The kids here are super smart, so much so it can be a little unnerving (it’s really awkward when a 6 year old can do multiplication faster than you). To prove this, we went undercover at the funhouse science fair to scope out the future competition, and boy did we find some awesome stuff. There was some stellar stuff in every category– we had our socks blown off by almost every project. We should have expected it from the cash prizes, but still! Despite the overall spectacularness, there were definitely some stand outs…debating whether or not to save the best for last… First highlight: One kid in the elementary school category brought multiple tubs of oobleck and a hammer which was extremely enjoyable. The third place project in the middle school category had actually baby chicks and was studying their development; a pretty important thing out here. Fun fact: Chicks are waterproof. The very stylish first place winner in the elementary category brought actual coral and artificially bleached the coral with UV light. I am so glad I’ll graduate by the time she’s in our category because that’ll be pretty hard to top.
While the younger groups did amazing, I’m not afraid to toot our own horn. We saw some pretty cool experiments from the highschool too. Make-up from fruit, “Does music change your heart rate?,” and an anti-gambling statistics experiment. The biggest project out of the High School was Lamai’s clean energy project. He went over tons of clean energy methods and debated over which would be the most applicable to Orcas Island. He had a fantastic display and even a baby solar panel that he’d programmed to sense light and follow it. It’s clear to see why he got first place and the $500 prize. I know plenty of people reading this are in the age group that’s able to join in the science fair. As amazing as all the projects were, there were only five from the high school. Keep in mind that there’s no harm in trying. This year, at least, the Funhouse provided plenty of poster boards for contestants and had plenty of workdays at the Funhouse where people could use the art supplies there. It’d be lovely to see even more exciting projects joining the fair.