Image includes Johnathan, Ivan, Harmon, Billy, and I. Also, Karam on the right.
Before the science night, Harmon, Billy, and I came together to brainstorm experiment ideas a week before the project was assigned. The day it was officially assigned, we told Harmon to contact Ms. Moreno to notify her of our project. However, he had technical issues and the message never sent. The weekend before the event we decided to test out to see if we could do the experiment in a fast and efficient manner. Unfortunately, during this time, Harmon had resent the message to Ms. Moreno and discovered that our project had been taken. This was a major set back that had caused us to spend over an hour thinking for a resolution. After searching the internet for a new idea, Harmon found an experiment that included foam, soap, and water. We set up a test run in less than ten minutes and it worked fine. We decided to settle for this idea and let Ms. Moreno know.
In the days leading up to the event, the entire group contributed to the poster; Billy and Johnathan drew the boat, I created the title, Harmon organized what to write, and Ivan wrote the scientific connection and colored. The items we needed to conduct the experiment were brought by Harmon, Ms. Moreno, Johnathan, and I (although my materials were never actually used).
On the day of, Billy, Ivan, and I were one of the first people to arrive. We quickly chose a spot in the hallway and began setting up. Unfortunately, we were later told to move our table into an isolated spot, away from most experiments and out of the view to many. Soon after, Harmon and Johnathan showed up and we started to fill up the containers (spilling the water on some occasions) and put the beads in it to create racing lanes. We assigned people jobs, Harmon was our entertainer and helped me with rinsing out the containers, filling them up and dumping out the bucket, Johnathan and Ivan also assisted us with keeping the containers ready to go and they were in charge of explaining the procedure to the kids, and Billy cut out the boats.
The first ten minutes or so left us with no participants, only Eric who came only to joke around and laugh at us. One of supervisors walking around told us to conduct a test run in which we all would get overly excited to attract kids. We did this and it only prompted about three kids to come. Then I suggested we move the table where we can easily be seen, closer to the other tables. This led to a sudden increase in participants. After each race we would all stop what we were doing in order to give exaggerated cheers and applause to the winner and present them with candy and a sticker as a prize, causing the kids to give off an joyful response, including one kid who shouted "I won!" to everyone around him. Our expressions could be heard from far away and attracted even more to our table. Soon, we wouldn't be able to set up fast enough with the resources given and we gained access to a bigger sink. This increased our production rate. It also attracted several other students who left their stations to roam. This included Sean, Angela and others, Most notably Eric who came so frequently that we told him to help us clean the watery floor.
This experiment dealt with water and several spills were made. Two major ones occurred when Harmon missed the bucket when dumping the soap water out. This caused the janitor to provide us with two rolls of paper towels and a trash can. In addition Ms. Moreno gave us thin towels and sponge sheets.
When it was time to clean up, we were relieved. After spending hours completing laboring tasks for science, we were exhausted. We quickly shut down and poured out all of the containers and the bucket. We cleared off the tale and wiped the floor. We were so fast when doing this that we were the first who cleaned up. It was around this time that we picked up Billy and sang Happy Birthday while parading him around the lobby and cafeteria.
The children enjoyed the experience. It provided them with good memories and an opportunity to see if science interested them. This could have introduced them to a future passion that might develop.
On the other hand, it gave me and my group tiring, two hour experience that made us learn how to depend on others and work as a team. Everyone contributed to the effort.
This event was enjoyable for all. In the future, for those conducting experiments with water bring a bucket and think of easy to do experiments that won't leave you tired after.
