I saw this on facebook and it definitely gave me a chuckle. I vividly remember all three of my elementary school science fair projects. I even won a savings bond for one of my projects that made it to the county science fair. With that said, there were definitely tears shed. I am sure my parents were thrilled when it was over. Did the tears and stress warrant the benefits? In my case they did. My third and sixth grade teacher (same teacher I was lucky enough to have her twice) handled the science fair masterfully. She was very organized, gave a lot of guidance and broke it up into small pieces so no one was ever seriously overwhelmed. She taught us how to research, and more importantly organize our findings. She taught us a system using index cards that I kid you not I used through college and just taught my kids to use the same system.
The right inspiration can make it easier to tackle the science project. I recently read an inspiring article in the newspaper that demonstrates what the science fair is all about. It’s about giving kids the opportunity to ask the ever important question “why” and attempting to find the answer. Twelve year old Lauren Arrington researched the habitable salinity for Florida’s great nuisance, the lion fish. Her findings caught the attention of the scientific community because they had not tested that yet. So when your pulling out your hair over your child’s science fair project try to remember Lauren Arrington and all the great benefits gained from the process.
Link to “Palm Beach Post” article on Lauren Arrington
