Science Fair

Last night I helped do interviews for the Elementary School Science Fair. As this was my first time, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Upon entering the school and being engulfed in the chaos that naturally forms when young children congregate (that's a law of physics, I'm sure. Look it up.), I thought for sure I would be overwhelmed. However, after receiving my list of kids and the questions I was to ask them, I wandered around and looked at the many projects. I was amazed at the complexity and depth of some of them, and the creativity of others. As I interviewed the kids I was assigned to, I marveled again at the variety of answers I got to the same three questions. What interested you in this project? From one child I learned that he was not originally interested in his project. He looked, but could not find one that interested him. But in response to my asking him to tell me about his project, his eyes lit up and he very excitedly showed me how it worked and how he made it. When I asked him what he learned from this, he got excited and started pointing out facts illustrated on his display and elaborating on them. It was clear that, while he had started out with a mediocre interest in the project, he ended up becoming very fascinated with what he'd learned.

It was also very nice to see so many of the kids I see everyday at the library showing off their creations. All in all, it was a really fun night.

-Krista