As discussed in the Preface, this is an experimental project, currently being funded entirely by the lead author. While this current funding is sufficient for us to complete the Grade 8 Earth/Space Science curriculum in the form you see on this site (we hope to complete it soon), we may need additional financial backing to continue with the Grade 6 and Grade 7 courses in physical science and life science. Moreover, a larger investment would allow much more enhancement. Among other possibilities, this type of financial backing would enable us to:

• Enhance the interface (which is currently limited to what we are able to do in WordPress), including creating a separate version for teachers so that students will no longer see the Teacher Notes.
• Add more video, animation, and simulation to help support student learning.
• Include more robust assessment tools with much stronger, individualized feedback.
• Integrate course management tools, so that student work can be delivered directly to teachers for review and grading.
• Add more support for teachers, including more background information, video demonstrations of activities, and workshops on making optimal use of this resource.

If you or anyone you know might be interested in backing this project, please email lead author Jeff Bennett jeff@bigkidscience.com to discuss your interest. Note that while we are committed to keeping the basic content (what you see in this draft) permanently free of charge, we are open to the possibility of becoming a for-profit venture with revenue coming from the “back end” resources that would make possible such things as integration with course management and teaching training workshops.

We look forward to hearing from you.