For Individual Volunteers, NOT Groups

Assemble & Check Monoscopes + Lights so Boston Public Schools students can learn Next Gen Science Standards "Hands On"

A student uses his monoscope and LED light at the BPS Richard J Murphy School in Dorchester in December 2023.

WHEN

  • Saturday 5/04/2024, 1-4pm
  • Sign up by 4/30/2024
    ~6 volunteers are still needed.

WHAT

Assemble and check monoscopes and LED lights for middle school students at the Richard J. Murphy School (pictured) in Dorchester.

Assembling and giving these innovative scopes to students enables them to discover the microscopic world "hands on" as part of the Next Generation Science Standards.

No prior experience is required, but manual dexterity and attention to detail are needed.

Volunteers must wear high-quality masks indoors and be "fragrance free," meaning not wear any perfume, cologne, body spray, or scented skin, hair, or laundry products.

WHERE

Randolph, MA Less than 5 miles from Ikea
0.5 mile from Holbrook-Randolph commuter rail station
Ample on-street parking

Note: PMD only shares specific directions, maps, and other details with registered volunteers since we cannot accommodate any walk-ins, i.e., unregistered volunteers simply showing up.

WHY

Next Generation Science Standards include middle school students understanding that cells compose larger organisms and that cells have organelles within them, plus understanding how microscopy works. However, when there are not enough working microscopes and sharing equipment is not feasible, students cannot learn "hands on" if they observe their teachers or watch videos of other people using microscopes. Giving students new monoscopes with LED lights enables them to see (and believe) the microscopic world and to explore on their own, as well as freeing up teachers from tediously checking in/out and fixing equipment for their students.

 

HOW

Please sign up by 4/30 at http://pmd.org/s/050424.htm

If you can, please donate $15 (enough for three students to have their own scopes and LED lights) by 4/30.

Incomplete submissions cannot be honored.

Call PMD if you cannot register online using qualtrics.
CALL THE PMD OFFICE at (*82) 1-781-963-0373 so that we can help you AND troubleshoot the problem so that other potential volunteers will not face the same problem. Thanks!

After you register online, you will see a confirmation screen and receive a confirmation email message.
Then PMD will email specific details a few days before the project, including directions to the project site (by public transportation and by car), what to expect, a map, and (for minors only) a waiver form.

 

WHO

We seek detail-oriented volunteers who will carefully follow instructions for assembly and checking. Volunteers will be working together in pairs.

We recommend volunteers be age 14 or older**, but will accept mature, capable, younger volunteers able to focus for the entire three hours IF they are accompanied by individually registered and fully participating adults.

**Please call PMD's office at (*82)1,781-963-0373 for instructions on how to register younger volunteers.

For 31+ years, public charity People Making a Difference (PMD) has promoted informed and responsible volunteerism by involving people in tangible work that meets local needs and by assisting companies in building successful community involvement programs that:
  • Produce appreciable results while conserving recipients' limited resources.
  • Educate volunteers about broader issues.
  • Bring people together to make a difference.
SIGN UP

 

 

"The Foldscope performs most of the functions of a high-school lab microscope...."
Carolyn Kormann, The New Yorker (12/13/2015)
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/12/21/through-the-looking-glass-annals-of-science-carolyn-kormann

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