Saturday, March 19, 2011

Project Warehouse

Welcome to Science Project Central. Both the #1 son and The Pony are entering the local junior college science fair on Friday.

The Pony and his partner have been hard at work for the past five weeks, setting up their experiment, monitoring the results, and typing up the details. The Pony will be putting the finishing touches on his project Sunday afternoon. He plans to lay everything out on the board, take a phone photo, and show it to his partner at school on Monday. He has already garnered permission from his science teacher to whip out the phone. That's a crime in Basementia, which requires a parent to bail out the offending electronic device. But with pre-approval, all systems are go for the a-okaying of the layout. Partner couldn't make it out here for the final compilation. Once both parties are in agreement, The Pony will make final attachments where the paper meets the board. His project, Let it Rust, concerns iron nails in various clear beverages, with the assumption that the more acidic the beverage, the more rusting will occur. It's in the Chemistry division. Did you know there are three kinds of rust? Me neither.

The #1 son, on the other hand, has so far collected an idea, a board, and a bracelet. He's good at completing tasks under pressure. Thank the Gummi Mary. He needs to build a balance beam, transport it to school, test his subjects, collect data, and analyze the results. He has until midnight Thursday to get 'r' done. Arch Nemesis, #1's teacher, has generously offered up her entire student load for experimentation, and her next-door lab for the trials. #1's category is Product Testing. He's trying to find out if those Power Balance bands are the real deal or a bunch of malarkey. In fact, I'm going to suggest that as a title. Power Balance: The Real Deal, or a Bunch of Malarkey? I am confident he will reject it.

Hillbilly Mom's Project Titles: Science Fair Gold, or Hogwash?

2 comments:

labbie1 said...

I LOVED the science fair when I was in school! I made an eyeball one year which was totally cool!

My son did the fluorescence of rocks one year. He loved collecting rocks!

I think science fairs are just great to get kids thinking!

Love the Power Balance title! :)

Hillbilly Mom said...

Labbie,
I agree. Our college gives a scholarship each year to the best senior project.

High school participation is down this year, because the date is the same as the district music contest. It knocked me down from 22 kids to 6. Since some are partners, that is only 4 projects.