Science Fair

This year, we entered our first science fair project. We entered as a family team. There are specific rules about how much parents can help so it's truly a family affair.

The girls wanted to hatch chickens even though I pushed the Root Beer making idea many times. I'm already pushing beer making for next year. I feel it's important for the girls to learn about yeast and the process of fermentation. Of course, every time I bring it up I get three sets of eyes rolling in my direction. :-) Anyway, Becky drove to a farm in Newman Lake and picked up 18 fertilized eggs and they tossed and turned for three weeks in the incubator. Yes, we had the incubator in our house, upstairs making a constant motor whine sound. After 21 days, the girls got to witness the first set of eggs hatch. The girls were fascinated while Becky said she wanted to throw up in her mouth. We had a total of eight eggs hatch with seven living. Please take a moment of silence for Whopper. He did not make it past the second day. This caused some serious drama in our house. Courtney was heart broken. She cried hard for hours. I just love her kind heart. We buried Whopper in our backyard and had a small ceremony for him. Only his closest friends came and he was survived by no one. Ashlyn prayed to God that if it's okay with Him, can Whopper end up in Courtney's house in heaven. It was very sweet.

The project turned out to be a lot of work with several nights of writing, researching, cutting, and pasting. The hard work payed off though. The girls won the grand prize!

I think this project was a great lesson in farm life. The girls realized that it's a lot of work and learned the harsh realities that baby animals sometimes die.

We kept the baby chickens for a week after they hatched and ended up giving them to a friend at my work. The girls were happy that they ended up in a good home.

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