The Philadelphia Math & Science Coalition offers mini-grants to enhance math or science classroom instruction to certified math and science teachers in grades 6-12 the School District of Philadelphia. In 2011-2012 charter school math and science teachers may apply. The mini-grants are part of the Coalition’s mission to “enhance the quality of math and science teaching in the Philadelphia public schools, so that our youth will excel in math and science.”
Is there an innovative classroom project that you would like to try with students in your math or science classroom but you need funding? Then you should apply for a Philadelphia Math and Science Coalition Dow Classroom Innovation Grant. These grants will be awarded on a competitive basis. Grant amounts may range from $100 to $1000. Teams of teachers, especially interdisciplinary teams, are encouraged to apply. Only one application will be accepted per teacher or team of teachers in a given school.
>Download a 2011-2012 application
Mini-grants were awarded to these schools in the last two years (2009-2011):
School Project Title
Arts Academy-Rush Gas Laws in Chemistry
Central Visual Presentation of Astronomy and Fields
Douglas Using Student White Boards
Furness Math Workshop for Parents
George Washington Video Lab Reports
Overbrook Real Life Engineering
Rates of Change
Olney East Model House Design and Construction
Math and Art
Roxborough Bacterial Transformation
Saul Cellular Claymation
Wagner Middle K'nex Cars and Laws of Motion
West Philadelphia Science & Math of Basketball
Geometry Tour of West Philadelphia
Youth Study Center K'nex Robotics
Comments from mini-grant teachers:
“I really enjoyed taking the students out of the building in order to complete this project. One of my pet peeves as a teacher is the limited space in which I have to work with my students. I attempt to think of ways for them to see how math relates to real-world situations and this was a perfect example of it.”
- Brian Cohen, West Philadelphia High School
“This project was an experiment for me, and it was worth the risk! I truly enjoyed intertwining literacy with environmental science, and I think I learned as much as my students did. This project allowed me to grow leaps and bounds as a facilitator and developed my confidence and relationship with students.”
- Kelsey Johnson, George Washington High
School
“The math and science mini-grant provided an opportunity that I would not have otherwise been able to offer my students. It gave them an opportunity to use real scientific equipment and really increased their confidence about their scientific knowledge and experience.”
- Erika McFadden, Roxborough High School
“This is my second year teaching forces and motion and I think the children enjoyed this year much more than last. We covered topics in the book as they related to what they were discovering by trial and error using the K’Nex cars. More than once I heard children discussing the ideas of increasing the mass of the car to get it to go faster vs. reducing the mass on the car to get it to go faster. They were encouraged to experiment to find out which of those things was true.”
- Ruth Penning, Wagner Middle School