Finding the necessary funds to support your science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs can often be challenging, especially when the supplied budgets are barely enough to incorporate creative, technological initiatives within the classroom. Grants are an amazing way to obtain additional funding that can ultimately help to evolve and transform all learning environments.
Research is key aspect of finding what grants are right for you and your needs. Every grant will have specific qualifications and requirements that must be met in order to qualify for the additional funding. Don’t give up if the first one isn’t right for you. There are plenty of sources out there willing to provide assistance, we’ve even listed a variety of potentials below.
Before writing your grant proposal, it is important to establish what project you wish to fund and the necessary items needed for success. Brainstorming with colleagues is a great way to identify potential resources and topics that can help support your proposal, as working in groups will often provide varying perspectives. Once you have created a general idea of items to include, adjustments should be made to ensure that only the necessities remain. After the modifications, you should have a specific list that outlines both the prices and product numbers of the equipment and services you wish to support with funding.
Grants are readily available resources that are often overlooked. They are provided by a variety of groups ranging from local organizations and school boards to large corporations and the government. The research aspect might be daunting at first, but majority of these sources make it easy for individuals by advertising the potential for funding through the internet. It’s important to keep in mind that bigger isn’t always better, many of the smaller sources are often forgotten and end up having extra funds. Don’t be afraid to apply to more than one source, as this will only increase the chances of your project receiving funding.
Every organization will have different objectives and guidelines for their funding criteria. It is important to take the time to establish which grants will best fit the your project, the amount of time need for completion and the submission period. Taking the opportunity to contact an Organization’s representative through email, call, or a meeting can be a great way to determine if a source is right for you.
A proposal ultimately represents the backbone of your potential funding. Without a strong foundation and direction, it can be very challenging to encourage an organization to provide support to your project. By incorporating the following advice, writing a grant proposal can be an extremely straight forward process.
Finding funding that fits your program can be easily achieved by taking the time to research and apply your passion to discovering new grant opportunities. There are organizations right now who wish to support your vision and provide the necessary resources. Remember to always exercises patience and thorough thinking when creating your grant proposals, establishing emotion and interest. Finally, it is important to understand that not all sources will accept your project. Take the opportunity to learn from their advice and reasoning to enhance your next proposal.
A big thanks for all the help and support you provided – I want to take some time to say a big thanks for all the help and support you provided me to select the best equipment in order to make the best possible use of the funds available. It is really exceptional that you happily connected with me multiple times even during the weekend and was always motivated to help. Please accept my big thanks for this.
Gurpreet Sidhu | Physics Instructor | University College of North | The Pas, MB
Wireless Spectrometer Big Hit With Students – PASCO’s wireless spectrometer has been utilized very well by our earth science and physical science teachers. It’s an excellent piece of equipment and we have very much enjoyed its addition to enriching our classroom. It definitely brings students to a higher level of understanding wave interaction at a molecular level.
Matt Tumbach | Secondary Instructional Technology Leader | Tommy Douglas Collegiate | Saskatoon, SK
Excellent Smart Cart – I thought the cart was excellent. The quick sampling rate for force will be very useful for momentum and collision labs we do. I’m recommending we include this in our order for next school year.
Reed Jeffrey | Science Department Head | Upper Canada College | Toronto ON
Your lab equipment is of the highest quality and technical support is always there to help. During the 25 years we have used a wide array of lab equipment including computer interfacing. Your Pasco line has a high profile in our lab and will continue to do so far into the future.
Bob Chin | Lab Technician | Kwantlen Polytechnic University | Surrey, BC
Datalogging Activities are Cross-Curricular
Throughout the province of Nova Scotia, PASCO’s probeware technology has been merged with the rollout of the new P-6 curriculum. We chose a number of sensors for use with our project-based activities. Both the functionality and mobility of PASCO’s dataloggers enable students to collect authentic, real-world data, test their hypotheses and build knowledge.
Mark Richards | Technology Integration Consultant | Annapolis Valley R.S.B. | Nova Scotia
We have a large number of PASCO wireless spectrometers and love how they have improved the learning experience for our students.
Shawn McFadden | Technical Specialist | Ryerson University | Toronto, Ontario
During distance learning due to COVID-19 school shut down, I was given a short window to collect what I could from my classroom to teach online. The PASCO wireless sensors and Smart Carts were my top priority to collect to implement distance learning. By sharing experimental data with students via SPARKVue, the sensors were pivotal in creating an online experience that still allowed students to grow with their lab skills. It was easy to record videos of the data collection and share the data with my students. They did a phenomenal job examining and interpreting the data.
Michelle Brosseau | Physics Teacher | Ursuline College Chatham | Chatham, Ontario
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I have taught grade 9 applied science, science and technology, grade 10 applied, regular and enriched science, grade 11 chemistry and physics for 33 years at Westwood Senior High School in Hudson Québec. I discovered the PASCO equipment in 2019 and it completely changed my life. I love to discover, produce experiments and share discoveries. I am looking forward to work with your team.
Having graduated with a major in Computer Science and minors in Physics and Mathematics, I began my teaching career at Killarney Collegiate Institute in Killarney, Manitoba in 2009. While teaching Physics there, I decided to invest in PASCO products and approached the Killarney Foundation with a proposal about funding the Physics lab with the SPARK Science Learning System and sensors. While there I also started a tremendously successful new course that gave students the ability to explore their interests in science and consisted of students completing one project a month, two of which were to be hands-on experiments, two of which were to be research based, and the final being up to the student.
In 2011 I moved back to Brandon, Manitoba and started working at the school I had graduated from, Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School. In 2018 I finally had the opportunity to once again teach Physics and have been working hard to build the program. Being in the vocational school for the region has led to many opportunities to collaborate with our Electronics, Design Drafting, Welding, and Photography departments on highly engaging inter-disciplinary projects. I believe very strongly in showing students what Physics can look like and build lots of demonstrations and experiments for my classes to use, including a Reuben’s tube, an electromagnetic ring launcher, and Schlieren optics setup, just to name a few that have become fan favourites among the students in our building. At the end of my first year teaching Physics at Crocus Plains I applied for CERN’s International High School Teacher Programme and became the first Canadian selected through direct entry in the 21 years of the program. This incredible opportunity gave me the opportunity to learn from scientists working on the Large Hadron Collider and from CERN’s educational outreach team at the S’Cool Lab. Following this, I returned to Canada and began working with the Perimeter Institute, becoming part of their Teacher Network.
These experiences and being part of professional development workshops with the AAPT and the Canadian Light Source (CLS) this summer has given me the opportunity to speak to many Physics educators around the world to gain new insights into how my classroom evolves. As I work to build our program, I am exploring new ideas that see students take an active role in their learning, more inter-disciplinary work with departments in our school, the development of a STEM For Girls program in our building, and organizing participation in challenges from the ESA, the Students on the Beamline program from CLS, and our local science fair.
Though I graduated with a BEd qualified to teach English and Social Studies, it just wasn’t meant to be. My first job was teaching technology courses at a local high school, a far cry from the English and Social Studies job I had envisioned myself in. I was lucky enough to stay in that position for over ten years, teaching various technology courses in grades 10-12, while also obtaining a Master of Education in Technology Integration and a Master of Education in Online Instructional Media.
You will notice what is absent from my bio is any background in science. In fact, I took the minimum amount of required science courses to graduate high school. Three years ago I switched roles and currently work as a Technology Integration Leader; supporting teachers with integrating technology into their pedagogy in connection with the provincial outcomes. All of our schools have PASCO sensors at some level (mostly grades 4-12) and I made it my professional goal to not only learn how to use them, but to find ways to make them more approachable for teachers with no formal science background (like me!). Having no background or training in science has allowed me to experience a renewed love of Science, making it easier for me to support teachers in learning how to use PASCO sensors in their classrooms. I wholeheartedly believe that if more teachers could see just how easy they are to use, the more they will use them in the classroom and I’ve made it my goal to do exactly that.
I enjoy coming up with out-of-the-box ways of using the sensors, including finding curriculum connections within subjects outside of the typical science realm. I have found that hands on activities with immediate feedback, which PASCO sensors provide, help students and teachers see the benefits of technology in the classroom and will help more students foster a love of science and STEAM learning.