Life Is the Stories You Can Tell
  • Life is the Stories You Can Tell
  • Sing His Praises
  • My Creed
  • Books I Love
  • Christmas Letters

"Epic"

3/1/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
There was a car in the parking lot at 6:45 when I arrived at school Wednesday morning.  (Almost always mine is the first car there.)  “Hum……….,” was my first thought.

 

When I got out of my car, Elliot got out of his.  “YEA!!!” was my next thought.

 

Elliot had stayed after school Tuesday to put the finishing touches on his project for Wednesday’s Science Fair.  

 

“How is it going?” I had asked him on Tuesday.

“Good,” he replied and then, in explanation said, “I threw away the project we talked about because the potatoes were gross and decided to do a different project.”

“Oh?” I responded, “Tell me about it.”
“I am going to do ‘Which is stronger a lion or a tiger?’” he said.


My heart sank.  Really?   Despite my almost Herculean efforts to help these kids develop a testable question and a valid experiment, somehow some of them still manage to miss the mark.

“Do you have a real tiger and a real lion?” I asked him.

“No,” he answered, obviously perplexed.

“Then it is not an experiment,” I said.   “It is a research project, which is fine in its place but Science Fair is not the place.  For Science Fair, you must have an experiment.”

 

So, less than 18 hours before Science Fair was to begin, we started over, Elliot and I.   Fortuitously (for him, not me) I have witnessed many last minute projects and was able to give him some suggestions.   We wrote a new question, hypothesis, and set of procedures and I sent him home to perform his experiment.   He did not have a computer at home, much less a printer, and was very concerned about preparing his the display board for the fair.

 

“Okay,” I told him, “I get to school at 6:45 a.m.  Tomorrow is Science Fair so I will be incredibly busy starting about 7:15.  If you are there at 6:45 then I can help you until things get crazy, about 7:15.”

 

He came and I helped.   I set him up in the faculty workroom where he used my computer to type what he had laboriously hand written.   With a little guidance he created a graph for his data and with very little guidance he printed everything and posted it on his display board.  Mission accomplished.

 

Not all missions were accomplished.  On the day of the fair Mason told me that he did not bring his project because he did not get any results.  ARG! “Yes you did,” I told him.   No results are actually results; much priceless science knowledge has come from “failed” experiments.     And two students simply did demonstrations—a hurricane-in-a-pop-bottle model and a recipe for oobleck—but I did not have any baking-soda-and-vinegar volcanoes, which was a victory.   Most students had an experiment of some kind and most students had a great experience.

 

Brayden said “I honestly feel more inspired to do science research” and Avery said “I learned a lot about energy and conduction and might want to make it a career.”  Cute, little Susan stated “It wasn’t as scary to present to the judges as I thought it would be” and Allison said “At first I was nervous but relaxed after the judges were very nice and very funny.” In response to the prompt “My overall opinion of my science fair experience was…….”, Gary wrote “EPIC”.    My response to his response is COOL!

 

“Epic” could also be used to describe our field trip to the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point.   I invited all 8th grade science fair participants (almost 100 kids) to spend Friday with me at the museum.   We met at the train station at 8:15 a.m., rode the FrontRunner to Lehi, walked a mile to the museum, spent an amazing couple hours in the museum, and then did the trip in reverse, arriving back at Union Station at 2:52 p.m.

 

It was fabulous.   My kids are so, SO good.   The museum staff was very concerned about turning a large group of junior high students loose in a museum that was already full to overflowing with elementary children.   If only they knew my kids!   As I circulated I saw three small children land on Brian’s head in the spider web, I witnessed Sicily carry a lost child to the nearest responsible-looking adult, I watched Bruce and Jose wait patiently as elementary student after elementary student after elementary student pushed their way in front of them in the line outside the wind tunnel, but I did not see any instances of recklessness or irresponsibility from my students.  When it comes to respectful, responsible behavior, I will put my kids up against any elementary class anytime anywhere.   Oh man, I love these kids!

 

The best part of the experience, however, was not my amazing students.  It was my amazing daughter.   Grace skipped her school Friday to come to mine.   We spent the day together and it was truly EPIC.


Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
A current student presenting to a former student... Thanks Gil, for being a great student (long ago) and a great judge (now).
Picture
I gave the students a guide to help them with their presentations to the judges.
Picture
This student lost her guide so she copied her friend's....onto her hand.
Picture
Caught in the web....NOT!
Picture
Python hug (Some of you are asking how to become a python.....)
Picture
Water table
Picture
Picture
Never too old to teeter-totter.....
Picture
....or swing!
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Grace was my favorite part. EPIC!!!!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Teresa Hislop
    [email protected]

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    September 2012
    August 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.