My two youngest daughters (Curly Q and Red) participated in a local homeschool science fair on Friday, April 1, 2022. It has been nice to participate with a homeschool co-op in our city.

Drum roll, please! I am proud to introduce "Cleaning President Lincoln."

The goal of the science fair was to reinforce the six steps of the scientific method.

1. Ask a Question
2. Do Background Research
3. Construct a Hypothesis
4. Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
5. Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
6. Communicate Your Results _source

Question:

Which household items clean pennies the best?

Hypothesis:

Curly Q - I believe vinegar will clean pennies the best.
Red - I believe lemon juice will clean pennies the best.

Materials Use:

1.	9 pennies	dirty and dated 1983
2.	9 jars	clear and with lids
3.	vinegar	15 mL per jar (in a total of three jars)
4.	lemon juice	15 mL per jar (in a total of three jars)
5.	ketchup/water mixture	10 mL of ketchup per jar/5 mL of water per jar (in a total of three jars).

Experiment Procedure:

1. looked for 1983 pennies
2. measured household ingredients
3. poured those ingredients into the jars
4. dropped pennies into the jars
5. shook the jars every day for 12 days
6. scooped the pennies out of the jars
7. washed the pennies
8. observed the results

Analysis

	1	2	3
vinegar	change: low	change: low	change: low
	corrosion: low	corrosion: low	corrosion: medium
lemon juice	change: high	change: low	change: medium
	corrosion: low	corrosion: medium	corrosion: high
ketchup/water mixture	change: low	change: low	change: low
	corrosion: low	corrosion: low	corrosion: low

Observation:

lemon juice cleans pennies the best

Why 1983 pennies?

• older, therefore dirtier
• made from 97.5% zinc and plated with a thin copper coating
• less valuable than pennies made from 95% copper
  
  

Conclusion

My kiddos stepped out of their comfort zone. That made me a proud papa! They did great with both the poster board and their spoken presentation.
will apply the scientific method to other aspects of their lives.

The cycle of ASKING - RESEARCHING - CONSTRUCTING - TESTING - ANALYZING - COMMUNICATION will serve them well.

Thanks for stopping by our virtual homeschool science fair!

I want to hear from you.

1. Has your child participated in a science fair?
2. What was the topic of your child's presentation?

Thanks for stopping by!

@SumatraNate