St. Michael's Parish Day School
Although I have presented posters at a couple of science fairs at the University of Arizona, I had never been on the other side judging and grading the presentations. It was quite an experience. I liked it and would love to do it again at the next opportunity.
I was surprised with some of the experiments the kids did. I graded 6th grade projects and at least one of them could be turned into a doctoral thesis. This one experiment in particular was about the difference in learning when study material was color coded instead of the classic black text on white paper.
The student used other kids from the same school (grade levels and subjects weren’t mentioned). But essentially, teachers and parents agreed to give two different types of study guides (one as usual – black text on white paper – and one with colored text). According to the results, those who received the colored study guides got better scores. It was inferred that there is a higher retention when notes are color coded.
I can EASILY see this as a full blown experiment. Take kids from: public vs. private schools; from wealthy vs. low-income; various grades; various subjects.
Other ones that stood out were a teeth staining one where egg shells were dipped into different sodas and the browning was documents and one about how acid rain damages plants.
