#544 Elementary school science fairs

It all starts with poster board.

Getting mom to drive to the drug store to load up on the thick flimsy is a great start to a great project. Grab a sheet of white, a sheet of neon pink, and if you’re lucky one of those thick cardboard three-folds. Come on, we both know that cardboard added some scientific integrity to your research — the seventh grade equivalent of getting your work published in The New England Journal of Awesome.

Now, it doesn’t end there. Next you’re grabbing markers, spray paint, baking soda, and Styrofoam. Once you’ve got everything together you’re rushing home and getting down to science, people. The carpeted corner of the unfinished basement becomes your lab and it’s time to spend hours putting on lab coats, staring into microscopes, and pour bubbling green liquids into beakers. Also, taping.

Come on and let’s count down some classics:

6. The solar system. Jabbing those spray-painted Styrofoam balls with a straightened out coat hanger is a truly great feeling. As is painting a splotchy brown Australia on Earth and a big eye on Jupiter. If you want to go the To Scale route, remember to leave Pluto at home.

5. Volcano. There are two types of eruptions. First, there’s the Underwhelming Fizz — where you stare deep into the mouth of the fiery beast only to witness some rock-hard hunks of baking soda floating in a pool of strong-smelling vinegar. It’s disappointing, but you can always try again and hope for a Superblow — where everyone stares with wide-eyes as red ooze bubbles and slides down your carefully painted volcano onto the GI Joe townspeople below.

4. The one the kid’s parents obviously did. Also known as robbing your child of the thrill of scientific discovery in exchange for a B+.

3. Growing something. Whether it was lima beans or patches of fresh grass, it was a a classic move to study Sunlight vs. Shadows, Music vs. No Music, or Watering Plants vs. Pouring Coke On Them.

2. Coke is bad. Speaking of Coke, did you have that kid who left a tooth or some nails sitting in it for a month? The groundbreaking research typically concluded with a harsh indictment of the entire soda industry. And maybe a business card for the kid’s dad who was a dentist.

1. The one that didn’t work. Every science fair had a few of these gems. They were sad and beautiful at the same time. Because that down-faced ten year old standing in front of a dim lightbulb was learning how to deal with lost efforts and how to get back their drive after a fall. Keep that chin up, tiger. You’ll get ’em next time.

Yes, beautiful science fair moments were always a perfect close to months of hallway passion, energetic teachers, and long lonely nights cutting construction paper letters with pinking shears. Letting kids learn, letting kids dream, letting kids try and try and try — well, there’s just so much good that comes of that.

As they bottle insects, jab battery wires into lemons, and rub magnets together, you can see the whirring gears spinning with delight. Yes, all that learning just sponges, soaks in, and sticks there forever as the next generation of curiosity seekers tease their buzzing minds forward and forward and forward…

AWESOME!

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Photos from: here

1,234 thoughts to “#544 Elementary school science fairs”

  1. Having that person, you’ve had a crush on for a long time, give you a small but meaningful smile.

  2. Having your dog wake you up in the morning by jumping on your bed and licking you all over.

  3. That feeling you get when you realize you don’t care about the things you used to care for anymore

  4. — When there’s just enough cereal at the bottom of the bag to fill your bowl (or milk to cover your cereal, etc)

    –Complimentary pillows and blankets on airplanes

    –Noticing a muscle you never had before

    — The first night the fireflies come out

  5. Lathering up your hair with shampoo and then molding it into crazy styles. You wish it could just stay like that for real.

  6. I love it when I’m reading a book and the page stops, but the sentence goes on, and I’m able to complete it before turning the page. Being able to predict the rest of the sentence is a bit like looking in the future, like having superpowers… right? :]

  7. Drinking tomato juice on an airplane:

    All jet-setters know that flying is a strenuous process. Not only is there the long lines and delays, but once you get on the plane there’s the turbulance and that really annoying kid who’s kicking the back of your chair. And then, like a beacon of hope, the stuartist walks by, wheeling her rickity cart down the very narrow aisle. You’re thinking “If only airlines gave out regular-sized snacks…” And then it hits you: TOMATO JUICE! You eagerly sit there, and a feeling of relief washes over you while you’re handed your veg juice, on the rocks. Slurping away on that deliciously salty goodness quenches both your thirst and your appetite.

    AWESOME!

  8. The first night it’s warm enough to drive with your windows down.

    After being cooped up and bundled up through a long dreary winter, when Spring’s just around the corner and you can feel the energy in the air, nothing makes you feel more alive than going for a drive on one of those rare dry spring nights. You put all four windows down, crank up something you can sing along with at the top of your lungs and disregard all posted speed limits because that night, as long as there’s a CD to rock out to, warm wind blowing your hair around the car and a road in front of you, you can fly. Awesome.

  9. Buying something at the grocery store with an expiration date that is your birthday. To everyone else it is the last possible day to devour that box of cookies or 20 oz. bottle of pop, but to me it is a countdown until my next birthday celebration. So save that treat until the last possible day of consumption, yes it is still edible, and yes it will taste ten million times better because it shares a special day with you!

  10. successfully changing lanes on the street/freeway/etc. so perfectly that your tires don’t go over any of the little reflective-marker-bumps lining the ground, just a smooooth transition over :) awesome!

  11. The dessert compartment! The stomach is like a chest of drawers. One drawer (the skinny one) is for appetizers, the big drawer is for the meal, and the extra drawer on the bottom is for dessert. There’s always room in that drawer.

    SO glad you have this here. Almost as good as the belly button lint, haha.

    1. I didn’t realize this was a contest for creative awesomeness. I just loved that you posted the dessert one, and felt the need to reply. Granted, I think this makes me out of the running for the contest!

      1. Nope! You’re still in the running for the contest… twice, actually! (For both your initial post, and your reply to it).

        While the Dessert compartment likely won’t win (it being today’s post, and all), you’ll still be eligible for the random drawing! Good luck to you!

  12. Skinny Dipping.
    Let’s face it, who doesn’t like an impromptu, slightly riské dip in the lake? It’s like the most refreshing, freeing bath you will ever take.

  13. Outdoor showers.

    As someone who has spent the last seven months showering in a co-ed bathroom in a small, cramped, little cube of shower-hell, I am SO EXCITED that summertime and outdoor showers are just around the corner!

    The sun warms the shampoo; a gentle breeze cools your face, and the only ceiling is the sky. There’s nothing quite like an outdoor shower on a beautiful day.

  14. Waking up early without prompting from the alarm or Mom or whoever is in bed with you, walking on tip toe to the kitchen, and preparing everyone a secret breakfast! Then they all get to wake up to the delectable smells coming from the kitchen and you all get to share an amazing home-made meal together. So awesome! :)

  15. When you finally stop thinking that someone will respond to your text because they fell asleep, and then getting their text.

    It makes you feel so warm and fuzzy inside, like they couldn’t sleep without saying good night to you =)

    Awesome!

  16. Figuring out that thing that was on the tip of your tongue. Whether it’s the name or lyric of a song stuck in your head, the name of that one book you read years ago, or the name of a face you recognize but couldn’t quite place. Remembering what it is after struggling to place it is so awesome!

  17. Also, when two of your friends who don’t know each other become fans of the same thing on Facebook. I’m not sure why, but that always makes me smile. :)

  18. The Last Day of School.

    Signing yearbooks, giving hugs, and making plans. With nothing to worry about but the long, lazy road in front of you, you can sit back, relax and enjoy that perfect, golden moment of

    AWESOME!

  19. Finding a mixed CD you made years ago. This recently happened to me when I stumbled across a travel CD case in the trunk of my car. There were two different responses I experienced: A. OMG, this CD is totally AAAA-mazing, it should win an award for being so awesome; or B. What in h – e – double toothpicks was I THINKING when I put these songs on a CD to listen to repeatedly?? The first response was totally overwhelming, though, when I realized one long lost CD was from the summer after my freshman year of college….oh the memories, completely AWESOME!!!

  20. Your birthday!

    The gifts, the hugs, the surprises, the money, and the getting-your-face-pushed-in-the-cake part. What can be more awesome than the day people celebrate you?

    Awesome!!!

  21. The extra bits on food

    Is a half-slice of bacon falling out of you BLT. Eat it up and enjoy the bacon-y paradise.

    A loose piece of pepperoni in the pizza box. Score!

    Taco meat landing on your plate. Seconds!

    Everyone loves that extra round of flavor from your food. Enjoy.

    1. I think the next ten or so awesome things could involve bacon. heck, I’m sure the last 542 things could involve bacon

  22. That big huge box left over from a new appliance purchase. Awesome! I can remember my sister and I hiding it in, cutting out windows & doors, coloring on it. It became whatever we wanted. Yet it slowly disintigrated from the wear and tear – or when it got wet!

  23. It just came to me: finding a really old mix CD.

    Whether someone made it for you, or you made it yourself…it always gets piled up somewhere because, after listening to it a gazillion times, you get sick of it (for a while). But then one day, you pick up a CD and stick it into your CD player, and you’re grooving out; your whole day is much much better. AWESOME

    Or, you know, Mix CD’s could be an awesome thing (I don’t think that’s been done before?)

  24. When mom calls out to dinner.
    She shouts everyone’s names and you run downstairs or outside like you’re on the stampede from The Lion King because you know what’s waiting and you meet that amazing homemade meal. AWESOME! :)

  25. Being right.
    Even if you’re not right about something good, just the satisfaction of knowing that you’re right is great.

  26. Okay, this entry is really a suggestion from my daughter: finding out your favourite foods have awesome variations in other countries! Recent discovery: doughnuts in Spain!

  27. just found my old VHS of Winnie the Pooh. with the episode, blustery day. I love finding old childhood movies.

  28. finally doing something you have been practicing FOREVER. a skateboard trick. finally learning to drive a standard. getting that tab to play on the guitar just right. feels great

  29. Watching the sun rise.

    Yes, watching the sunSET is more classy and cliche, but watching the sunrise is raising the bar. After pulling that successful all nighter or running at 5 in the morning, you finally see it- The first signs of a brand new day.

    Awesome.

    1. If you pull an all-nighter, wouldnt you end up falling asleep throughout the day? So seeing a sunrise would, in fact, actually be a sunset.. ;P I like the idea though.

    1. cooked over an open fire after a night of camping. In fact. anything cooked over an open flame is delightful.

  30. The smell of homemade baked goodies when you get home.

    My mom made snickerdoodles randomly out of the blue one day when I came home from work. I swear, it was the most satisfying batch of snickerdoodles ever.

    Mmmmm….

    Snickerdoodles…

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