Out of the Coma

Inspiration to bla bla bla has returned for the moment. It certainly has been awhile. Tonight we went to view the science projects submitted for the School science fair. Vincent and his partner did an experiment on GERMS and Bacteria. We noticed similarly themed projects geared towards the discovery and cultivation of mold spores. One project investigated whether bread made using organic wheat made a better home for mold when compared to the bleached non-organic variety. The gal who did the experiment went through the trouble of baking 8 loaves each of organic and non-organic breads. Her conclusion: next time don't be so ambitious unless you're also catering a brunch. Not quite. Her expectation was that the organic type would harbor more green/gray modules but instead the non-organic proved to be the choice. And by the way, the non-organic tended to be soggier which possibly influenced the result. As Chef Ramsey would say. "where the f&^% is the risotto!"

Vincent's team swabbed various surfaces in the home and dabbed the pickings into a petry dish filled with bacteria fast food. Surfaces tested included a TV remote, a kitchen knife, a toilet seat, a cutting board and a faucet handle. And the winner of the spore choice awards was: the TV remote control. Runner ups were the knife and toilet seat. No truth to the rumor that someone sat bare-assed on the knife while watching TV.


When the boys were brainstorming ideas for a project they turned down my suggestion to grab the unknown rotted stuff in the back of the fridge and perform an autopsy of sorts. What the heck is in the opaque tupperware. Wasn't the container translucent originally? How sour can sour cream get? What makes the container get bloated? They thought the idea stunk.

Some of the more interesting projects are those put together by the 8th graders.


They are required to do Rube Goldberg projects of linked mechanisms that accomplish a task. There was one that poured milk into a cereal bowl, another that woke a person up in the morning, another that watered a plant, etc, etc. A lively bunch of mismatched mechanical monstrosities that only the Nutty Professor would approve.




I pulled up the picture from Joseph's entry last year. His was simple and had the required 6 different mechanical mechanisms that successfully kicked a little soccer ball into a hole which then rang a bell. Not quite SCOOOOOOOOOOOOORE but close enough.

Vincent is already thinking ahead to next year's project. Maybe he can slice up some moldy bread with a contaminated kitchen knife.