Have a Question? Armstrong Elementary Scientists Are on the Case

Even if you pick it up in under five seconds, food you drop on the floor will still have germs. 

The best chocolate chip cookies are made with shortening, not butter. 

And if you put chips in a blender, Dorito juice will taste better than juice made from Fritos or regular chips.

Students at Armstrong Elementary came to these conclusions, and many others, during the school’s annual science fair. About 100 students participated in this year’s event, which put to work both their knowledge of the scientific method and their creative thinking skills. 

Fourth-grader Adelaide Glover hollowed out eggs and left the shells in cups of soda for 10 days to test which soft drinks stain teeth the most. She explained that she used the shells as a proxy for teeth because both contain calcium.

The eggshell in Sprite, which Adelaide drinks, remained pearly white. But Dr. Pepper surprised Adelaide by staining its eggshell so much that it looked almost black. (Adelaide said she doesn’t plan to start drinking Dr. Pepper.)

Second-graders Susie Thomas and Sophia Womack teamed up to test whether it was possible to make tie-dye slime and, if so, how long the slime would stay multicolored when they played with it. 

“We like slime, and we like making stuff,” Susie explained.

The duo found that it worked better to twist the slime’s colors together than to fold and punch them, but that the slime didn’t stay colorful for very long before turning gray. Along the way, they also learned about the scientific method, including how to form and test a hypothesis, and terminology such as independent, dependent, and controlled variables.

Sophia’s mom Krystle Womack explained that Sophia, her sister Sydney, and their partners came up with their ideas and completed their projects almost entirely by themselves.

“They came home, they had the idea, they found their partners, they did it all,” she said. “I think it’s really cool that the school fosters an environment where kids are excited to do projects, and able to execute them as independently as possible.” 

The Armstrong Science Fair was co-chaired by Amanda and Rob Kalescky, who is a scientist at SMU. Volunteer parent judges gave written feedback to every project and sometimes wrote follow-up questions about students’ work. 

Three projects at each grade level were recognized for creativity and originality, exceptional planning and organization, and meticulously following the scientific method to reach sound conclusions. But the focus of this fair was on participation, and all the young scientists earned a sweet prize: a post-science fair ice cream party.

The fair’s goal, explained Amanda Kalescky, was both to foster creativity, and teach students about the scientific method, how important it is to inquire about the world around them, and how they can figure things out themselves.

“When you have a question,” she said, “you can find the answer.”