Imagination Fair 2015

Noah and Micah were partners for this year's science fair.  Shawn and I were pleased: teamwork, brotherly love and one project.  Ahh yes!

What makes a sled go faster?
First they brainstormed what could be applied to the bottom of the sled to increase its speed/reduce friction.

They decided to test the following:
soap
wax
cooking oil

They hypothesized that oil would make the sled go the fastest.

One blustery day we all headed to the nearby sledding hill.  Shawn stayed at the top of the hill to aid in keeping things as scientific as possible and I was at the bottom with the stopwatch and a clipboard to record all the times.  Each boy went down on the plain sled.  Then they applied soap to the bottom and went down.  Cleaned the sled, applied cooking oil, then wax.

Applying wax to the bottom of the sled was the clear winner.

Finally they made their presentation board for the fair and used a skateboard ramp to simulate a sledding hill and plastic lids with weights for sleds so visitors could test the outcomes at the fair.  Noah did the majority of presenting at the fair and did a really nice job.  They both received awards for overall presentation and explanation.  We are proud of our little scientists.