(Title sung to Bill Nye’s theme music.)

Our school’s science fair is optional, but I long knew the experience would be a great one for Livia. She’s got a natural passion for science. I thought she’d create a presentation on animals and gently tried to nudge her towards learning more about how dogs sense of smell works, but nope. We opened an Usborne book on science experiments, she saw one that used a balloon and she was sold. So yeast it was! If you want to find out how yeast and a balloon work together, you’ll need to ask Livia. She can tell you more than you’d want to know about yeast now.

I wrestled with towing the line between walking Livia through this learning experience and doing too much of it for her. Clearly this optional science fair involves parental guidance and aid—everyone understands a second grader doesn’t know how to find resources or walk through the steps of the scientific method. There was a real balance to be found, and I think we did a good job in the end. As I looked around Livia’s school last night and observed the other students at work, I felt proud of all these parent and children working together to learn something more about science. What a cool thing! It inspired me to consider all the new ideas and experiments Livia and I can do together this summer. Now for the execution part…