Having three school-aged children means that at some point during the year we're going to be working on science fair projects. I've collected some helpful links on Conor's site (hmmm, need to change this a bit...5th grade was last year).
I thought about this when I saw a site Proctor & Gamble has called Science-in-the-Box. Along with articles about their products and debunking rumors (that the Swiffer WetJet is harmful to pets) they have glossaries of technical terms, chemical functional definitions, and ingredient safety information. The site allows visitors to collect articles/documents in a "file basket" and download them as a zip file before leaving the site.
The site doesn't offer science fair ideas but would be a good resource to use if the student has chosen to do a project relating to a household product. (Keeping in mind that it is a manufactuer site and any claims it makes should be checked through other sources. Even a young scientist should learn to be skeptical.)
Plus, what could be more fun than to find out about the "Sources of Human Soil" where you find out that "(t)he average adult breaks wind roughly 13.6 times/day,(enough gas to inflate a party balloon.)" There is also a history of washing which has enough "ick factor" to interest kids too.
Posted by marybeth at September 26, 2004 07:22 PM Cool Links