Science Fair

General Science:
Market Research Projects….Which ______ is the ______est?

In these projects the kids were challenged to compare everyday objects through the lens of scientific evaluation. To determine which object was the best for a particular category the kids had to define best in some way that could be measured and then set up conditions that allowed for a fair competition. This is the method used by all scientists regardless of their questions.

Physics: Inventors’ Workshop

Over the past few weeks the kids have attempted to design and build an invention that contains a lever. We agreed up front that it was unlikely that any of our inventions would “succeed” in the traditional sense of the word. After all, most inventors spend thousands of hours imagining, designing, building, failing, and restarting the process again and again. When you look at these projects, you should see them as a sort of diary of the kids’ dreams and their initial attempts to actualize them. Trial and error plays a role in the creation of every great invention. Here is a window into this process.

Biology: Human Body Projects – thanks for volunteering

Working with people is never easy. Working with human subjects even less so. Part of what we discovered this year in biology is the complexity and lack of predictability you get with all living things. Whether it’s microscopic organisms in pond water or human size ones in my backyard, bottom line is it takes a lot of patience, planning, and careful observation to design and carry out an experiment with human subjects. The biology kids first did their experiments on each other. After analyzing their results they modified their experiments to arrive at what you see here today.