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Shaler Area Middle School science department receives 2 PPG grants
Shaler Area Middle School science department is the recipient of two PPG Innovative Classroom Grants that will benefit students by introducing additional resources into the classroom.

One $1,000 PPG Innovative Classroom Grant will fund the purchase of six dual-range force sensors, and a second $1,000 PPG Innovative Classroom Grant will fund the purchase laboratory sets of Happy Atoms modeling kits.

The dual-range force sensors will be used in the eighth-grade science friction, forces, and simple machines unit. The dual-range force sensors will be used to monitor and measure force and graph the force through the motion of an object moving with the aid of a simple machine. The six sensors will allow each of the three eighth-grade science teachers to have two per classroom.

“The dual-range sensors in the classroom will highly engage and greatly enhance the experience and understanding of how forces change the motion of an object,” said Sondra Jodkin, science teacher.

The Happy Atoms kits allow students to create model molecules using elements in the periodic table. Student can then scan the created molecule using an app on their iPads to further explore how molecules interact with each other through chemical reactions.

Dennis Reagle, middle school science teacher, said chemistry can be a very abstract subject and the Happy Atoms kits will help students visualize the structural differences of atoms.

“It is our hope that using these manipulatives will give the students a concrete foundation to their understanding of chemistry,” Reagle said.


Shaler Area Middle School's science department to get new tech, thanks to PPG grants
TribLIVE | Local article Jan. 24, 2017