A Mad Scientist Among Us

Olivia loves science.  It's never been my favorite, but she loves it.  So when Congress School announced they were having an optional Science Fair, there was no option for this parent.  She had to develop a hypothesis that she could test.  This proved more difficult than I imagined.  She wanted to test what the most preffered type of dog food was, but I wasn't buying that much dog food and rounding up a dozen or more dogs to test it on.  Then, she wanted to determine which type of light bulbs lasted the longest.  I had to explain that we didn't have that many years.  Finally, with a little prompting from me, she decided she would see what happened when she soaked an egg in vinegar.  Her hypothesis was that the shell would break off.  She didn't think anything had happened at first, until she stuck her finger in the vinegar and touched the rubbery egg.  She was amazed to find the shell disolved in the vinegar.

Posing with her "rubber" egg

Let's see what happens when we shine a flashlight on our egg in the dark.

Look!  It glows!


After the experiment, we had to type everything up, print pictures, put it all on a trifold presention board, and take it to school.  Then Olivia was called in front of the judges and had to explain what she had done, why, and her findings.  All the students were scored on a rubric based on having all the complete information, following the scientific process, oral presentation, and being able to answer questions asked of them.  Olivia was one of only two kindergartners who got all 100 points!  She had so much fun doing the science fair.

For Easter, the Easter Bunny brought Olivia some science experiment kits.  One being a tube you attach to a Diet Coke and slide in the pack of mint Mentos.  Then you pull the pin and watch out!

It sprayed pretty darn high!  The girls had a riot watching the pop spray everywhere.  It even has different tops to screw on top of the tube, to change the way the pop sprays.

Mia running for her life. 

So as much as I have been averse to science all my life, it is now a part of it.  Olivia loves it, and I am thrilled she does.  Mia seems to be following in her footsteps.  She loves most things that her big sister does.