NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Toshiba America Foundation (TAF) today announced $53,000 in grants for 10 innovative K-12 classroom STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematic) projects. Among these is a grant for Pahokee Middle High School in Pahokee, Florida which will use TAF funds to help students enrolled in the Medical Sciences Program learn how to use DNA analysis to diagnose and predict genetically inherited diseases. Students will learn how to isolate genomic DNA from cheek swabs using household products. They will learn how to prepare and run an electrophoresis of digested DNA samples. Students will identify fragment patterns compatible with the presence or absence of the Sickle cell allele in heterozygous and homozygous individuals. Based on parental and offspring DNA bands, students will determine inheritance pattern, genotypes and their correlation with severity of the disease's signs and symptoms.
"TAF grants provide teachers with the tools they need to be more effective educators," said TAF President, John Anderson. "The grants make the STEM classroom more exciting for both teachers and students."
Toshiba America Foundation’s grants aim to fund projects designed by innovative classroom teachers. This “direct-to-teacher” approach brings immediate results. Teachers are able to enhance the way they teach STEM subjects because the grant supports equipment for hands-on experiments and project based learning to the curriculum. At TAF, we believe that learning STEM subjects is a lot more fun and engaging than just reading a textbook.
STEM educators interested in applying for a K-5 TAF grant please click here or a 6-12 TAF grant please click here
About Toshiba America Foundation
Founded in 1990 with support from Toshiba Corporation and the Toshiba America Group Companies, Toshiba America Foundation (TAF) is a non-profit grant making organization dedicated to helping classroom teachers make STEM learning fun and successful for K to 12 students in U.S. schools. TAF grants support public and nonprofit private schools throughout the United States. For more information, please visit: www.toshiba.com/taf.