I can not even remotely believe that I am writing this post right now.  But here goes…

Sydney signed up to do the science fair out of a feeling obligation to her Science teacher (who is her FPS coach as well).  I wasn’t overly pleased about her doing it because her plate is so full.  But she wanted to do it so we supported her.  Time was tick tick ticking away and she hadn’t done anything on the project yet.  Finally with about a week and a half to go we got the 15 – 2 liter bottles of  Coke for her to do her experiment.  Which was to determine if removing the additives of Sugar and Caffeine had any effect on the chemical reaction when a mentos is added to the Coke.  In essence if you are going to make a Mentos Coke fountain, which flavor of Coca-Cola should you buy?

My thoughts on the experiment were the following…

1. This is like the proverbial Volcano.  Everyone is doing this.  There is no way she is going to win.

2. Who can really turn down an excuse to blow up 30 liters of Coke in their driveway?  I sure can’t.

3.  What the heck.

And so we did it.  Here is the video of the experiment.  You will notice that its not the big explosion like you see on youtube.  The youtube versions require a lot more than one mentos per bottle and you have to create a smaller opening in the lid to allow for maximum height on the explosion.  We did on the last trial go for height by putting a small hole with a nail in the lid of the bottle.  But only Sydney was able to get the lid screwed on in time.

So the parents aren’t allowed to be there for the judging.  We just show up at Awards time and collect our little scientists and go home.  Kinsey Tatie and I loaded in the car to go witness a rare opportunity.  The rare instance when Sydney does NOT win.  And it is rare.  So we joked about this to Sydney while we were waiting.  And as we waited I was surprised to see that many of the science teachers in the room took an interest in Sydney’s project.   I thought at first is was that she had the “flashy project”…everyone loves explosions.  But as they kept coming and I listened in and noticed they were giving her tips on how to make it better.  I thought…that’s weird.  And then it occurred to me.  OH MY GOSH…SHE WON!  I leaned over to Kinsey and said, “if she wins I am going to crack up!”  And you know what…She did!  First place for Chemistry!  She has been recommended for regionals!  Color me shocked.  I am so proud of her!