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Home My WebLink AboutLucknow Sentinel, 2009-04-22, Page 5Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - Page 5 Science fairs always bring out the best in kids, no matter what the project is The other day I was doing what most guys like to do (picking the lint out of my navel while barbecu- ing), when my daughter informed me that she want- ed to enter the local Science Fair. "No problem," I replied. This may not seem very enthusiastic, but you parents know that when a grade five says she is going to do something, she will probably forget and you can keep watching TV. Maybe I'm not a good father. I know there are lots of other parents who would be EXTREME- LY interested in helping their kid with her sci- ence fair project, including the topic selec- tion. election. These are the parents who are most likely to say, "I think your project should include a Particle Accelerator beta, ,c‘ have one at the office and may teal = tal- ly bring it home over the weekend." 'These are the same parents who are most likely to sell one of their kidneys to put their kid through medical school. Luckily for her, Emma didn't require my help in coming up with a topic. Unless there was a "guy" in the group of judges, Methane -Producing Food and the Colour of Flames that, Ensue would be judged rather poorly (although the display would be AWE- SOME!). WE-SOME!). So the project, "Fun for Fido", was born. We com- pletely bypassed the standard "How To Stop Global Warming" : ideas and jumped directly into the groundbreaking "What Toys Are Most Popular With My Dog" research. The tests were extensive, involv- ing not only the Squeaky Hedgehog, but also The Squeaky RubberDog, The Tire/Rope Combo and the ever -popular Tennis Ball. And don't think we skimped on the testing pact. We did "throwing" the toys, "hiding" the toys and even "leaving the toys on the ground." Yes, Fun for Fido arnered a lot of attention from the judges. ,, Judge: "Ja! I have zis toy and ze dog likes it! Gut vork!" Emma (with a satisfied grade 5 scientist's nod): "Thank you." One thing that I did notice by looking at the other entries was that there were some kids that HAD to have spent more than two days preparing their projects. The =reason was simple: the Science Fair is the Lotto 649 of the school world. There were cash awards for every- thing: !The Dow chemical Award for the Best Solar Power Project." "The Imperial Oil Award for the Best Renewable Fuel project." "The Ethel P. Weirdstone Award for Cleanest Desk." It' went on and on. And on. The number of awards given was a dear indicator of how 1 anxious these folks were to push kids C toward a career in. science. This was okay with me since Emma ` ended up winning The Special Award, worth seventy-five bucks! Me: 'I think, by awarding Emma this prize, the judges were saying, �."I always wondered about : that Squeaky Hedgehog.,„ My Wife. "I think the judges were saying, "Please come back next year!" Count on it. Anybody have a = spare *Particle Accelerator? Mark Thrice is our nationally syndicated humor columnist.:;:::;; s .0 ..-a,%.�.•r.;t.�.� _,,. :: Photo by Gare Reid The Senior A Ripley.Wolves held their end of'the' year banquet ,April 17, where they handed out heir hardware. MVP most points sward went too : !!lick Locking. Head coach Hugh Nichol is seen beside Locking. OPP's Spring Seatbelt Campaign ready to go With the 2009 Spring Seatbelt Campaign ready to get underway, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) will be highly visible throughout the province to ensure that motorists everywhere do their part in saving lives by buckling up. The campaign is a partnership between the OPP, Ministry of Transportation and other road safety partners which runs from April 15 to 26. In OPP jurisdictions last year (2008), one in four fatally -injured vehicle occupants were unrestrained at the time of the crash and many' more were seriously injured for the very same reason. There were a total of 78 deaths, on Ontario highways that were attributed to seatbelt non-compliance in 2008. A properly used child .seat reduces a child's risk of injury in a crash by as - much as 75 percent. Yet many child .car seats are incorrectly used or inconectly installed. When used Correctly, a booster seat provides 60 per cent More protection than a seatbelt alone. In a . collision, children using seatbelts instead of booster seats are .three and a half times more likely to suffer significant injury, and four times more likely to suffer head injury; For this reasbn, the OPP. will be focusing thein efforts on child restraints during the campaign to raise awareness and protect children. Parents looking for help should visit www.ontario.ca/smartlove or con- tact their local public health unit. Wawanosh 4-H hold meeting on survival skills On Monday, April 13 the Wawanosh 4-H Bush Whackers met at the Wawanosh Nature Centre at 9:45 am. President Ellen Jefferson began the meeting with the pledge then led roll call which asked members what they , would do if they were 'lost on a hike. Answers were stay calm, stay put and blow your whistle. The guest instructor, Esther Buck from the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority, informed members about the Nature Centre and its many trails. She explained how to orienteer with a compass. The members practiced in the classroom before,. going outside. Members were paired up and applied their newly learned skills in the yard area just outside the building. All . members could set their bearing and proceed from one marker to the next. After this practice, members were ready to go into the bush and find certain check points. Members were divided into groups of four for this activity. Most of the groups finished in the.hour. The afternoon session started with Eileen George leading a workshop on trail walking. With the Trail Walking, the . member' broke into groups •to teach their fellow members about their assigned topic. One group . explained about low impact hiking which involves taking only. pictures and leaving. only foot- prints. Another group informed members on what to do if they become lost. The last group taught the club about the different types of clouds: cumulus, stratus, and cirrus. Meeting four roll call was answered. Members answered that the most intei:,sting bird or animal they had seen in the past week was deer, wild turkey, chipmunks, hawks, . robins and more.... The club read about the different types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. Mary Ellen Foran showed different types of rocks and members were t� guess which type they were. Poison ivy was talked about and members .are to remember `Leaves in three, let them be'. As well, members looked at different, types of animal tracks and green- wildlife. Orienteering skills were used to find Easter eggs that the youth leaders had hidden; s 2 5 i vr 5 5 1 9 8 1 4 9 4 • 7 6. 9 More To solve a Sudoku puzzle, every number from 1 to 9 must appear In: • Each of the nine vertical columns • Each of the nine horizontal rows • Each of the nine 3 x3boxes. • Remember, no number can occur more than once in any row, column or box a : www.lovattspuzzles.corn This week's puzzle sponsored by: gi !EISA. Remax Land Exchange Ltd., Brokerage Independently Owned and Operated Mitchell Twolan Broker 100 Lake Range Drive, Point Clark RR 1 Kincardine, ON N2Z 2X3 Office: 519-395-0620 Cell 519-9554664 Email: mitch.twolan@remax-Ix.ca Fax: 519-395-0142 www.RemaxLandExchange.ca See answer on classified pages