Learning Grants by SRP
2009-2010

Whether it involves studying renewable resources or participating in an after-school engineering and robotics club, projects supported by SRP grants in 2009-10 have the promise of exciting young minds through a variety of approaches.

This year, Learning Grants by SRP funds endeavors, programs and activities that promote and support innovative math and science education at 29 Arizona schools. SRP awarded $125,517 in grants as part of its Classroom Connections educational funding portfolio.

In addition to Learning Grants, Classroom Connections also includes Powering Our Future Mini-Grants and Social Studies Grants; funding for all three programs is earmarked at $175,000.

Schools receiving 2009-10 funds include:

  1. Amberlea Elementary School, Phoenix, ($2,312): This year-long, problem-based learning project will require seventh- and eight-grade students in the gifted program to explore scientific concepts and practice inquiry and problem solving skills. Students will be tasked with planning a city on a distant planet that would be able to support life - Earth 2.0 - and will be asked to utilize their skills in several disciplines including life science, physical science, science and technology, mathematics, inquiry science, space science, architecture and engineering.
  2. Arcadia High School, Phoenix, ($5,000): A weeklong series of events and a community science night celebrating National DNA Day is being planned for Arcadia High School and its feeder schools to highlight the advancements in bioscience and STEM careers. Eighth-grade students from Ingleside Middle School and the Arcadia Neighborhood Learning Center as well as Arcadia High School will be participating in DNA labs, the National DNA Day essay contest, the National Biodreaming poster contest and in career exploration activities.
  3. Arizona Cardinals Preparatory Academy, Phoenix, ($4,996): Students will engage in hands-on inquiry experiences at the Rio Salado Restoration Project in central Phoenix. Students will explore the ecosystem present including riparian plant and animal life, avian life and aquatic organisms.
  4. Burk Elementary School, Gilbert, ($2,100): Students in the Intermediate Math and Language Arts Accelerated Learning Program will participate in a variety of STEM activities including Career Exploration in Science and Engineering, Star Lab Presentations, Challenger Space Center Voyage to Mars Mission, Future City Project, Model Rocketry, Sally Ride Festival and Virtual Classroom.
  5. Casa Verde High School, Casa Grande, ($4,973): Students from the environmental inquiry class will focus on energy. They will learn about the conservation of energy, develop an understanding of energy transfer versus energy storage and non-renewable and renewable energy sources.
  6. Cesar Chavez High School, Laveen, ($5,000): The Science and Technology team will participate in the FIRST (For inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)Tech Challenge, the FIRST Robotics Competition and sponsor/mentor two teams in the FIRST Lego League. The FIRST Robotics competition is a competition in which students work alongside engineers to design, construct, program, test and improve a robot using the latest engineering components.

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  7. Chino Valley High School, Concho, ($4,908): Students taking part in the biotechnology program will be able to learn more about their DNA samples through the purchase of a thermal cycler (PCR-polymerase chain reaction). Current topics such as heredity, genetically modified organisms, water conservation, forensic science and others will be explored.
  8. Concho Elementary, Concho, ($5,000): Students will be able to bring inquiry learning to life in a sustainable green house and garden. This will provide a teaching environment that allows students to invest their learning into action. Based on Arizona Science standards, every student will be able to experience inquiry in a vital living classroom.
  9. Country Place Elementary, Tolleson, ($4,981): Students will participate in a variety of science extension activities including the expansion of the existing robotics program to younger students, the inclusion of the study of alternative renewable resources in the upper grades and the exploration of force and motion through rocketry in the science club and the gifted education.
  10. Desert Mirage Elementary School, Glendale, ($4,258): Students in third and sixth grade will conduct hands-on experiments to learn about renewable resources, forms of energy and the transfer of energy in physical science. Additionally, older students in the program will mentor the younger students and will benefit from the Renewable Energy After School Program.
  11. Dobson and Westwood Agriscience Program, Mesa, ($4,922): The Dobson and Westwood Agriscience Programs, in partnership Mesa Public Schools Career and Technical Education, will tissue culture plants grown for food and aesthetics and compare tissue culture methods using controlled investigations. Students will be trained using equipment they would find in industry as well as using items found in the home of an average student. The main goal of this project is to link classroom learning to real world application of biotechnology and agriscience principles through hands-on activities.
  12. Fees Middle School, Tempe, ($1,557): In order to have a better understanding of energy, students will work in small groups to engage in a research related to renewable forms of energy. This student-driven inquiry project will result in students having a better understanding of how energy is generated, stored and transferred.
  13. Fountain Hills High School, Fountain Hills, ($5,000): As part of a STEM initiative, the Fountain High School Research Club is building a new concept, street-legal vehicle that will achieve 100 miles per gallon. This unique car, named the Falcon Future, was recently accepted into the Progressive Automotive X-Prize, one of only two high school project cars in the nation to qualify for this prestigious international competition.
  14. Frye Elementary School, Chandler, ($5,000): Teachers, students, staff, parents and community volunteers will benefit from the expansion of the Frye Math Resource Library, which will feature discrete math "kits" with lessons and materials that can be checked out to use as a resource for teaching discrete mathematics concepts.
  15. Hamilton High School, Chandler, ($5,000): Students in the Chandler Unified School District benefit yearly from the Hamilton Invitational Science and Engineering Fair in which students are encouraged to design and carry out an inquiry project through which they learn foundational science process skills. In the Independent Authentic Student Science Research class, students conduct authentic research projects from idea to research and eventually presentation.

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  16. Highland Junior High School, Gold Canyon, ($500): Students in engineering teams will apply their knowledge of physics concepts while learning about real-life engineering challenges in this three week culminating activity of their physics unit of study. Students will apply physics and math concepts to bring the "theoretical" to a "real life" situation."
  17. Marcos De Niza High School, Tempe, ($5,000): Marcos de Niza High School Robotics Team 2449 works in collaboration with James Madison Preparatory and is officially constituted under the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics organization. FIRST program provides students with hands-on experiences building and programming robots, which will enable students to solve real-world problems through the application of math, science and technology concepts.
  18. Maricopa High School, Maricopa, ($5,000): Biology students will participate in a biotechnology unit concerning water purification and pollution entitled "What's in your water? Using Biotechnology to Explore Water."
  19. McDowell Mountain Elementary, Fountain Hills, ($4,000): Students will develop science concepts and literacy skills simultaneously by using literature to aid in the inquiry process. Fiction and nonfiction books will be used to engage students in the questioning process and promote research throughout the inquiry process.
  20. Mesa High-Biotech Academy, Mesa, ($4,998): Students will benefit from hands-on materials which will be used in preparation of science fair projects related to biology and biotechnology. Additionally, teachers from the program will visit schools in Beijing and Xian, China, to educate teachers on the creation of a program of their own.
  21. Page High School, Page, ($4,850): Students of the engineering/physics class will be designing and fabricating a photovoltaic solar panel array. This solar panel array will be connected to the existing solar array/electric car charging facility previously funded by SRP learning grants. The existing solar array is producing about 1.5 kilowatts, enough to charge the electric car with excess electricity tied to the power grid via the Inverter. The current inverter is capable of 2.7 kilowatts and by adding an additional array the students will be harvesting maximum power.
  22. Papago Elementary School, Phoenix, ($4,984): Fourth grade students will participate in "Empowering our Future Minds," a hands-on inquiry-based science curriculum concerning energy and renewable resources. The traditional study of electricity will be extended to include building wind turbines and visiting the local hydroelectric facility, Arizona Falls.
  23. Payson High School, Payson, ($4,094): Students will gain awareness, appreciation and knowledge of water resources by performing water quality assessments and riparian area study on the East Verde River. The project will provide longitudinal data relating rate of flow to water quality factors.

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  24. Peralta Trail Elementary School, Gold Canyon, ($4,945): The schoolyard habitat will be expanded to include an observatory complete with telescope and remote internet access for students and teachers to be able to monitor and use as a learning tool throughout the year.
  25. Rimrock Public High School, Rimrock, ($2,194): Students will assess the health of the Beaver Creek ecosystem in the town of Rimrock/Lake Montezuma. To do this, water samples will be collected from Beaver Creek above and below the town of Rimrock/Lake Montezuma. The samples will be analyzed for pollutants as well as for the concentration of minerals and dissolved oxygen content and will be used to determine if the community has an effect on the health of the Beaver Creek ecosystem.
  26. Salt River High School, Scottsdale, ($5,000): The biotechnology program will be enhanced and expanded through the acquisition of needed equipment and furniture which will enable hands-on inquiry for students.
  27. SanTan Learning Center, Gilbert, ($5,000): Students will be able to extend their learning in math and science by participating in a series of hands-on units and activities including field experiences which will serve as a catalyst for a school-wide focus on science and math innovation. Additionally, school volunteers will be specially trained to assist in teaching these learning extensions.
  28. St. Timothy Catholic School, Mesa, ($5,000): Middle school students will participate in hands-on learning experience thanks to a mobile science lab consisting of a demonstration table on wheels, 13-student microscopes and associated experiment equipment.
  29. Thunder Mountain Middle School, Apache Junction, ($4,945): Students will benefit from the improvement of an existing schoolyard habitat that will allow students hands-on learning experiences with native plants. The creation of a butterfly garden with native plants will give students access to tools that will lead to inquiry and problem solving through hands-on learning.

Find out more

For information about how to apply for a Learning Grant by SRP, please visit our Learning Grant page, or call (602) 236-2484.

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