Eva Marina Homeschools

Sunday, May 20, 2012

2012 Science Fair / Art Show

Our homeschooling group hosts a Science Fair/Art Show on the last meeting of the school year.  This was the first year that we attended.  Ignacio initially wanted his entire project on Betelgeuse, his favorite star.  Honestly, I couldn’t think of what we could do as the actual project so I suggested we broaden it to include all stars.

  1. He came up with this awesome title all by himself!  The middle panel had random star facts and a size chart to compare multiple stars to planets in our solar system.  We also made an outer space word search puzzle and brought in books to show what Orion and the Orion Nebula really look like.
  2. Our actual experiment was very simple.  We shaped a half circle out of clay and stuck a paperclip in it.  Then we stuck star stickers onto a clear glass bowl.  The clay represents the Earth and the paperclip represents the child.  You hold the glass bowl slightly above the base and slowly turn the cardboard.  Make sure to point out where the different stars are in relation to the paperclip.  This is a simple way to demonstrate that stars do not move.  Stars only appear to move because the Earth spins on its axis.  I found this project in Janice VanCleave's Solar System book.
  3. Orion, Ignacio’s favorite constellation.  The red star represents Betelgeuse and the blue star represents Rigel.
  4. We needed another constellation to keep things balanced, he chose the Big Dipper.
  5. Ignacio and his best friend Mia.
  6. For the art show, Mia made this adorable bean mosaic.
  7. Rigel, Ignacio’s second favorite star.
  8. Betelgeuse, Ignacio’s favorite star.
  9. The science fair ended with a session of creative movement led by two of the moms.  They acted out everything from bears to tornadoes.  At the end they were told to act like their science project.  This is Ignacio’s version of Orion.
For the art show, we chose to share his Earth Day and Rainbow collages.

Here is a detailed view of Mia’s mosaic.  Isn’t it beautiful?!


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