Off to the Science Fair ...

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, "we've" completed "our" first science project. That's right! Abby is off to the Science Fair today (she'll present her project to the judges this morning, then it will be on display tomorrow evening). Really, it was fun, but as I was applying vines with hot glue on the display board last night at midnight, I was kind of ...Just kidding! I wasn't REALLY going bananas. If you know me well, you I love stuff like this ... and it probably wouldn't surprise you that I can get a bit carried away. Abby and I worked together on this whole project (we did the majority of the experiment in Iowa during Spring Break) ... and she did a TON of writing in her log book and for the display. But alas, she had to go to sleep last night and that's when my creative juices get flowing. Here are Abby and Tyler checking out the finished product this morning. We were pretending to be judges - asking her questions about the experiment and results. Turned out pretty good. And her monkey dress matches the display (did you notice?).

Truthfully, we didn't need to do a Science Fair project this year. It's not required until 3rd grade, but Abby was excited about it. Several of her classmates did one, and it's great practice for when assignments like this ARE required. So we kept it simple. I was so proud of Abby's attention to detail and her understanding of the scientific method.

QUESTION:

"Do bananas ripen faster on the counter or in the refrigerator?"

HYPOTHESIS:

Abby thought the ones on the counter would ripen faster.

RESEARCH:

Yikes! We didn't do any, but we came up with a few things that Abby believed help form her hypothesis (the refrigerator is COLD ... brrrrr! ... and she eats a lot of bananas!). Then we added a cute monkey near that section to detract from our lack of research.

PROCEDURES:

We had this part down pat. While in Iowa, we took pictures each day and kept a chart going to document the bananas' ripeness. RESULTS:

Yep, she was right. The ones on the counter ripened faster. As Abby wrote, we did the experiment a second time just to be sure.

What did that leave us with? A whole "heckofalotta" bananas! So we made some banana muffins yesterday using the fully ripe bananas. I didn't upload those photos, but they are on the display board. I think making the muffins was one of Abby's favorite parts of the experiment. And when I was quizzing her about her "the least appealing part of the project" (this was one of the questions it said the judges might ask), she answered, "Don't you mean a-PEEL-ing?!" That's MY daughter! We'll update you later today or tomorrow on how she did today.