Homeschool science fair brings experiments to life

May 11, 2016
Charlea Estes
      The Cassville Library was host to a big group of aspiring scientists last week when librarians were asked to judge a homeschool science fair.
      The science fair had around 20 partcipants this year, with 29 kids in total attending the event. The group behind the event is Discovery Kids, a homeschooling group that meets at the library three times a month for special lessons taught by parents of the kids in the group. Children ages preschool through high school are part of the group, and events like the science fair give them hands-on experience.
      Students had experiments that ranged topics like volcanoes, chemical reactions, mummification, solar system study and more.
      Librarians Verna Fry and Angie Judd judged the event, leaving comments for the students about their experiments and presentations. Homeschool mom Tammy Gunter helped to organize the event and said, “This was a new idea and we thought we would try it out. We liked it so well that we might do a history fair and a science fair next year.”
      Each of the students with a project received judges’ comments and a ribbon for their participation. Gunter said, “We gave out ribbons and everyone got the same one. Some of the kids had never done it before, so we gave a ribbon to everyone who participated.”
      Homeschool groups have been meeting at the Cassville Library for the past 14 years or so, but groups sponsor their own activities. Gunter said that their meetings each month focus on a subject, have a guest speaker or sometimes feature a field trip. Moms in the group take turns scheduling the events. Gunter said, “We try to pick something every week that is versatile that you could tone it down for a little kid but also stiffen it up for an older kid and make it interesting”
      If you are interested in more information about the homeschool group, contact the Cassville Library at (417) 847-2121 for more information.

Verna Fry, Cassville librarian, watches science fair participant Elijah Redmon, 10, of Cassville, do a chemical reaction for a group of kids at the event.

Above, Noah Driskill, 7, of Cassville, makes a presentation about the mummification process he performed on a hot dog.