Butt Out

Science Exhibit

Science Exhibit

Small science is actually big science - We're not just being sassy when we tell parents to "butt out." We're protecting the scientific method. It's not science if you don't do the work. Here's the math that could be used without even realizing it.

Science Fairs are a great idea! They force young student to really buckle down and stretch their brain past what they thought was capable. It is also a place where creativity can meet science in an otherwise stuffy atmosphere. But, at a science fair, you also run the risk of running into the dreaded over the shoulder parent.

Let us take a look at the science experiments we have for the fifth grade class. Mr. Jenkins has a mobile of the planets. Mrs. Stevens has a volcano. What's this, Mr. Riley has a display that demonstrates what happens in a nuclear reactor. Hmm, who had the most help?

My experience during the science fair was great. I thought I had a really original exhibit. I demonstrated how the shape of a container dictated how fast hot water would cool when it was placed in it. Not the "sexiest" display in the cafeteria, but I found it interesting. Needless to say, the students discussing cellphones and the internet won. But I still like to think I held my own in my own low-tech way.

Barry's Response - This brings up the question of what judging criteria are used in the competitions. Do they prefer popular/sexy ones, hi-tech ones or ones where the student demonstrates a good deal of effort (especially in the research, principle formulation or data acquisition areas), regardless of whether (s)he obtained help from parents, teachers or otherwise? It should be about the spirit of learning.

My $0.02. Thanks for your concerns.

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Helicopter parents, heat, and hype

#1: Let's be real, Barry. I felt like I was walking into a high-pressure system trapped under a thermal inversion. There was a heavy smell of vinegar volcanoes and parental desperation in the air. There was a kid with a display about Cold Fusion. Cold fusion? Are you in fifth grade? His mom probably spent three weeks soldering that in the garage while he played video games. That's why I say: Butt Out!

#2: I think it ruins the curve. Do the judges just want to avoid an argument with the parents, or does the popular project always win?

#1: That's right! We have the same problem in climate science. Models that predict massive storms and fires grab headlines, so everyone chases them. What about my project? The shape of a bowl affects how fast water cools. It's just thermodynamics.

Do the math. Heat loss (Q) is heavily influenced by the surface (s) area (A) exposed to air:

Q = hA(Ts - Tair)

Where h is a Heat transfer constant.

What it means

Water molecules escape more easily when you increase the surface area. It's like how shallow ponds evaporate faster than deep lakes. We look at this a lot in my air quality consulting work. Cooling down a city isn't just about building a green skyscraper, for instance; it's about the albedo and ventilation corridors. It's the simple opportunities for heat to dissipate that make a difference.

#2: You're saying the low-tech kid understands the planet better than the nuclear kid?

#1: Yes, in this case. Nuclear kid just followed a recipe. Watching water cool is like watching the spirit of the atmosphere. Pressure, temperature, and surface tension are what nature uses.

Sometimes mainstream environmentalists get so obsessed with high-tech solutions like carbon capture that they forget the basics - like how ocean-atmosphere interactions control temperature. Skeptics say the sun's cycles drive our weather more than CO2 volcanoes. We can look at the raw data and realize the Earth is a lot more resilient than a fifth-grade model says.

Test everything; hold on to what's good. That goes for your science project and the evening news. Someone may have cheated on a project if it looks too perfect.

Here's why you should keep your hands dirty


- Embrace the flaws: A messy poster board with real data beats a fake printout every time.
- You don't need a reactor to prove something. All you need is a thermometer and a little curiosity.
- Build a wind tunnel if everyone's building a solar oven. Go outside and measure the air quality if everyone says the sky is falling.

Science is a contact sport. You have to get in there, fail, get frustrated, and see the pattern. When parents take over, they steal the Aha! moment. It's like a trophy hunt instead of a journey of discovery.

To the parents: unless your kid is about to set the curtains on fire...Get your butt out. Should science fairs ban parental help completely, or is mentoring just a fancy word for cheating?

Comment below and let's start a debate!

Can someone show you how to set up a cooling experiment that proves your teacher's consensus wrong?

Comments for Butt Out

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by: Anonymous

it was an interesting article. The experiment is an unique one. The image is also well suited for this topic.

From Barry - The experiment differs from the typical baking soda volcano pack. What's the deal with container shapes? Surface Area vs Volume.

We see this in meteorology when we track convective cooling. Because more water molecules sit at the surface of a wide, shallow lake, it loses heat faster than a deep, narrow well with the same amount of water. As they absorb energy, they break their liquid bonds and evaporate. Latent heat fluxes take energy out of water and dump it into the atmosphere.
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starstarstarstarstar 		science
by: Anonymous

Realiy an interesting article. The experiment is such a different one. The image is well suited for this topic.

From Barry - The fundamental laws that govern how a cool breeze forms over a pond are acknowledged when you appreciate a different experiment. Thanks for keeping an eye on it!

A bit of the bigger picture...
You know exactly why we need to tell the critics to butt out if you've ever had someone hover over your shoulder and point out a typo while you're trying to explain how the universe works. The atmosphere itself is a chaotic masterpiece of shifting winds and raw energy that doesn't care about your documentation format.
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starstarstar 		My comment
by: Merri Frisbie

I'm guessing this article was written by a fairly young student, but the minor grammatical errors should probably be edited out... if not edited, then at least acknowledged, I suppose. The quality of the writing is excellent for a child of that age... if in fact the author is a child. It wasn't very clear, in my opinion.
I had a hard time figuring out what this had to do with the rest of the site, as well.

From Barry - Merri, I know you worry about the minor grammatical errors. But here's the thing: when a student is deep in a discovery, their brain moves faster than their fingers can type. We force the creative spirit to Butt Out if we obsess over every comma. Raw, unedited thoughts sometimes capture the turbulence of science better than polished ones.

Basically, it connects the dots between a kid wondering why their soup gets cold and a scientist predicting how a city's Heat Island effect will play out.
  • A good water experiment might be a microcosm of how the North Atlantic Ocean cools and sinks, driving the global Conveyor Belt of ocean currents.
  • You can't understand how a hurricane gains power from a warm sea if you don't understand how water loses heat.
The writing reflects an authentic human experience, imperfections and all. We're explorers, not robots!
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starstarstarstarstar 		My Comment
by: Anonymous

I thought this was an awesome article. I thought this article was very interesting. I would like to explore more of this site thanks.

From Barry - I love that you want to learn more! It's the ultimate Open World game. This page transitions you from simple experiments to the complex world of Air Quality Consulting and Meteorological Modelling.

Here's what you need to know:
  1. You learn that hot air rises at the Science Fair.
  2. Site Exploration: You'll learn how rising air carries pollutants like NO2 (Nitrogen Dioxide) and PM2.5 (tiny dust).
  3. You use that math to keep the air in your neighborhood clean.
Keep an open mind. We need every awesome mind we can get to help solve the atmosphere's massive, chaotic, beautiful puzzle.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Science Fair Projects.


Do you have concerns about air pollution in your area??

Perhaps modelling air pollution will provide the answers to your question.

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Thank you to my research and writing assistants, ChatGPT and WordTune, as well as Wombo and others for the images.

OpenAI's large-scale language generation model (and others provided by Google and Meta), helped generate this text.  As soon as draft language is generated, the author reviews, edits, and revises it to their own liking and is responsible for the content.