The Fruit in the Fridge!

Quite literally, there has been something growing in our refrigerator. For a few months. An educational endeavor of notable merit, Science Fair is over for another year.

Want maximum storage life for your foods? Use a glass container. This was our son’s conclusion after storing small pieces of fruit in plastic, glass and tin containers as well as in zip-lock plastic bags, Saran wrap and wrapped in tin foil. Dutifully, he noted when mold first began growing on the fruit and after how many days or weeks of storage.

I transported the large, tri-fold, plywood display board home. It was a long walk home, with frequent stops.

We were enlisted for more than our fruit and fridge, for the camera and computer were in frequent use. We burned a CD of countless photos (I found our memory card full while making a video of Oye Como Va being played at the concert) and together we carried the decorated display board back to school and set it up.

It looked very sharp for the Science Fair.

He got a prize. His friend got the grand prize (trophy AND a day off from school) for a study about magnetism. Other studies varied; potatoes will root more quickly when hydrated with which liquid? Can a flower’s color be changed by watering it with Coca Cola? (No, but it can die.)

A Science Fair project or two ago --we've finished our fifth now-- we learned that it is no easy trick to take your blood pressure as another son conducted his own experiments. His study evaluated the effects of different styles of music on a listener’s blood pressure.

I know what drives up a parent’s blood pressure -- I write tongue in cheek . . . sort of . . . Science Fair!