Science Fair

[chrisinhouston]

This is like the 10th kid/offspring I have helped with a SF project. I personally think it is important, science is so important. I helped my 5 kids and now I am the go-to guy for the grand kids because bother parents work full time and never seem to get it fit in to their schedules... don't get me going about that.

So my 10 year old granddaughter is in 4th grade and it is mandatory to do a project. I let her choose after going to multiple websites with ideas. She chose a project where you bake several cookie recipes and the hypothesis is to try to guess which will be the best recipe.

So we baked today. We did the Toll House CC recipe, a peanut butter CC recipe and a peppermint CC recipe. Chocolate chips are the similarity here. I suggested a blind taste test using family members who we only identify as "taster 1" or #taster 2". They had to wear a blindfold, courtesy of one of my United airlines first class amenity kits that come with eye covers for sleeping, etc.

I really enjoyed seeing my GD so excited. We started yesterday with shopping, we used a lot of ingredients in the pantry that needed using as well as some new ingredients. She had to add fractions of cups of flour and other ingredients to see if we had enough. She was very excited to bake all 3 recipes today and later we did the blind taste test. I took lots of pictures that will go in her notebook and on her SF project board.

It was a good day.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I know what you meant but reading "bother parents" cracked me up.

The problem I see with the blind taste test is three different types instead of the three batches of one type, so their personal preference for one type of cookie over another can influence there choice of best recipe. However for 4th grade project they'll probably overlook that. A blue ribbon/gold medal, for sure.

[Griff]

Excess cookies will go over well with the teachers...

[glatt]

I was always a big fan of the science fairs until the kids started getting a little older. Now I really hate them. They aren't about scientific discovery. What they are about is following rigid directions and schedules without any explanation about what its all for or what it means.

When you are showing your kid at 1:00AM on a Sunday night/Monday morning how to search for youtube tutorials on using Excel to do statistical analysis so they can come up with some standard deviation number that was never explained to them in class and that you never studied or learned yourself, the only real lesson they are learning is how to half ass your way through something to get 'er done.

The teachers hate the science fair too and are very defensive about it at parent's night at the beginning of the school year. You know it's a state or county mandate or something.

[Gravdigr]

I'm surprised food is even allowed, given the way schools are about allergies/gluten-free/oh-that-cookie-crumbled-into-the-shape-of-a-gun/bully/DonaldTrump these days.

[Pi]

Originally Posted by glatt

(...) the only real lesson they are learning is how to half ass your way through something to get 'er done.

Most important lesson in life

[monster]

Originally Posted by Pi

Most important lesson in life

truth.