Science Fair

Today, I judged a science fair at a local primary school. I wanted to share some of the highlights so you can understand why I enjoy it so much. It’s awesome to see the kids get excited about their projects, except for the kids who have no clue what their project is about. One kid told the other judge she didn’t know much about her project because she was asleep when her parents were working on it.

First, here are some of the best projects…

This was the overall winner, who researched fingerprints and genetics. He examined the similarities of fingerprint styles in family members to show whirl and loop patterns are often common. He used the balloons to show how your fingerprint grows as you get older.

This kid placed samples from around the school in Petri dishes to see what kind of bacteria grew. His conclusion, “Our school is dirty!” was a big hit with everyone except the janitor, who mumbled as he walked away.

This little girl did a very nice job with an experiment she designed herself. She said her little brothers like to wear bandaids all the time, but they always come off in the bathtub. She placed four manufacturer’s bandaids on eggs and allowed them to soak in water. The sturdiest was an off-brand name called Pizzaz! or something like that. They’re probably made in China and contain banned chemicals that make them really effective.

This first grader created a model of an eardrum. When you talked into the pink tissue paper cone on the left, the aluminum foil covered disk on the right vibrated. The quality was amateurish, but pretty good for a first grader’s parent.

Now on to the lesser entries. First up: kids who put very little effort into their project.

Here’s a science fair classic, “Which brand of popcorn pops the most?” It combines all the characteristics of a great science fair project: low investment of time, no real scientific data, and bright colors. Plus, on the upside, you can eat the project when you’re done.

Another classic, but this one requires a little more time and effort. The rubber chicken bone uses one of science fair’s most important substances…vinegar. One year we had eighteen volcanoes and one vinegar rocket that managed to blow up, dousing me in vinegar. That was the year they changed the rules to outlaw explosive/erupting vinegar experiments.

Another classic, the lemon battery. The smallest light bulb this poor kid could find was a 25W bulb, which is just outside the wattage range of two lemons. He demonstrated it was actually making power by sticking it on his tongue, which he described as tasting nasty and feeling weird. He offered to let me try, but I declined. I did give him bonus points for the super hero graphics.

And our final category…kids who are totally clueless.

I really don’t think this little guy had any idea that he had dried grapes in a dehydrator to make raisins. The only thing he remembered was boiling the grapes to make the skin come off. I guess the rest was just a blur. You know, the hours of watching grapes slowly dehydrate into raisins.

This entrant researched how an egg becomes a chicken. Except she didn’t really do much since she said her dad and sister looked up the information and told her what to write. My favorite part? “You can expect 12-15 live chicks from 24 eggs. The rest of the chickens die.”

And saving the best for last, this little guy performed the classic “dissolving salt in water.” His results were kind of sketchy and when I asked him why things hadn’t turned out well, he said, “Well, I just started it this morning.”