Heather, who blogs at OhMy StinkinHeck, proudly tells the blogosphere about her daughter Emelie’s efforts to earn some extra credit in science (with a great recycling twist). Emelie needed only 2 more points to have a 100% in science, and she was determined to get those points. But was she content with something mediocre, worth ONLY two points? Not this young woman!

Emelie decided that her project would involve materials that were already around the house, and what she ended up with was a birdhouse that any environmentally conscious bird would be proud to call home.

Using plastic bottles and lids, bubble wrap, leftover paint and wafer board, and a few other “odds and ends,” Emelie built a birdhouse like no other.

We are ESPECIALLY proud of Emelie because she did this entire project herself. When a parent does any kind of project for a student, there is no deserved pride. Emelie did a wonderful job and she earned the praise she very naturally received.

Way to go, Emelie. And thank you, Heather, for sharing this story with us.

Let us know if you have a science project you want to share.

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Only a very cool teacher gives this kind of homework to her students… “Using only construction paper and tape, I want you to design a rocket.” Lisa Heaton, the Gifted and Talented teacher showed her students a specially designed rocket launcher made out of PVC plumbing parts from the local hardware store. The idea for the PVC rocket launcher comes from U.S. Space Camp for Educators curriculum. I had the privilege of assisting Mrs. Heaton with the launch of the paper rockets. As the students will share in the comments below, the first launch revealed their design strengths and flaws. The five students with the best launch served as mentors for the rest of the students as they returned to the classroom to repair and redesign their paper rockets. The second launch proved to be the real learning experience - be sure to read comments from the young rocketeers below.

“This rocket launch activity coincides with the students reading Rocket Boys (also known as October Sky) by Homer Hickam. I want these kids to experience first hand the feeling of failure and success through the trial and error process of building their own rockets… and this air-powered rocket launcher does the trick,” says Lisa Heaton as she turns to help a 5th grader repair a rocket that didn’t fair well during the first launch.

These 5th graders are also using this hands-on science experience to learn about the science of blogging (pun intended). Student bloggers from Mrs. Heaton’s class in past years posted blog comments about their rocket experience that were even read by Homer Hickam (the author of October Sky) himself. Be sure to read the student comments below.

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The students at Wilder Elementary in Littleton, Colorado proved that Mom is right, “Wash your hands with soap and warm water!”? The third grade class did an experiment using Petri dishes prepared with agar (a seaweed derivative). Agar is an ideal “food”? source for the bacteria. The students collected samples around the school including on top of the tissue box, door knobs and more. You won’t believe what they found growing in the common areas that we all touch. They also tested how well common cleaners eliminated the bacteria.

The students also learned how to properly handle the growing bacteria. Always seal the Petri dishes and throw them away when you are done. The teachers had the students take pictures of the dishes, so they could refer back to their findings, without having to store bacteria that can make them sick.

Watch the Video to see what they found

Read more about how to do your own experiment with nutrient agar.

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It has the potential of being the most popular science fair project of all time. The Mentos Geyser is definitely fun to watch, but some teachers are missing the opportunity to use the activity to teach science. Over the last few weeks, I’ve received emails from students explaining that their teachers are forbidding them from doing the Mentos Geyser as a science project. Why? The common response is… “there’s no science to blowing up pop.”

What? How did these teachers miss the rich science content that oozes from the bottle with every eruption? Combine the strong science with the student’s motivation to want to use the scientific method and you’ve got an amazing activity.

Brian Rice, a math teacher at Gwinn Middle School in Michigan, recently used the Mentos Geyser as a great teaching opportunity. As one of the experiments, the middle schoolers measured how high pop would spray when a Mentos candy is dropped into the pop bottle. In one day, eighth-grade classes and some seventh-grade classes conducted the Mentos and pop experiment with the objective to see whether different types of pops have greater eruptions. They ended up testing a total of 44 different varieties, ranging from Diet Coke to root beer.

This is a great example of science in action. Here’s to Brian Rice - a great teacher who gets it! Instead of forbidding the activity, Mr. Rice uses the Internet sensation to grab his students’ attention and put the scientific method to the test.

Your can read the article that appeared in the Mining Journal on January 8, 2007.

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