Last of the Bluff Ridge Science Fairs...

Shedded a tear or two, really? Yeah....actually a little bit. Never thought that I would say this, but science IS kind of fun! And Bluff Ridge science fair, no more! Wow! We had a little bit of fun this year, and these boys worked really hard. I mean, NO WAAAAYYY could I do 2 science fair projects on my own, without their help. And surely this year we were going to win!

We tried to get a headstart this year, not wanting to wait until the very last minute since the boys were off track, and good thing we did because Jaret's 3rd science project turned out to be the only one that worked! Our 1st attempt we tried to grow an Organic vs. a store bought- sweet potato, after 3 weeks and only sprouting a 1 inch growth we decided it was time to move on. Our 2nd attempt we ran around town collecting water from various sources for a lead testing kit. And after accidentally spilling the entire kit in one water sample, we were left to start over yet again! Finally we found a digital water purifier tester. Which tests how pure or clean is your water?!?

We tested 9 different sources and my taste buds have done me right. Well, actually the cleanest water we came across was from our VERY own fridge at home! Darren installed a reverse osmosis machine in our home that runs through our fridge and it won as the cleanest/purest. The rest of the results were as follows:

#1 Reverse Osmosis Water (from home)
#2 Smart Water
#3 Dasani
#4 Aquafina
#5 Aquavista
#6 Fiji
#7 Arrowhead
#8 Drinking Fountain (Bluffridge Elementary)
#9 Tap Water (from home)

Ayden's project this year was a fun one. After 4 years of contemplating a science project involving twins, we finally came up with a plan! Identical twin's blood type is the same, and there DNA is 100% the same.....we were out to prove they are unique by their fingerprints. We fingerprinted 6 sets of twins. 3 fraternal (Noah and Sam Read, Hunter and Madelin Robinson, Joss and Aiden Nemelka), 2 definite identical's (Kirsten and Jessica Erickson, Jaret and Ayden Scott) and one set who were only 90% sure they were identical (Cooper and Connor Kelly).


Of all the fingerprints....the Identical twin's prints were VERY similar. They were the same category types, the only difference they had were the amount of lines, or where the pattern started. The Fraternal twin's prints were as different as can be as different as any other sibling, parent or even you and I. And as for the twin's that were 90% sure....their fingerprints were also quite different. They say that you cannot know if twin's are 100% identical without a DNA test. It would be interesting to know if those twin's are 100% fraternal as well. We love those Kelly boys, feel like they are kids of my own....and feel they are as identical as you can get even after all these years. It sure is crazy that their fingerprints turned out to be so different!

In the end....we didn't win. Darn! But we did get 2nd. Can you believe it? I have never been more proud of a second place finish than this. We had a good time, glad it is over, sad it was our last(s).

Our boys are growing up!