Science Fair

Our daughter got to participate in her first science fair at her school last week.  While I'm not sure she quite gets the whole scientific method, she sure knows how to make science seem silly fun.  My understanding was that the science fair exhibitors were to be the 7th through 12th grade students with the younger students visiting each of the stations.  The younger students received a passport stamp at each exhibit they visited.  When they filled up their passport booklets, they would then receive a prize.

Our firstborn is quite the independent one who insists on doing all her homework and school projects without any assistance from us.  I rarely ever see her doing any homework and have never ever seen her actually study for a test.  Considering that she is busy with extracurricular activities from the moment I pick her up from school until almost 10:00 p.m. on the day before test days every week, she doesn't have time to study anyway.

Imagine my surprise when I arrived at the science fair to find her at an exhibition table with a ridiculous little exhibit about bats.  I think she really just wanted an excuse to bring her Webkinz bat to school.  She had the stuffed bat affixed to the table in an upside down sleeping position.  She passed out hand-outs on bats, attempted to describe the nocturnal habits of bats, and offered a prize to whomever could throw paper balls at the bat and make it fall...until her teacher thankfully put the kibosh on that last idea.  No experiment and no scientific method were involved.  There were no display panels or typical science fair materials, and she clearly did not do any prep work at home or notify her parents of any such project.   However, our daughter is in no way typical, and I can hardly wait to see how God will use her extraordinary creative bent some day.   She just turned eight and has never been to a science fair before so to even attempt to make a contribution is more than enough in my opinion.

 

Thankfully, my understanding of the event was correct, and she did get to travel from one exhibit to the next receiving stamps in her passport booklet at each stop.  The youngest class incubated chicken eggs this past spring, so many of the exhibits involved eggs.  She learned the different parts of an egg and how to determine if an egg had been fertilized.  The students discovered the strength of uniformly applied pressure as they tried to crack an egg in her hands verses tapping it against a surface.

She learned about air pressure and simulated a geyser.  She examined series and parallel circuits which she should be very familiar with after spending countless hours playing with the circuit kit she just had to have as a Christmas gift.  She enjoyed learning about various suspensions and playing with the suspension goo.  Our son had gymnastics during the science fair, but had he been there, he would have really liked watching things explode at the catalyst exhibit and implode at the atmospheric pressure exhibit. The earthquake simulator and sound wave exhibits were entertaining as well.

The most amusing exhibit for me was the butter making exhibit.  A video of our daughter making butter follows.  Would Laura Ingalls Wilder approve of her form/style?