Bottle Sounds

For this year's Science Fair, Aubrey got curious about sounds bottles make when they a) have different water levels, and b) are tapped on or blown into.

 

She started out with identical bottles with different levels of water (which of course had to be a snazzy color). 

 

She then got out her keyboard and tried to find a note that matched the sound the bottles made, first when blown into, and secondly, when tapped. Finding the notes was hard, and she needed some help from me, but she thought it was really fun to do this experiment.

What she found out: 

*Taps sounds go lower in pitch as the water rises -- because the tap vibrations get bigger with more liquid.

*Blows go higher in pitch as water rises -- because the air vibrations have less space to fill when there's more liquid, which means the vibrations go faster and higher.

 

After many long week night and weekend hours, she had her "What I Wondered" and "What I Found Out" sections laid out on her board. Below, she tells one of the judges (her teacher, Debi) about her experiment and its implications.

 Way to go, Aubrey!

Electric Info: Electricity -- and How Different Types Work

After thumbing through The Dangerous Book for Boys and Totally Irresponsible Science, Dane decided he wanted to demonstrate how electricity works. So, this year, he and his buddy Nic teamed up for their Science Fair project. They made up separate boards for their presentations, but their boards were both focused on the three types of electricity. That means they did their experiments/demonstrations together, but then made sense of them on their own.

One project was about static electricity, demonstrated with salt and pepper in a pie tin. Each kid then rubbed a plastic spoon in their hair or against a wool sock, and the charged spoon attracted the pepper.

For their second type of electricity, they demonstrated the DC of AC/DC familiarity. For this, they created a battery cell where a direct current briefly lit up a tiny light bulb as the copper wires, quarters, blotting paper, foil, vinegar, and salt worked their science. (I was going to write 'magic' there, but that could be a little misleading.) 

For the final part of their project, the boys put a blue box together and demonstrated how electricity with Alternating Current would work when plugged into a wall and a power source.

 

After hours and hours of evening and weekend work, the board was done. Dane particularly liked drawing and diagramming and doing the layout.

Above, Dane meets with one of the judges (his teacher, Nancy!) and discusses different aspects of his project with her. It was exciting to listen to his main points and to hear what he'd learned about his topic.

AUBREY on SCIENCE FAIR 2010

(as told to Anjie)

The Science Fair was very fun. My science fair project was "Why is it colder at Mt. Ashland than it is down here, when it's closer to the sun?" My brother's was "What makes a catapult work?" They were both very interesting. I thought mine was harder than Dane's because I had to figure out my answer with things that I couldn't make or do. I figured it out with my mom and dad's help.

Here's what I learned (wait, let me go get my board):


A mountain might seem big on earth, but it is a small part of the earth. The earth is very very very very far from the sun.

I also learned about pressure:

The earth is a big mass and its gravity sucks the air to the earth.
The air closest to the earth is thick and higher pressure which makes it warm.
The air further from the earth is thin and the pressure is low, which makes it cold!

Here's a picture of a judge asking me to explain my project. I got a green pretty ribbon. It says PARTICIPANT: SCIENCE FAIR .

A SAMPLE NIGHT OF SCIENCE FAIR PREP:

a brief photo journal and note

I like Science Fairs, really, I do. I love taking a question my kid has been curious about and turning it into a learning opportunity. An 0pportunity that happens to take at least TEN HOURS of preparation over the course of a few weeks per kid. I like that. Really, I do.

I like how the living room and kitchen turn into a work zone - and even the dog knows it. Glue and scissors and rulers and spoons and legos show up on any available surface; the computer has files up all the time -- like YouTube's "Catapults: Mini-Weapons of Mass Destruction" and googled responses for "Catapult history" and "How come mountains are cold when they're close to the sun?"; and spiral notebooks flop open to pages that list "Questions," "Best Guess Answers," sketches of air pressure on the earth, and all kinds of doodles.

I like how I get to practice my multi-tasking skills as a talking dictionary, penmanship coach, cookie baker, dinner maker, phone operator, Word tutor, research guide, diagrammer, and mom-trying-to-be-nice.

And I like that my kids, who usually have zero or minimal homework, have to roll up their sleeves and get committed. I really like that. I do.

But sometimes it's overwhelming.

And sometimes it makes complete sense to me that Wise Uncle Rod once toyed with recommending that his kids' school solicit money from parents rather than Science Fair Projects.

I like that, really, I do!

In the end, though, I know the Science Fair projects will give my kids a healthy approach to science, homework, curiosity, and presentations. And it will give them a good sense of accomplishment -- already, last year's displays on "Baking Powder to the Rescue!" and "COB: The Magnificent Mixture" are meeting rave reviews from their creators.

Perhaps some years it just won't work for our family to commit to the Science Fair, but for now it's coming together.

I might be crabby and shaking my soup ladel and stepping on legos and tape dispensers and pencils - but I'm also laughing and smiling and hugging for the other times. The times when someone says, "Oh, I get it!", asks another interesting question, admires their own penmanship, or jumps for joy when they've laid out their display and pasted it.

See? I like Science Fair Projects. Really, I do.



THE SCIENCE FAIR IS THURSDAY NIGHT. ONLY ONE NIGHT MORE OF PREP TO GO.

Q & A with Super-Mom

Dane asked me the other day why grownups grow hair on their private parts. I told him that was an excellent question and that I think he might just have found his Science Fair topic for next year.

hahahahahaha... Can you imagine??? (We thought that was funny.)

And then, of course, I told him a theory about caveman days and keeping warm and said we could look up real answers later.

Yeah, I'll get right on that...

Q & A with D & A - and more Science Fair fun

Walker's Science Fair was fabulous - even without rides! We think about 150 kids chose to participate in the optional event, including four from Dane's class and four from Aubrey's.

Before we post a full-on report and photos, though, there were some good comments and questions made on the previous blog about Dane and Aubrey's projects, so the two mad scientists want to respond to their fans.

These questions are from "Auntie Dani" [Anjie's cousin] in Tacoma, WA-
Q for Dane: Will a cob bench last through all kinds of weather?
A from Dane: It has to have a good roof.

Q for Aubrey: Does baking powder lose its '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...)
A from Aubrey: I'm not really sure, but my Mom says, "YOU BETTER GET YOURSELF A NEW CAN!"

These come from "Grammy," hailing from University Place, WA-
Q for Dane: Winter changes to spring in a week - when will your cob bench for the school be built?
A from Dane: I have no idea. It has to be sunny and not rainy.

Q for both kids: I bet the science fair this eve was really interesting. What are a few of your favorite projects your classmates and schoolmates presented?
A from Dane: The jelly bean one where you got to test jelly bean flavors and you tried getting them right. [The experiment there was to test whether adults or kids have better taste buds. Supposedly, kids do...]
A from Aubrey: I liked the volcano presentation and I liked when it exploded. They put in vinegar and baking soda. They react and make stuff come out of the volcano.


Q for both kids: I imagine Indi and Barritt were involved. What did they present?
A from Dane and Aubrey: Barritt did one on crystals and salt and sugar. And Indi didn't do one, but she did her first violin recital a few days earlier! [Below is a picture of Barritt and Aubrey in front of Barritt's display.]


These come from "Mema" in Puyallup, WA-
Q for Dane: Do you have some kind of cover over your structure while it is drying? Also, does it dry so hard that you won't get dirty when you touch it?
A from Dane: If it's wet outside, it dries under some sort of carport cover or in a garage. Our mini-cob bench took 4 days to dry like that. To answer your next question, yes, it dries so hard that when you touch it it doesn't get you dirty.


Q for Aubrey: 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!)?
A from Aubrey: No, but it didn't taste good and it was a little harder. I knew to bake them together, because that's how my mom said that's how we're going to put them in.


Above, Aubrey talks to a judge and explains all the parts of her experiment. When she's finished he gives her a purple ribbon that says MAD SCIENTIST in gold lettering.

Below, Aubrey explains her experiment to her awesome cousin Barritt.


Above, Dane and Avery and Logan pose before their three displays. It was neat to see how the three displays differed. In general, they covered a lot of the same information, but some key differences were:

• Dane's display pointed out that some cob structures built in the 1400s are still standing; Avery's display said some structures built 500 years ago are still standing - and showed pictures he found on the internet! and Logan showed a photo of how Anakin Skywalker's home in Star Wars I is made of cob;
  
• Dane's was the only display that offered hypotheses (what we called his "Best Guess Answers") about other 'natural' and 'environmentally friendly' outdoor furniture options, which is a fun and creative list (personal favorite, you could make outdoor furniture out of "vines, but that might only make a cool tire swing");
• Avery's display showed the process of making cob with photos he found on the internet that even showed people mixing with their feet;
• Logan compared soil samples from his school and from his home that showed which was more clay-rich -- a good thing to know when we build the one for the library!
  

Other projects we saw that night include hillside erosion analysis, DNA strand isolation of a tomato (those two projects were by 5th graders), how to make bubbles from dry ice, how electromagnetics work, how waves form, and lots and lots of experiments to see how quickly a piece of fruit decomposes in different liquids like water, soda pop, or vinegar.

Overall, the science fair was a super learning experience. Personally, I have never participated in a science fair; I'm thrilled my kids have the opportunity to get started at such a young age.

I think that if these building blocks of scientific understanding get started early, they might not feel so confounded when they're 16 and trying to make sense of General Biology or Sophomore Chemistry class... I'm just sayin'.

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...