Co-op: Science Fair!

 Our homeschool co-op learned about the scientific method a few weeks ago, and then hosted a science fair. Our kids each chose to do their own science project to bring to the science fair. To start, we perused some library books to look for inspiration, and they each chose a topic that they were already interested in.

Sweet Pea often makes mud pies out in our backyard, shapes them into different shapes, and lets them dry and harden in the sun. She opted to do an experiment to mix different materials into her mud pies and see which one was the strongest when it dried. She did a plain mud pie, and one with grass and leaves mixed in. Here is what they looked like when she first made them.

The one on the blue plate had leaves and grass mixed in. Here is what they looked like after they dried.

After they were fully dried, she picked each one up, observed the differences, and tested them by knocking on the bottoms. She noticed that the plain mud pie crumbled pretty easily when she knocked on it, but the one with leaves and grass held together pretty well. So, her hypothesis was correct.

Pumpkin chose to experiment with natural dyes, and wanted to know if the colors would change when vinegar or baking soda was mixed in. She made dyes with dandelions, strawberries, and purple cabbage. Here are the dandelion dyes, before and after the addition of vinegar and baking soda.

Here is the strawberry dye, before and after.

Here is the purple cabbage dye, before and after.

We were very surprised about how even though the dyes changed colors and looked very vibrant, some of the colors bonded to the fabric much differently than they looked in the bowls. For example, the purple cabbage dye turned blue with baking soda, but dyed the fabric green.

Here are close-ups of their posters.