Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Enoch's Science Fair Prize

Enoch loves science.  He loves asking questions.  He loves the scientific process.  He loves discovering answers. 
He is so excited to do the Science Fair every year.  This year was no different.  He started out with an experiment with crystals.  That fizzled out after about a week.  He just wasn't getting into it.  We brainstormed some ideas with nothing really sticking.  I eventually looked online for some ideas and came up with one.  Enoch thought it was a good idea too, especially since it involved Coal.
Enoch asked the question, "Do dogs have a favorite color?"  We researched colorblindness in dogs, talked to Coal's vet and did an experiment.  Enoch put five different colors of papers on the floor (red, orange, yellow, green and blue).  He then put a treat on each square.  We let Coal into the room and let her pick one treat.  As soon as she ate one treat we picked her up (or tried to, sometimes she was faster than us and got two treats!).  Enoch recorded which color she choose.  He did this ten times.
Enoch discovered that Coal liked the colors blue and yellow the best.  That made sense to him because he learned that those are the colors that dogs can see the best.  He had so much fun doing the experiment and involving Coal.  The fun part was over, now it was time to put together his board.
The night before Science Fair, I spent the night at a Court of Honor for Gavin and Greg was at Webelos.  We got home about 8pm and it was time for Enoch to go to bed.  Enoch had the general layout of the board done and had laid things out, but nothing was glued on.  Sooo, Mom and Dad got the job of rubber cementing everything on his board.  We were even crazy enough to get out Greg's laser level to make sure everything was lined up.  It did turn out well.
Enoch turned in his project the next morning.  He was so excited and I was so excited it was done!  Phew!
That night, they invited the students and their families to look at all the projects.  Enoch's board was set up right by the doors.  When we walked in I could see a purple ribbon by his project, which is the color of the participation awards.  I wasn't expecting any awards so I wasn't surprised.  As we got closer, I noticed that Enoch's purple award had lots of ruffles and ribbons on it.  I was so happy!  He had won the Grand Prize for the first grade.  Wow.  Enoch really didn't get it and we didn't make a big deal out of it.
We walked around and looked at the rest of the projects.  There were some really good ones - I was impressed.  As we got to the end of the room, Greg leaned over and whispered, "Enoch has the only Grand Prize.  He won it for the entire school!"  What!  Really!
 Greg and I are so proud of him!  He worked hard on his project and really had fun with it.  He still really doesn't get how big of a deal this is, which is fine with me.  He was just happy to do it and had fun with Coal.  Congratulations Enoch, my little scientist!

3 comments:

Michelle Kelly said...

I wouldn't expect any less from my little nephew. What a smart kid!

Winnie said...

I had heard through the grapevine that he won grand prize. Good job Enoch, it is an awesome project!

Gayle J. Randall said...

I am not the least bit surprised. There is a budding scientist in Enoch. He loves asking questions and finding out the answers. We've all seen it in him for years. This just confirms it for everyone. Congratulations, our little Einstein!