Country of Residence
United States
Age
15
Project title
The Spark Space: Hands-On-Teacher Resources
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
The Spark Space: Hands-On-Teachers Resources is a lending library in a dedicated closet at my school that allows teachers to borrow reusable materials for hands-on-activities, giving students a peace of mind without worrying about sharing equipment or supply shortages.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
Project Category
My project is a brand new / emerging idea
Project Stage
Idea (We’re hoping to get started in the future)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
My “Aha!” moment was this day in my PLTW Biomedical class where we were going to dissect a lamb heart to study the cardiovascular anatomy. My teacher mentioned that due to a tight budget, he had a limit to how many lamb hearts he was going to use for each class. Students would have to share the tools with a partner because we were low on supplies and lamb hearts. I saw how every table had to share the equipment with their partner but some of the students backed out of the dissection due to nausea at the sight of it. When I was sharing tools with my partner, there was more time spent on watching them perform the dissection than me having the chance to do the dissection at the same duration as them. But it was still fun despite the situation.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
When teachers have to pay out-of-pocket, there is a greater chance that students will miss out on the opportunity of learning hands-on skills and experiences that will help prepare them for the medical or STEM field and will instead have to learn from videos or worksheets rather than getting to experience a real lab. There are many teachers at my school who would love to give their students the chance to learn and gain these experiences. But, they can’t because they don’t have the supplies, equipment, and money for it. In a situation where a student will have to share tools with their partner and watch them, it can lead to unequal participation and less hands-on-experience due to less participation and their partner dominating the partner lab work.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
My solution to this problem is to first distribute a digital survey to all teachers who teaches classes that specializes in science or sub-science to pinpoint exactly what they need most in their classrooms such as lab equipment, dissection tools, safety gear, and a plethora of other materials. Secondly, with the grant, I will be able to set up The Spark Space in a dedicated closet at my school. The Spark Space will allow teachers to access resources to be used in their classrooms to help students gain the hands-on-experience they need to help them on their journey to the medical or STEM field. Teachers will be able to borrow, return, and re-use materials for their hands-on-activities apart of the agenda by using a simple digital check-out system.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
Many science teachers at my school will be able to provide the equipment and tools students need to excel in their lab activities. Students will have a peace of mind to focus on mastering skills gained from performing hands-on-experiments for the medical and STEM field, rather than stressing out over limited tools or missing out on the opportunity to perform lab activities over limited supplies. Since materials will be reusable, many future students coming into our school will have the opportunity to use the reusable materials.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
Usually, when schools face a shortage of lab equipment, supplies, or safety gear, they host a fundraiser, ask parents to donate, or individual teachers buy their own supplies for their own classroom. This solves a specific issue, not the whole picture. But with The Spark Space, resources inside are reusable and durable for teachers to borrow. For example, a biomedical teacher can borrow dissection tools for their class then a biology teacher can borrow the same dissection tools for their class after. It is important for teachers to communicate on what activities they are planning to assign for their class with other teachers so that everyone can get a heads up and work around everyone’s schedules. To make scheduling smoother, The Spark Space digital checkout system automatically handles availability for specific materials without any difficulty.
How many people are on your team?
1
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
I am the solo operator of my team, solely responsible for The Spark Space operations, inventory management, and digital maintenance. I partner with science teachers who cooperate to keep the check-out system in order. Teachers are responsible for communicating classroom needs, collaborating around schedules for fair sharing, and returning materials in good condition. The digital system handles the heavy lifting by tracking live availability for a smooth rotation.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
Over the next three months, the steps I will take to launch The Spark Space is to first distribute a digital survey to teachers a part of the science department. The survey will ask a number of questions about hands-on-activities for their class. They will also learn about The Spark Space and its mission to help teachers provide students with hands-on-activities at no cost. These steps will take place in Month 1. In Month 2, I will buy the specific supplies teachers need for their classrooms using the grant money in a catalog. Then I will set up The Spark Space in a designated closet at my school by stocking up the materials, lab equipment, safety gear, etc, and install the digital check-in and check-out system. Lastly, in Month 3 I will officially launch The Spark Space for all science teachers to officially start borrowing supplies for their classroom.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
I encourage teachers from the science department to actively use The Spark Space for their classrooms. By sending out a personalized email to specific science teachers, the email will have a flyer and a survey for teachers to read, and fill out. When teachers fill out the digital survey form sent out by me, they will learn about The Spark Space, its purpose, and its mission. Teachers will be able to understand The Spark Space mission to help teachers provide students hands-on-activities to prepare them for their medical and/or STEM field. Once The Spark Space officially launches, I will send out an announcement by email for science teachers to start checking out supplies to start their upcoming hands-on-activity with the help of The Spark Space.
