Fine Arts Fair

Yesterday after school was pretty hectic.  I gathered up all the art from the office (both the entries from our school and those from a Lutheran school in Mankato that wasn't going down).  The science fair boards and visual aids were packed with care along with the canvas art projects of the 7th and 8th graders.  My aunt had emailed me that she was willing to help pin up the projects (THANK-YOU!), so she hung around MLHS long enough for me to get down there.  There were a few other people hanging projects and we all helped each other.  Isn't it great how God provides?

The science fair boards were super easy to set up.  I took a swing through the other projects to see what other school's did.  I was impressed with the engineering projects; they made me want to invent something.  My cousin had built a video game controller organizer as his project.  He drilled holes in a cupboard that could hold the game cases and wrapped some soft, plastic coated wire around to create cradles for the controllers.   And it's baby-proof!  The wires are bendy so little toddlers won't poke their eyes out.

Other inventions: a floor scraping attachment to a push broom, a doggy gate (like a baby gate, but for dogs, to fit his family's extra wide staircase), a remote control holder, a tri-fold display board holder-opener (to keep science fair boards wide open for people to view), a robotic floor scrubber, a hairspray holder and nozzle cleaner (wet sponges inside a welded box with openings for aerosol spray cans... it's a lot more impressive than I've made it sound), a portable chicken pen, a squirrel/rabbit/other small rodent trap... I'm sure I'm forgetting some.  Like I said.  Impressive.

My 5th grade inventor came down with his dad to set up his engine.  I had the board and booklet for his project.  But they only sent the actual engine with me and not the heat source that goes on the bottom of the engine.  It was carefully wrapped in bubble-wrap and a very sturdy box.  Here's a video his mom took of the engine running:

In theory, it can run on hot or cold air.  All it takes is a little spin for the engine to catch and then the difference in air pressure caused by the hot/cold air lets the engine run.  So a cup of coffee or a bag of frozen peas could power the engine (this one needs a little more fine-tuning to run on a smaller temperature difference).

It survived most of Saturday running with no mishaps.  Then, one of the kids from our school saw another kid messing with it when my 5th grader (we'll call him M) wasn't around and it got busted.  I came in the room later and the one who witnessed the breaking said with awe in his voice, "Some kid broke M's engine, but he fixed it!  He just moved some stuff and he got it working again!"  Oh, I was so proud.  I'm glad he knew how to fix his invention.

Packing up was definitely easier than bringing everything down.  The other three teachers from Courtland helped take down the art and pack it up.  A few parents stuck around to help too.  Mr. E brought most of it back with him; I have the science fair boards in my car still.  Typically we'd have students bring their own projects back, but we want to display them at our school musical in a few weeks so more people can see them.

The end of the year is fast approaching.  Friday, one of my 5th graders flipped through his spelling book, "Miss H!  We only have... (counting the pages) five spelling tests left!"  Yikes!  It seems like there should be more!  I checked the spelling lists I typed at the beginning of the year and yes, there are only five weeks left.  In two weeks, we'll be in the fourth quarter and then it will be field trip season...