Engine Works?

K announced one day in December that he had signed himself up for the Science Fair at school. We were both proud and shocked at this news. I definitely wasn't going to encourage a Science Fair entry in second grade, as I know it will be required in 4th and 5th grade. I didn't want him to get frustrated with the lengthy process and decide he was never going to do it again...when I know that isn't really an option.

His teacher is a science fanatic, which is absolutely the reason we love her. I think she encouraged her students to participate in the Science Fair. K loves everything science related, so it was beginning to look like we were "in" for the Science Fair. (His teacher did email to confirm that we were ok with his participation).

The next thing K needed to do was decide what area he was going to explore. Immediately he let us know that he was interested in the reason that some cars can go faster than others...what about the engine made one car faster than another? Luckily, we found an engine kit that would sort of help him to understand the workings of a basic engine in order to be able to understand his real question.

As predicted, we did experience moments of, "I'm NEVER going to do the Science Fair again." But...the good news is that we ended on a happy note. He did enjoy the learning and the process, but I think he could do without some of the details required along the way.