It's Science Fair Time

This year the kindergarten classes were invited to participate in the school science fair. Each class would submit a project which would be displayed in the hallway.

I learned about this plan back in November, and I instantly knew what our class project would be: Will Indian Corn Sprout?

I usually do this experiment around Thanksgiving time. I decided to delay things a bit this year.

We began by discussing the scientific method.

Scientists must know the correct process when performing an experiment.

Scientists keep data. We had Sprout Journals to write our findings.

We stated the problem.

Made our hypothesis.

The materials used were listed.

Sponges, water, bowls, Ziploc bags, and of course, Indian Corn.

Everyone placed their wet sponge in the corner of a baggie...

...then carefully placed a corn kernel on top.

The bags were closed and hung in a sunny spot.

Then it was time to wait.

And sure enough....a few days later this is what we saw.

The conclusion: Indian Corn will indeed sprout.

We recorded all observations in the Sprout Journals which were displayed in the hallway along with the sprout bags.

This could easily be modified for an older child's project: The bags could be hung in a sunny place and a dark place and then compared. Other liquids could be used and compared with the bag using water. Other seeds could be used; then compare the time they took to sprout.

Just a few ideas.

The science fair project strikes fear into many parents. If you are at a loss, this is easy, uses minimal materials, and is very student centered.

Even if you don't have a science fair project to do, this is really fun for kids of all ages. I brought a sprout bag home and The Offspring got a kick out of tracking it's growth.

OK. I'm now taking my teacher hat off.

Back to being a crafty smart-ass.