Article by Robert Watson

Did you ever participate in a science fair project when you were in school? Just barely got a project turned in because you had procrastinated. Remember having to ask your parents for help and they werent happy? Procrastination is still a kid thing, so you will probably be asked to help out. Here are some suggestions to help get it started.

If you want a nice display consider one of these topics: Gather some seashells and see if you can tell what animal lived in them, either draw pictures or glue the shells to poster board. The Internet is a great place to get pictures of the different types of clouds and you can describe them. Make some clouds out of cotton, remember to include a darker color on them for thunderclouds, etc. and glue them to your poster board with their labels underneath them. Try to determine how slowly or quickly certain foods or fruits ripen. Find a really warm place in your home and leave a piece of fruit there, do it again at room temperature and finally make one colder, like in the refrigerator. You will see changes daily so be sure to write them down. See if different sizes of ice will melt differently. Get several different sizes and shapes containers, put in equal amounts of water and freeze them. Check the containers and after they have frozen take them out to melt and record how long each container took. You can also make a tornado for you next science experiment. Add water about full in a glass jar; Use a little food coloring and some dish detergent and add it to the water. After putting the lid on give the jar several good shakes. Watch how a vortex forms and acts just like a real tornado from the liquid in the jar. If you take a few monopoly houses and put them in the jar, you will see how they add a little touch of fun.

One prize-winning project did not come out as planned. The purpose was to see which plant would grow better using plain water on one and sugar water on the other. The child had said they thought the plant with the sugar water would grow the best. Use two identical pots, cups or whatever you have to plant them in put in several sunflower seeds in each one and water one with the sugar water and the other with plain water. Once they sprout take detailed notes on when they did, if you can you may want to include some pictures. During this experiment the plant that was watered with sugar water did sprout but nothing else and the other plant flourished. During the science fair the child had to present her findings to the judges explaining that the experiment failed comparing it to sugar and sweets rotting your teeth. She was very surprised when she won 2nd place but the judges told her that is what science is about. They also liked the fact that she had done a great presentation even though she was worried about it failing.