Photo by Pat Christman
More than 1,200 students representing 120 schools in southwestern and south-central Minnesota took part in the 54th annual Regional Science Fair Saturday on the Minnesota State University campus.
MANKATO — It is said kids say the darndest things. That's true enough, but they come up with the darndest experiments, too.
More than 1,200 students representing 120 schools in southwestern and south-central Minnesota took part in the 54th annual Regional Science Fair Saturday on the Minnesota State University campus.
How many fruitcakes does it take to provide enough electricity to light a Christmas tree? Can iron in breakfast cereals be detected with a magnet?
Those were just two of the more than 1,200 projects by students in grades 3-6 at the 54th annual Regional Science Fair held Saturday at Minnesota State University's Taylor Center and Meyers Field House. (For the record, it takes about a dozen fruitcakes, with fresh-baked ones still in the pan working best. And yes, magnets do attract iron in some cereals.)
About 120 schools were represented at the fair, which was part of the South Central/Southwest Minnesota Region for Science Fairs - one of the largest such fairs in the United States.
The experiments ranged from studies of electro-magneticism to "What is the effect of time on gum flavor?" The variety, said parent Janine Erickson of Marshall, was good for the kids - and the adults.
"It was a good learning experience for all of us," she said toward the end of the fair.
Her son Bo, 10, examined the relationship between the number of kernels left unpopped in a bag of popcorn and the price. His motivation? "I really like popcorn, and my uncle owns a movie theater in Marshall."
To the groan of consumers everywhere, Bo confirmed his hypothesis: The more expensive the brand, the fewer unpopped kernels. Or as he put it, "When you buy popcorn, you get what you pay for."
Inspired by his cousin's Army service in Iraq, David Whitaker, a 10-year-old from Norwood Young America, looked at which candy - Creme Savers, Candies or Gummi Life Savers - would best survive shipping and the Middle Eastern heat. The fact that Gummi Life Savors tied with Candies surprised his mother.
"I thought they would stick together," Lisa Whitaker said.
Ashley Brunton of North Mankato took on the old belief that music helps a plant grow.
"We found that it's not true," the 10-year-old said. Of course, she did subject her plants to "wild" music, meaning rock 'n' roll, which for 50 years has been accused of stunting growth.
Video games, it turns out, are a different story. One sixth-grader studied how video games affect reflexes by timing how long it took his subjects to catch a dropped ruler before and after playing "Destruction Derby 2" on a PlayStation. His conclusion: "My results showed that after almost every time someone played the video game 'Destruction Derby 2' for 15 minutes, their reflexes improved."
The boy was not around his table to comment on his experiment. Perhaps he was off playing video games, an activity, he can now tell his parents, that is scientifically proven to be good for him.
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