Cross Roads Schools (Madison)
Mrs. Susan Spruill
Learning through Manipulatives
Learning through Manipulatives is a project that will aide kindergartners in the understanding of basic mathematical and scientific concepts. Students will be given opportunities to actively engage in the exploration of math and science through construction of various structures and design.

Madison Cross Roads School (Madison)
Mrs. Carmen Hanback
Developing Explorers of Math and Science
Developing Explorers in Math and Science is an across the curriculum project in which kindergarten students will explore favorite classroom themes as they build essential skills. The project will provide comprehensive, hands-on lessons to include engaging activities that span throughout the day. The students will use props and high-interest manipulatives to give them a concrete sense of each concept.

Weatherly Elementary (Madison)
Mrs. Sue Zupko
The Technology Leader in Me
Weatherly Heights Elementary is enmeshed in a program called "The Leader in Me", teaching students/faculty how to be effective leaders and taking responsibility for their learning. The fifth grade teachers have requested that we teach more science as part of the curriculum in the gifted and talented program. As part of our school's technology initiative, our students will conduct research projects in science and teach other students in the school about what they have discovered. These student-created lessons will be broadcast on the school's morning show. It's a win-win.

Hazel Green High School (Madison)
Mrs. Dawn Cole
CSI: Hazel Green
HGHS: CSI. Forensic Science students will use the materials contained within the Forensic Detective Lab set to complete a series of labs in coorelation with the course standards. Students will be able to complete labs on the following topics: fingerprinting, blood typing, blood spatter, glass analysis, luminol analysis of simulated blood, DNA, and facial reconstruction with FACES software.

Epworth MDO Preschool & Kindergarten (Madison)
Ms. Melody L. McCulley
Loving Math Kindergarten Style
In Loving Math Kindergarten Style, students will use the math skills learned through the grant materials to apply in everyday settings. Students will use the materials in large and small group settings to strengthen their ability to count, work with money, determine place value, understand the concept of time, recognize patterns, and begin to develop addition and subtraction skills.

Greengate School (Madison)
Mrs. Shirlana Haythorn
Magnifing Science
This project will allow all Greengate School students to use hand lenses, microscopes, and an ELMO to extend their sense of sight and make scientific observations. Students will have individual hands-on opportunities for observation and then be able to share and discuss those observations with classmates by projecting the images through the ELMO. Students will learn grade level concepts that align with state and national standards in Science.

Huntsville Center for Technology (Madison)
Mr. John M. Stingel
Building the Google X Prize and Rocket City Space Pioneers Moon Rover
HCT has teamed up with Rocket City Space Pioneers to compete for the Google XPrize race to the moon. HCT will build and test moon rovers that are part of the required task. We will be required to operate the rovers in simulated space terrain. The main rover will involve 10 electronics students. As you can imagine the project has stirred up a tremendous amount of student interest. I plan to have as many students involved in the project as I can, but I need the hardware to allow them to learn/experiment as much as possible. This money can purchase updated items that will be us for years to co

Section High School (Jackson)
Mr. Robby Saint
Chemistry Magic Show
With this grant, high school students will research, prepare, and conduct various chemistry demonstrations as part of a "chemistry magic show" for elementary students in our school. Through this project, high school student must learn and teach various chemistry concepts to elementary students while creating an excitement for science in younger elementary students who may otherwise not be exposed to science.

Arab Primary School (USA)
Mrs. Kari Moss
Number Corner
Kindergarten Number Corner Kits will be purchased to supplement the Saxon Math Program we currently use. The kits will fill in gaps in the curriculum and provide math enrichment for some students. Number Corner provides ongoing exposure and practice in skills such as time, money, and measurement. These skills need to be expanded on and reinforced and this additional program will facilitate that.

Greengate School (Madison)
Mrs. Lisa Bruton
Making Math Movie Stars
When a child is struggling in mathematics, a written math problem seems quite abstract. By manipulating familiar objects, students learn to internalize solutions to problems. Sharing and discussing their solutions and methods of solving the written problem requires students to express their thinking clearly so that their teacher and classmates can understand their reasoning. The skill of thinking, reasoning, and communicating your ideas clearly and comfortably to others is important in school as well as the adult professional work environment.

New Market School (Madison)
Mrs. Mary Lee
You Have Questions, We'll Find the Solutions: Essential Questions in Mathematics
Essential Questioning will drive mathematical investigations while employing various techniques such as hands-on, visual, auditory, and video modes of learning to experience real-life math situations. Above all, students should feel enchanted by the beauty of mathematics, empowered by their increasing abilities, and captivated by new concepts (Raphel).

Greengate School (Madison)
Mrs. Melissa Bryant
Math with a Twist
In Math with a Twist, students will be applying math learned in the textbook setting and realizing its usefulness. Tallying, recording the data, and comparing results will have students applying math skills in the physical education setting to use later in life in group work situations. The bodily experience of movement, math, and making a concrete memory will strengthen the math skills, increase retention, and practice mathematical concepts in an environment students generally love with materials or equipment they want to use each day.

Westlawn Middle School (Madison)
Mrs. Barbara Murphy
Rocket Boys
Westlawn Middle School will form three teams (boys, girls and Hispanic) to learn about designing and building model rockets to compete in the Team America Rocketry Competition sponsored by AIAA. Teams will design rockets using SpaceCAD4, build rockets and fly them in an attempt to qualify for a national fly off. Students who were on the team in 2010-2011 and earlier now attend high school but will also be members of the team.

New Century Technology HS (Madison)
Mrs. Jane Jones
SciPodding
SciPodding is a project in which students will research specific STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) topics and produce audio and video Podcasts based on their research. The podcasts will be submitted to the ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange) website and made available to all teachers in the state. In addition, technology "how to" tutorials will be produced using video capturing software. These tutorials will be based on common questions and problems in computer use and will be posted on our school website for use by both teachers and students.

Mill Creek Elementary School (Madison)
Mrs. Jackie Smith
Alternative Energy: Finding Fuel for the Future
The recent increase in fossil fuel prices has sparked a renewed interest in alternative energy resources. Alternative Energy: Finding Fuel for the Future is a student-centered, hands-on approach to learning about clean energy resources and the viability of our society transitioning from the use of fossil fuels to alternative energy sources. During the project, students will construct a wind energy system and design and construct solar powered vehicles. In addition, students will explore the use of hydrogen fuel cell cars.

Paint Rock Valley High School (Jackson)
Mr. Tonya Taber
Elmo Projector and Algebra Tiles to Balance My Mathematical Equation Classroom
How are you seeing that? It just looks like a bunch of numbers and letters. My students need to be able to see problems more clearly through manipulatives. An Elmo Presenter and Algebra Tiles are two of the most fundamental items in a mathematical classroom. I teach all levels of mathematics from the simplicity of seventh grade mathematics to the complexity of geometry and pre-calculus. I currently have a digital projector and an updated computer, but am lacking a digital presenter and manipulatives.

Whitesburg Middle School (Madison)
Mrs. Lynn K, McQueen
Relaying the Natural Facts and Photos
Students have been learning how to collect data from our weather station. In order to take this program a step further & relay data collected from our weather station, students will post data on our outdoor classroom web page; this information will be seen by administration, students, guest entering the school and the community. This information will be relayed via computer to the flat screen television that will be in the lobby of the school. This information will scroll continually during times of bad weather & students will post their nature photographs using Photo Story Three as a mural.

Goldsmith-Schiffman Elementary School (Madison)
Mrs. Leeann L. Childers
My Brain is Popping! Your Brain is Popping! All of Our Brains Are Popping!
"Brain Pop Jr." is a learning program specifically aimed towards children 5-8 years of age (grades K-3). The topics featured in the computer program "Brain Pop Jr." have been chosen to correlate with national standards and testing mandates; however, the topics are written in fun and understandable language for the children. "Brain Pop Jr." features more than 600 animated movies covering the subjects of math, science, English, reading, social studies, and health. New movies and activities are being added to on a continual basis.

SECTION HIGH SCHOOL (Jackson)
Mrs. Michelle Copenhaver
Math Becomes Magical
Our students need more hands-on tools to better understand math. The objective for this project is for all 3rd grade students to have math experiences that incorporate their senses, that require them to experiment and make observations, and that allow them time to investigate a topic further. The students will use math manipulatives to promote student learning through engaging, hands-on math experiences. These materials will help all students develop abstract and higher-order thinking skills.

Chaffee Elementary School (Madison)
Mrs. Lori Nelson
Renewable Energy: Igniting Imaginations for a Brighter Future
"Renewable Energy: Igniting Imagination for a Brighter Future" is a project which uses many resources to teach students about renewable energy, which is an Alabama Course of Study objective for 5th grade science. Students will learn about several forms of renewable energy through experiments and activities, which hopefully will not only provide knowledge acquisition, but also promote students' interest in science and engineering.

Stevenson Elementary (Jackson)
Ms. Tammy Guess
Videoing Adventures
With the world being so technology oriented, it is imperative for students to become as familiar as possible with all phases of technology. This will empower students through the use of technology to discover the world of science in the classroom. The students will learn to use the camcorder, as well as, videoing scientific experiments and presentations. Students will also learn to use a digital and use it for scientific documentation, such as, plant growth documentation and graphing.

Chaffee Elementary School (Madison)
Ms. Colleen Laymon
Power Up: Inventive Thinking
Power Up will focus on the use of creative and inventive thinking in the disciplines of math and science. Students will participate in both individual and group activities to foster experimentation, cooperation and communication. The students will be introduced to the Advanced Structured Inventive Thinking (ASIT) method of learning that is actively being learned by employees in many companies around the world, including Ford, Motorola, and Intel. ASIT is also being implemented in several universities around the world

Seed Grants for Previous Years

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

YouTube Channel
LinkedIn
About Proposals Grants Donors Committee Contacts Search