Science Fair - 1st Grade

Carolyn elected to do a science fair project this year, as part of the "Excellent Eagle" challenge at her school (an academically enriched project-based learning program).  She decided she wanted to learn about the kidneys.  Our project is definitely a winner (if only they judged the 1st graders!).  We learned a ton, and it was an opportunity for Carolyn to focus her anxiety about the upcoming surgery into understanding why she has been getting so sick and why it is so important to protect her kidneys.

 First, we read about what the kidneys did, learning about how much blood is in the body, how much blood the kidneys filter, and how much urine is typically produced on a daily basis.

Then, we made a working model of the urinary tract.  The kidneys in our model had coffee filters and would filter out the colored water, leaving a lighter colored water to be flushed out of the body via the bladder.

Finally, we did our experiment. Her research question was "Does what we drink affect how much and what color our pee is?"  Steve, Carolyn, and I all drank different types of beverages and then measured our urine output.  That was a fascinating experiment.  The main finding that we came up with is that it is imperative to drink throughout the day to keep our kidneys working the best.