I did one of my favorite things on Friday. Believe it or not, it didn't involve caffeine, a comforter, a computer, or a crackling fire. I spent the day judging for our regional science fair. This is, I think, the fifth time I've done this and with each new time I feel more and more OFFICIAL, like someone who can actually tell the difference between a great project and an OUTSTANDING one that was obviously done by Kitty's highly competitive father. I usually judge environmental science or earth science. This year I got put in the Botany category, which made me cringe a little because Plant Physiology WIPED THE FLOOR WITH MY ASS once upon a time. Luckily I was judging at the elementary level, as opposed to the high school level where someone was trying to prove something about how amelyase rocks this world (or not?) in certain, very serious, ANALYTICAL conditions. Or something to that effect. So obviously the forth and fifth graders speak more my speed.
This year's round-up summarized:
There was the girl who thought that an onion would grow roots in water because onions have so much FLAVOR.
There was the girl who thought coffee would kill her potato plants because coffee is NOT GOOD FOR YOU.
There was a girl who thought vinegar would make good plant food, while other baking ingredients such as salt, baking soda, and sugar could very well be the TERRORISTS of the plant world.
Another girl did the ol' "blue dye in water makes white roses turn blue" experiment.
Yet another girl did the ol' "red dye in water makes a celery stalk turn red" project.
One girl just wanted to celebrate nature in general by going, "YAY! Soil plus water plus sunlight equals a living, breathing gift from the universe!" in the form of a poster board decorated with computer-generated file art of flowers bordering green and white butcher paper and a scattering of botany-related words. It was so beautiful I tear up thinking about it.
But do you see a pattern here?
Girls. Girls. Girls. Girls and SCIENCE. Doesn't that make your heart flutter a little?
ALSO.
I only have a measly seven people in the hat for the free thingy. You have until Friday, 8 PM Mountain Time. So go comment on that post, brave souls, and I will send you some snail mail lovin'. P.S. you don't have to be a blogger, but you DO have to report back how you plan to pay it forward. Because it would be so tragic if I died of curiosity.
My name is Jane Doe, and I have a confession.
ReplyDeleteI once blew off, er, forgot a six week science project until two weeks before it was due. I had to be creative, so I got regular soil, very sandy soil, and went out to an old creek bed and got some alkaline soil. Then to the nursery and bought 12 plants, 4 nice ones, 4 smaller and less vibrant appearing, and 4 that looked on the doorstep of death. I planted them respectively in little containers, and then faithfully watered them for the last 2 weeks of the time frame. Guess what? Plants grown in alkaline soil don’t do well. Plants grown in sandy soil grow, but don’t thrive because of the lack of nutrients. And plants grown in normal soil fare best. I felt guilty when I turned in the project, but the feeling ceased to be as scarring when I received a B. BTW, I was older than 4th or 5th grade when I thought that up.
The girl with the celery in the food coloring...that would have been me. I am so NOT a science person even though I'm pretty busy with it daily. (scary thought!)
ReplyDeletei hated science projects. i did the crappiest thing on birds once in 8th grade - it was pitiful. the thought of doing a science project now still makes me feel sick to my stomach. that is just pure boredom in my world. now give me a can of paint and a room anytime, or a mess to clean up. then i'm happy. i'm weird, i know.
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool that you get to judge the science projects. I loved doing them as a kid, but my kid, A, hates them. In turn it makes me hate them b/c I have to drag her hand, tooth and nail to do the dang things. Not cool.
ReplyDeleteHey you got a fun job! You should've like blown something up for good measure!
ReplyDelete