[James Lorden]

So my daughter (5) was asked what she wants to do for her science fair.  Her answer... make beer like daddy.  As proud as I was, this is not exactly an age appropriate project for a kindergartener!  That does not mean that we cant use a beer related topic though.  The concept has to be something that a 5 year old could learn from.  I have a few ideas but I want to see if anyone can help out with something fresh.

PS - I haven't been around much lately and I apologize.  There are a few people (Martin) that I need to catch up with. I am a CPA and I am full stride in busy season.  Not fun!  I barely found time to post this... Once spring rolls around I will be back in full force!

[abraxas]

Cheese?

That's great that they have science fairs for kids....but 5?  Seems like it could similar to the pinewood derbies, where it's more dad vs dad for many of the entries...

[tubercle]

How about yeast bread?  Basically the same principle.

[dano14041]

Tis the fun season for CPA's!  

Maybe she could do something like the reproductive cycle of yeast.

[beerocd]

Root Beer.

[tschmidlin]

Yeah, go with a soda.  We make ginger ale, but rootbeer or some other flavor will work as well.  Personally I'd avoid extract (there's less learning when you dump in a bottle of flavor).

Or bread like tubercle suggested.  The kids might not like it a much as the soda though

[Kaiser]

how about biofuel? you could even distill it to make ethanol.

Did you get the microscope? You may be able to use that to show growing yeast.

I wonder when I'll have to do a science project for one of my kids.

Kai

[theDarkSide]

Make CO2.  Grab a soda bottle and put in some vinegar ( 1/2 - 1/4 cup ).  Fill a balloon with baking soda and attach balloon to the top of the soda bottle without spilling the baking soda in.  Then lift the balloon and dump it in and watch the balloon inflate.

Tie it off and fill another with air and compare the 2, showing that CO2 is heavier than air.

My son and I just did this experiment and he still has the balloons.  Every once in a while I catch him trying to figure out how much higher the CO2 balloon needs to be so when dropped, they hit the floor at the same time.

[James Lorden]

How about yeast bread?  Basically the same principle.

I agree, I really want this to be a project that she can learn something from.  I must say thought she is motivated to brew , she uses her beach shovel to empty my mash tun after almost every batch.

how about biofuel? you could even distill it to make ethanol.

Did you get the microscope? You may be able to use that to show growing yeast.

I wonder when I'll have to do a science project for one of my kids.

I did get the microscope, I was thinking of just opening a plate in all the rooms in the house to see what grows.  My wife found this revolting!

As for your kids first science project... oh those poor kids, they have no idea what they are in for  

[phillamb168]

Make your own spectrometer! http://orbitingfrog.com/blog/2008/07/02/make-your-own-spectrometer/

It's a double rainbow... almost a tripel? ;-)

Also if you decide to do the ambient microbe thingy, you should at least swab the bar of soap in the bathroom and throw that on a blood agar plate. Fecal coliform! Pseudomonas aeruginosa! Coooooooties!

[Kaiser]

I put some grass in water, let it sit for a while and then looked at the water under the microscope. You get a few moving thingies (too lazy to google the names right now) in that water.

Looking at mold under the microscope is cool too. When you stain it with methylene blue you can see it better.

Kai

[dak0415]

My son did this years ago.  We got lots of agar plates and tested various bottled waters (as well as tap water) to see how clean they were.  NOT! The cleanest were good old tap water and Le Bleu bottled water.  Aquafina, Dasani, not so good.  Now I know why Le Bleu has no expiration or "best by" date.

Or, you could do something REALLY useful.

Have her swab all of your "clean" brewing gear and see how good you really are!

[dirtyjerzey]

What ever happened to the good ol' baking soda vinegar volcano?  Simple, easy, and fun with red food coloring!!!!

[nicneufeld]

What ever happened to the good ol' baking soda vinegar volcano?  Simple, easy, and fun with red food coloring!!!!

We did this, and one year either me or one of my brothers built one that was pressurized instead of chemical...used 2 liter bottles to store air pressure, with a release valve to shoot the "lava" water out with.  As I recall we may have stained the ceiling tiles...   

[loopy]

I have a 4th grader and a kindergartner doing science fairs this year.  My daughter (the 4th grader) has done a science fair every year, this is my sons first one.

When my daughter was in kindergarten I think we tested batteries to find if there was a difference between expensive batteries and cheap batteries.  Used some AA's little plastic battery holder from radio shack, and some 1.5 volt motors.  Took voltage readings with a hand held voltmeter every 15 minutes or so until the motor stopped spinning.  result was something like the duracells lasted 3 hours longer than radio shack batteries.  the radio shacks looked good at first but once they started dropping, they dropped off fast.  She took 2nd place in kindergarten.

This year my son is doing crystals.  just epsom salt and water, letting the water evaporate and leave behind crystals.  Were going to try to do it with a few cups and let him determine what the difference between large crystals and small crystals are by seening the difference between one "grown" in the counter, one outside and on int fridge.  The idea being that crystals form different physical characteristcs based on the conditions as they form.  From that, you can look at a piece of quartz or granite or the like and make some simple determinations about how the rock was formed, ie did it cool rapidly, slowly. 

good luck, post back with your ideas.  I love science fair time.