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Idaho National Laboratory

Feature Story

INL Mini Grants support innovation in the classroom

Photo: Helen Tjemsland

Helen Tjemsland (right) of Owyhee Elementary School in Nampa will use her grant for an indoor, compact grow lab to help her first-grade students observe, record and make decisions and to promote collaborative work and environmental awareness.

Photo: Jaret Stump

Students in Jaret Stump's 8th grade science class at East Junior High in Boise will research, design, build and test their own model rockets with funding from an INL Mini Grant.

Reaching out now to encourage science and engineering literacy and improve science, math and technology education is critical to assuring Idaho National Laboratory will be able to find the kind of technology-savvy workforce it will need in the future.

One way the lab does that is through the INL Mini Grant Program, which provides funds to enhance public and private elementary, middle school and high school science, mathematics and technology instruction. In April, INL granted $70,000 to 41 teachers throughout Idaho to help turn their innovative ideas into reality.

Each year, teachers can apply for grant money to fund technology or lab equipment, materials for special projects or professional development. As part of the application process, teachers are required to provide information on how learning objectives and curriculum concepts will be enhanced and how the project or program will improve student interest and achievement. Teachers who receive grants also agree to provide follow-up information on how their grant impacted student success. This year's recipients include Chris Taylor of Liberty Elementary School in Boise whose grant will be used for a visual and kinesthetic math program that introduces algebraic concepts to students in grades 3 to 8 using concrete representations of algebraic symbols and processes.

The Mini Grants are also funding projects such as Aviation Algebra, which teaches algebra and geometry topics in the context of aviation. The grant will provide Idaho Falls teacher Thomas Kohler with a flight computer, a sectional plotter and the book Mental Math for Pilots.

Marsh Valley High School teacher Marilyn Mikkelson will use her Mini Grant to purchase kits for her students to build hydrogen fuel cell racing cars to learn about alternative energy development and use.

Connie Petersen at Harrison Elementary School in Twin Falls teaches science to all of the school's 500 students each week. Her Mini Grant will fund K'NEX equipment that will allow students to build models to explore inertia, kinetic energy, gravity and friction and learn math concepts with hands-on lessons.

A full list of Mini Grant recipients is available here.

General Contact:
Marilyn Whitney, (208) 334-9572, Send E-mail