What follow is a collection of photos from Science Fairs at Prince Charles elementary school, Surrey (Whalley), BC, Canada, with various annotations. Onwards:

Grade 4, Trolley Transit

I had just transferred from Harold Bishop elementary to Prince Charles shortly before and was determined to “make my mark” and put together this project which foreshadows the ALRT / Skytrain construction in Greater Vancouver (if you look close at the map, you’ll see the proposed line), as well as documents the historical legacy of streetcars (still my fave mode of public transport), and shares some various Buzzer news updates and other transit intell and ephemera. I was awarded 4th place in the grade – while noble i was determined to be on the podium each time thereafter.

Grade 5, Tutankhamun’s Tomb

After Grade 4’s (shocking :)) 4th place finish, i was determined and set about using the influence and inspiration of seeing the “King Tut” exhibit in Seattle to produce a scale(ish) model of the notable boy king’s tomb in Valley of the King’s, from a sorta handmade clay-dough. The tomb was filled with replica (obv ha) treasures, baked clay-dough with gold paint, complete with back-lighting so spectators could view inside the entrance to “see what archeologist Howard Carter saw”. Alongside the sturdy-constructed, oversized narrative text panels, i dressed as Tut, not with the burial mask but rather his historically accurate day-to-day outfit he (likely) wore. Yes, i rocked a loin cloth and giant hat to elementary school and provided in-depth commentary and narration (perhaps foreshadowing my future as a tour guide) to the students.

My risk and effort was rewarded with 1st place in Grade 5 and the whole school. I was invited to the regional Science Fair but, thwarting future success no doubt, the event was cancelled due to a teacher’s strike of some kind.

Grade 6, Rubik’s Cube

While not a puzzle player personally, this time around i teamed up with Sean Seyler for a presentation about the massive fad of Rubik’s Cube and other related puzzles. To be honest, it was a bit of an easy cop-out project but Sean had a great collection of puzzles and i made up some posters and that’ was that.

However, was enough to win 1st place in Grade 6. Learned the benefit of “staying on trend to attract attention” in this preso as there was lots of interactive fun and not too much science (though made an effort to educate about neural-sciene of sorts in the narrative signs).

Importantly, note my brass pig belt buckle and Sean and my matching “middle-part” blonde hair. Oh and I still have never completed a Rubik’s Cube, my brain just doesn’t work like that.

Grade 7: Guided Missiles

Note: Missing Grade 7’s Guided Missiles exhibit with Warren Wingfield which won 1st place in grade and school and finally got my long-deserved :) trip to Regionals (where came up empty). The model of the missiles was super cool though – even for a peacenik hippie like me.