Enter the Brian Reagan theory….

Once, when I was about in 8^th grade, on my way home from Indianapolis with some good family friends, I was introduced to the comedian Brian Reagan.  Now, I’ll laugh at just about anything – seriously – but I was especially entertained by this recorded stand-up routine in the back seat of the mini-van.  So much so, that I still remember (and laugh about) pieces of it. 

Last week, while the Cateme Secondary School “prepared” for the provincial science fair, I was reminded of a specific bit….

“I think the worst day was when the science project was due. Waking up that morning, that was fun, huh.  Your head would pop off that pillow…. Oh no.  That’s due today.  I had nine months to work on it. I did nothing. I have a cardboard box! And you’d show up, you’re scared cause you don’t have anything good and you find out, all the other kids, their parents made them for them.  One kid with a volcano… he didn’t know how to zip up his own pants but he built a volcano.  How’d ya swing that?!”

We’ve been talking about the science fair since early May.  It’s nationally organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology in coordination with Peace Corps Mozambique. The plan is, that each school has a science fair, picks two winners (a boy and a girl – always with the gender equality), and takes those kids to the provincial fair to compete against other schools.

Here’s what I’ve come to realize. A “science fair” is a very… American? Developed? Difficult to understand? Concept.  Its awesome, don’t get me wrong, and it’s a wonderful learning experience.  The challenge is that most of these kids have no idea what the Scientific Method is, let alone have seen or done an experiment.  Basically, for this to run smoothly and efficiently, it takes a lot of work on the part of the volunteers and the teachers at the school.  And it takes a LOT of time and patience.   

So there we are, the Thursday before the provincial fair (Saturday in Tete City).  We’ve given up on having a school fair, and have resorted to just choosing a boy and a girl, handing them a project, and hoping they could explain it to the judges on Saturday.  The Director (aka principal), the chemistry teacher, the geography teacher, the PE teacher, Helen and I convened in the teacher’s room to try and come up with some experiments.  The table normally used to lesson plan and discuss discipline problems is now covered with cups of water, matches, candles, knives, baking soda, salt, batteries, beets… anything that we could pull from our houses to piece together an experiment.  The director is pulling what little money he has on him out and sending kids out on bicycles in every direction to pick up stuff from the market or the farm.  Quite the scene. So much so, that the older kids who were getting out of class crowded around open doors and windows to the room to see what we were up to. 

Eventually, we came up with two experiments (using beet juice as a natural pH indicator – tested with baking soda and lemon juice…. And soaking a raw egg in vinegar to completely dissolve the shell) for our two 9^th grade participants.  Being the little smarties that they are, they caught on right away to what was happening and how to prepare for Saturday.  They didn’t win at the provincial fair, but it was an exciting experience for both of them. And most importantly, they’ll know how to prepare for the fair next year.