The proud 1st grader at the Science Fair

The proud 1st grader at the Science Fair

My daughter LM participated in her school’s science fair this spring. It was a first for her –and for me. I really had no idea where to start or what to do. So I scoured the Internet looking for ideas.
We decided on testing different sunscreens for strength and effectiveness. I decided to keep it pretty simple.

She is in first grade.  She doesn’t know how to research something yet.  She doesn’t understand things like scientific method.

In doing the project, she began to understand terms like “control,” “experiment,” “theory,” “findings,” and “conclusion.” All words I didn’t learn until well into my junior high/ high school years. And here is my first grader, learning how to theorize and make a hypothesis before the age of 8.

We did the project. I should say, she did the project. I assisted, planned and guided, but I made sure she prepped the materials, did the work and made the conclusions. I helped her organize and lay out her project board, but she cut it all out and glued it all down.

We spent the next week quizzing her on all of her terms.

“What is a hypothesis and what is your hypothesis in this experiment?

“What is SPF?”

“What is UV light and what does UV stand for?”

She had it down and was ready to present at the Science Fair. Little did I know, I was going to learn at the science fair.

I had never in my life attended a science fair. I didn’t know what to think. When someone said “science fair,” I thought of geeky, introverted kids standing in front of project boards. I had no other preconceived notions. Other than wondering if anyone came to a science fair.

None of the schools in my educational career had a science fair. It makes me wonder about the state of public education in the 1970s/1980s.

LM invited her grandparents. We needed someone to see all of her hard work. I didn’t think anyone would come to the science fair.

She was the only student in the first grade to participate out of 50 entrants. But our elementary school does a good job with getting visitors to the science fair. They do a spaghetti fundraiser dinner along with a school-wide gift basket drawing. It makes the evening a community event, bringing out a lot of school staff, students and their families.

LM spent the evening discussing and explaining her project. I was so thankful that we had quizzed her. She knew it and was able to explain it. There was not a time during the entire two hours where she wasn’t talking to someone and answering questions. And of course, everyone wanted to know which sunscreen performed best.

This is when my eyes were opened to the true benefits of science fair. Yes, she gained a lot of knowledge about scientific method, dangers of sunlight and the benefits of sunscreen. But she gained another hugely important set of skills that night:

1. Public speaking. She had to speak to numerous adults and peers, sometimes several at a time. And she did it by herself. Her father and I were standing to the side. But that’s where we stayed. She did all the talking and answering. The spotlight was on. I remember the disaster of my first public speaking experience in middle school.

2. Organization. She had to organize her project, lay it out and then demonstrate it. Yes I helped a lot. This is a girl who can’t figure out where her clothes go every night. But she was able to understand the need for organizing something and planning it. She couldn’t just jump in and start swimming.

2. Self-confidence. She was beaming from the “I did it!” feeling. She had done a big project from start to finish for the first time in her life. She then used her knowledge to present and explain herself. She did an amazing job.

Standing to the side watching my beautiful daughter, I had a very proud parent moment. She’s not my little helpless baby anymore. She is working her way to becoming a stunning, self-confident successful woman.

The science fair at LM’s school does not hand out awards. It is focused on getting the students to participate and learn something vs naming a winner. But just between you and me, one of the dads who had stopped by LM’s booth earlier in the evening, stopped by again on his way out and whispered, “if I was a judge, you would get first place.”

As long as she (and eventually her little sister) are interested, we will be participating in science fairs in the future. I equate it to gymnastics, soccer, dance, swim and everything else she participates in. It’s character building at its best.

Who knew you could get that much out of a science fair?