Wednesday, March 11, 2009

SCIENCE THURSDAY

Dane and Aubrey have been preparing for the WALKER SCIENCE FAIR for a few weeks now - with a long break for some family Flu in there, of course. Now, Thursday night's the big night. Funnily enough, they both had thought it would actually be held at ScienceWorks (a decent guess) and they'd secretely hoped there'd be rides. (C'mon, it's a fair, right?)

Following is what they've individually prepared (after probably a good ten to twelve hours of work each).

DANE
Dane asked the question How can you make outdoor furniture out of material that is natural and environmentally friendly?

Read his list of possible answers on his white board (hopefully you can click on the picture below to read easily). Then peruse the rest of the display to learn about building with cob.

He made a mini-cob bench with his buddies, Logan and Avery, and they got permission to make a large bench (with their parents' help) to put outside the school library. Project set for mid-Spring.

For the science fair, we decided to have the boys figure out their own separate displays for optimal learning - and it'll be fun for them to compare how they each focused their displays.



AUBREY
Aubrey asked the question Why is it important to use baking powder if a recipe calls for it? You can read her answer, how she got to it, and how she tried to grasp the chemical reaction of a leavener on her display board below.

One of her personal goals this year is to bake more, so this was an applicable, fun, and, yes, tasty project -- at least for the one made with baking powder.


With "Cob the Magnificent Mixture" and "Baking Powder to the Rescue!" all finished up and ready for tomorrow's big fair, these two budding scientists went to bed happy and proud tonight.

And rightly so...

5 comments:

Dani States said...

Yay Aubrey and Dane!
I can't wait to hear how the science fair went... even without rides, I bet you had a great time!

Question for Dane: Will a cob bench last through all kinds of weather?

Question for Aubrey: Does baking powder lose it's 'umph' if it gets too old? (I have a can that's been in my cupboard since Tai was 10 or so... now, he's 17...)

Nice work!

Love,
Auntie Dani

Anonymous said...

Dane & Aubrey,
Wow! You really got your brains to thinking. I learned a lot about baking powder and cob benches.
We'll have to bake when I visit you, Aubrey. You pick out a recipe for us, please.

Dane, winter changes to spring in a week - when will your cob bench for the school be built?

I bet the science fair this eve was really interesting. What are a few of your favorite projects your classmates and schoolmates presented?

I imagine Indi and Barritt were involved. What did they present?

You both did a terrific job!!!

Lovingly,
Grammy
See you next week.

HopefulMama said...

Dane and Aubrey - your projects are AWESOME!!! I think the ideas are great, and the poster boards look fantastic! I hope the science fair was lots of fun:)

xo,
Karen

Anonymous said...

Dane and Aubrey - My heavens!! What fascinating projects. You sure put a lot of time into them. I really learned a lot from you both. The displays are terrific!
Dane, I am wondering:
Do you have to put some kind of cover over your structure while it is drying? Also, does it dry so hard that you don't get dirty when you touch it?
Aubrey, I am wondering:
Was the cake without leavening so hard that you could not even bite into it? How did you know to bake both at the same time so the conditions would be exactly the same (that’s science!!).
I am so glad you both love to learn new things! I can't wait to see your displays.
Love, Mema

Anonymous said...

You're such a home schooler waiting to come out of the closet.