The Science Fair

When it came time to decide upon a science fair project, Kai happened to be "in a mood". Nothing was fun, nothing was interesting, everything was dumb and why couldn't he just go play a video game, etc. I asked him to write a list of his favorite 10 things so we could get a science project he'd like. To demonstrate he was not going to have any of it, he listed things like TV, Nintendo, reading, ... and then "blowing things up." Now that last item, I could work with.

The project ended up being about pressure (with some sneaky education on the Ideal Gas Law). We blew up plastic bottles with the bike pump. Didja know an exploding bottle Aquafina water bottle with 110 lbs of pressure can blow through a cardboard box? Cool, huh?

Kai learned valuable lessons: explosions can be passed off as educational, mom will show you how to use the power tools if it is part of your homework, blast shields can be repaired with duct tape, and repetition is actually required for scientific experimentation, and you can still ham around for the camera.