The Science Bloggers for Students Challenge at DonorsChoose is officially under way! What is that, you say? Well, let me tell you.

DonorsChoose

Schools in the United States keep seeing budget cuts, which translates to cuts in classroom supplies and activities. Teachers are spending money out of their own pockets to help cover the gap. DonorsChoose was founded 10 years ago by a teacher who wanted to provide a way for people to donate directly to classroom initiatives they wanted to support. To date, donations through DonorsChoose have exceeded $61 million and impacted over 3.7 million students in the U.S., most in high poverty school districts.

How does it work? A teacher writes a project proposal, explaining what he or she wants to do, how it fits in with the class curriculum, what supplies are needed, and how much those supplies cost. Staff at DonorsChoose vet every project and verify the cost of supplies before posting to the site. Then it's up to individual donors to fund projects. You can donate as little as $1 to help fund a project. Once a project is fully funded, DonorsChoose purchases the supplies and delivers them to the classroom.

Sadly, not all projects get fully funded by their deadlines. If this happens, donors are asked to pick another project. Although it's certainly disappointing if a project is not funded by the deadline, you still have complete control over where your contribution goes.

The Science Bloggers for Students Challenge

This is a chance for science blogger and science blog readers to get more science into schools! Now through November 9th, you'll be seeing a little blue and white DonorsChoose widget in the sidebar of my blog--and a number of other blogs, too. But you know you want to click through mine! Not only because you appreciate my humor and charm, but also because when the amount donated through my giving page reaches $350, a donor (chosen at random) will get one of these cuties from Prim and Plush. (* Obviously for this to work, I have to have some idea of who you are. If I can make a connection between your donor acknowledgement and a LabSpaces, Twitter, or blog username/pseudonym, then you'll be in the running. For example, I am acknowleged as biochembelle on donations.) You can keep up with how all the teams are doing by checking out the leaderboard.

Double the impact with HP

HP will be matching all donations made through the Science Bloggers for Students challenge, dollar for dollar, up to $50,000! At the end of the challenge, the total amount donated through the challenge will be divided by the number of donors. Each donor will then receive (via email) a gift code for that amount to contribute to a project of his or her choosing. For instance, if 1,000 donors contribute a total of $30,000, then each donor will get  a code worth $30 to give to another classroom. Kudos to HP for helping put science in our classrooms!!!

Oh! Rats! (Oh, no?)

I've picked a few projects to promote on my giving page. You can donate to any of them or to any other project on DonorsChoose that kindles your interest. BUT I want to highlight one project from a classroom in rural Arkansas: Oh! Rats! The teacher, Mrs. T, has 100 6th grade science students. She needs rats for her students to dissect to learn about organ systems and adaptations that have enabled their survival. There's 16 days left until the deadline and over $600 left to raise. I'm hoping that with the joint efforts of the LabSpaces bloggers and readers, we'll be able to get Mrs. T those rats!

So what are you waiting on? 

Update: Javelin, the lovely lady who actually crochets those adorable little molecules (unlike yours truly who has never crocheted anything in her life), is donating some molecules to the cause, which means added opportunities for donors to get their hands on one  Be sure to go check out the Prim and Plush Etsy store! After all, gift-giving season is just around the corner