My Nonprofit Reviews

The Society for Science is an exceptional organization that has transformed my teaching and greatly influenced the lives of so many of my students. I have received grants from them, participated in the Science News program, presented virtually at the Middle School Research Conference, and have been part of the Science Advocate program. Each of these opportunities has allowed me to enhance and enrich the science research capabilities of my students and help them develop a passion for STEAM that has reached far beyond my classroom.
The grant I received allowed me to include biotechnology topics in my classroom. As a result, students I taught in middle school went on to the high school and enrolled in biotechnology classes. One participated in the ISEF this year with a biotech project.
The Science News program provided students with current articles on new discoveries in science. These articles influenced the research topics students selected to complete and enter in science research competitions. Three teams of students won worldwide competitions for projects they developed based on a Science News article.
Being involved in the Middle School Research Conference, gave me the opportunity to meet with and learn from other middle school science teachers that wanted to improve their student’s research capabilities. Sessions I attended, allowed me to help my school district improve the research plan process for our district science and engineering fair.
My involvement in the advocate program, gave me the confidence to approach my district about the creation of a Science Research Class. Last year was the inaugural year of the class. I had 20 students with a wide range of educational expertise. The majority of the students were low performing students that were put in the class because other elective classes were full. Yet, these students excelled.
One group participated in a program to design a prototype Martian Greenhouse. They built a prototype greenhouse, a hydroponics system, and a wind turbine. They were asked to virtually present their research at the Mars Society Conference. Another group chose to participate in the Plant the Moon Challenge. They chose a crop and designed a study to learn how to best grow crops in lunar regolith. They won Best in Show Most Innovative Experiment in the world. A second team conducted research on growing crops in Mars regolith in the Plant Mars Challenge. They won Best in Show Best Evaluation of Results in the world!
When our entire eighth grade received a grant to Plant the Moon (330 students) in the spring, the research students took lead roles in helping each group develop their research plan and conduct their research. Our students won three out of the four middle school awards given at the state level and one of the four awards given at the world level. The Society for Science has transformed our students into world class science researchers!