Science education on the Island will benefit from generous new donations and grants.

First, through the online education charity DonorsChoose.org, Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School teacher Jane Paquet will have applied sciences resources and experiences for 70 students. One generous donor contributed $226 in total to the project, which was matched with funds from a DonorsChoose.org grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

As Ms. Paquet wrote in the project, “I have used telescopes set up to collect this data, but it is either too precarious or dangerous. The sunspotter I am requesting is constructed such that a large image of the sun’s surface is ‘projected’ onto a piece of paper.”

Meanwhile the Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation recently awarded the Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury and West Tisbury schools approximately $2,000. Also, there was approximately $2,000 awarded that will be shared between the schools.

This funding is part of a Tower Foundation initiative designed to help build the capacity of middle schools by providing funds for the purchase of science laboratory equipment for use by students in grades six, seven and eight.

For more information about the foundation, see thetowerfoundation.org.