(May): Science Fair

The girls had an opportunity to participate in the school's science fair earlier this year.  We found out later that it was a mandatory assignment for the 4th&5th graders in the g/t program, but was opened up to the entire school as an optional project.  I'm not sure who was more excited, Mike or the girls.  At dinner when we were discussing it, Mike expressed, "I've waited my whole life for a science fair!"  Apparently his school didn't do one when he was a kid, so he was excited to participate with his own kids.  I had to keep reminding him that this was their project! :)  

Elaina's project tested the effect that different beverages have on tooth decay.  We have a friend who is an oral surgeon, and so he brought home 14 extracted molars for us to use (imagine how thrilled I was to find 14 disgusting teeth in a container on my kitchen counter one evening).  She soaked them in the beverages for 2 weeks and examined them regularly.  She also weighed them at the beginning and end of the experiment. 

It was a great project!  

Her results showed that lemon juice & vinegar (the most acidic of the beverages she used) cause more tooth decay than the others (Coffee, Tea, Coke, Red Bull, etc).  I wouldn't want my teeth rotting in any of the others though based on the dark stains on those teeth after two weeks.  Yuck!

Erin proved that magnets will become stronger the more magnetic force to add.  She tried to attract a magnet to a paper clip with several index cards in between.  As she added another magnet to the force, she could also add more index cards and increase the distance between the magnets and the paper clip.  She also learned that doubling the number of magnets doesn't double the magnetic force.  It took 6 additional magnets to double the magnetic force of the first magnet.  Interesting!

Mostly, it was a fun project to work on as a family, and a great experience for the kids.  As it turns out, each of them were only one of two students in their grade level that participated in the fair.  It was a good experience for them, so I'm glad they did it.