As I entered the Middle School auditorium with my husband and son tonight, I was handed a booklet with the 2009 Science Fair Projects.
Ever hear of the words, Brassica rapa, Phaseolus Volgaris or Gromphadorhina Portentosa? If you have, congratulations! For me, I was utterly impressed with the project names:
- The effect that nicotine has on the assimilation of a pisum sativum…
- The effect that different pH levels have on the time it takes for an M&M candy to deteriorate
- The effect that Iodine has on the assimilation of raniceps raninus
- The effect that ingested pre-conditional tenebrio have on the initial max negotiation rate of tenebrio molitor
My son’s project was “How changes in a fluid’s air pressure brought about by changes in velocity and temperature of a fluid interact with various solids.” It only took him months to do this, more than 700 tests to prove his hypothesis and hours and hours and hours of time to prepare his presentation and powerpoint slides.
Well science fair was finally here tonight and according to the school this is it’s 36th year. (Although, I don’t remember a science fair when I was growing up here….)
In any event, the students did a great job testing and proving their theories.
Nearly 300 students did projects. The school set the fair up like a convention site with booth after booth. I almost fell over myself when I noticed that one of the projects had a slew meal worms crawling around a maze. Then I realized it was my friend’s son!
“Lisa, you had those in your house?” I asked my friend.
She laughed. “I didn’t know they were here. My son hid them from me because if I saw that in the house, they would be gone!”
As we were leaving, I asked my friend if she was going to keep her new pets. She gave me look. I asked her son what he was going to do with them. “Well, they won’t be in your yard or mine,” he said. “I think I’ll put them in the neighbor’s yard.”
As we were packing up the booth, I asked the teachers when the students will get their grades. “Not until the Monday after Thanksgiving,” one teacher told me.
I know for my son, he took months to prepare and put together his project. Is it really fair that the students have to wait until after the holiday?
