A Sweet Solution

Every fourth grader at my school dreaded the fifth grade for one reason: It was the first year you were required to participate in Science Fair. When I started the fifth grade, I hated even the words "science fair." My Mom had been telling me all year, "Oh, you love science experiments. It'll be fun!" Sure I like experiments, but this wasn't just any science experiment; I had only ever heard nightmarish stories of 500-word reports and the horrible all-nighters necessary to complete the project. Now here I was, about to begin what was said to be the worst form of torture any teacher had ever created.

At school, my teacher, a short lady named Miss Gingerich, said, "Ok, class, today you get to select a topic on which you will do your experiment. Here's a list of subjects you may choose from. There's something for everyone - experiments on fish, mice, plants, light and everything else you can imagine!" As Miss Gingerich talked, the tight bun she always wore on the back of her head bobbed up and down.

The boy who sat in front of me raised his hand and asked, "Do we have to pick one from the list, or can we make up one?"

"Whatever you would like, Aaron. You have no limits. You can fly to the moon if you want to!" Miss Gingerich always had something silly to say like that. The bun bobbed again as she smiled and nodded at another boy across the room who had his hand raised. "Yes, Josh?"

"After we pick a topic, what should we do?"

Miss Gingerich smiled again - it annoyed me that she smiled so much. "Once you have your topic," she said, "it will be very easy. Everything will fall into place, but we'll worry about that when everyone has a topic picked. So start deciding!"

The whole class began talking excitedly about their experiments and how they would set up their backboards for their display. Maria was going to try to teach her fish to come when she tapped the side of the bowl. Katie was going to grow plants with music, so her display would be green with musical notes. Scott was going to feed his mice different types of foods to see if they would grow faster. Everyone knew what they were doing - except me. I still had no idea what to do for my experiment. I hated fish, mice and plants.

As I sat there thinking about how I would never get my project done because I had no topic, I decided I must be pretty dumb. Then my mind wandered to that morning at breakfast. I had been studying the rock candy my dad had brought home from his business trip for me. I had asked my mom how they made rock candy. "If only I could do an experiment on that," I thought. My mom had said that they probably grew the candy in a mixture of sugar and water. I could grow rock candy, but what kind of experiment would that be? No one cares about rock candy. I was about to dismiss the idea when I realized that there were a lot of different possibilities. "Maybe I could grow them in different lights, like plants," I thought. "Or better yet, I could grow them in different types of water. We have well water at home, and there's city water and Mom can buy distilled water from the store."

Miss Gingerich interrupted my thoughts. "Do you know what you are going to experiment on?" she asked me.

I debated for a minute on whether or not it would work and finally said, "I am going to grow rock candy in different types of water to see if water affects the size or shape of the candy."

Miss Gingerich's face crinkled up, "What do you mean by that? You can grow candy?" Her bun tilted to the side.

I grinned. "I think so! My mom told me about it this morning!"

"Well, I'm sure you'll do very well with it." She smiled and went on to ask a girl beside me what she had picked for her science fair project. This time I didn't mind her smile so much.

As I began working on my experiment, I found out that Miss Gingerich was right; it was easy to do all the work once I knew what I was going to do it on. I planned carefully and scheduled out all my time so I could work on my project and still have time to play. I went to the library at school and did research on crystals. I made my backboard blue with pictures of crystals and candy on it. The day the projects were due, everything was done and I hadn't even once stayed up all night. After I turned it in, I dreamed of eating the rock candy I had grown.

The next day, Miss Gingerich had all the projects with their backboards displayed on our desks. I found mine and looked at my grade - an "A"! It was better than I had imagined! As Miss Gingerich congratulated our class, I licked one of the rock candy crystals I had grown and began thinking of a topic for next year's science fair.