The Science Fair

Our co-op held a little science fair this morning. The boys have been working on their experiments for the past month and finished up their project boards yesterday.

Cohen tested different substances on ice to see which one melted ice the quickest and which prevented ice from forming.


He found that melting salts melted the crystals. Sand and kitty litter didn't melt any ice and that all salts- rock, table and melting- prevented ice from forming.

Here he is with his board, ready to talk about what he did.

Cale tested growing seeds in different types of light: sun, incandescent and a grow light.


He found out that, like he expected, sun produced the healthiest plants. The incandescent bulb produced long stringy stems that eventually snapped and died within 4 weeks.


Here he is with his final project.


Rylan tested different growth mediums and pineapples. He tested sand, soil and water.


His guess was that soil would grow the best but found out that water was the best way to start the roots.


And here's his board. He was nervous about presenting but it only took a few prompts to get him talking.

And Lakin chose to try watering plants with different things. Water, Coffee, Vinegar and Milk. He started with zucchini seeds of which only one sprouted. But surprisingly, this healthy sprout came from the coffee.


We restarted his experiment with grass seed, which just started to sprout...water had the most sprouts followed by coffee and none in the vinegar and mold in the milk.


The kids all took turns talking about their projects.


We had a baby bird, bird nest types and seed preference, Kool-Aid Chromatography, and a solar oven.


They all did such a good job. And mine are even open to the idea of entering the real science fair next year.