Meg's KIC Story

When I was growing up I was very shy. I loved school, especially science, but I didn’t volunteer to participate in activities because of my shyness. That all changed in fourth grade thanks to a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Hoyer, and a creative science project, the Kids’ Inquiry Conference. My shyness and my love of science finally collided.

Mrs. Hoyer was a confident, enthusiastic teacher with a great sense of humor. I connected with her right from the start. She loved science and she was always thinking of ways to inspire us to think about the world around us. Early in the year she invited Mr. Carico, a scientist, to our class. One of the many experiments he did introduced us to a substance called a “polymer”. “What is it?” I thought. Little did I know three boys in our class were thinking the same thing.

Before leaving for Winter Break, Mrs. Hoyer told our class about a very special project, called the Kids Inquiry Conference” (KIC, for short). This was a student led science conference in which participants would conduct their own independent research during the school year and present their findings later in the year at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. I was immediately anxious. The thought of making a presentation in front of a large group of people was not something I was looking forward to.

Mrs. Hoyer gave our class the task of thinking of ideas for KIC over winter break. I was torn between my nervousness and excitement at the chance to conduct my own science investigation. When I dared to think about what I’d like to do, polymers instantly appeared in my mind. I thought of doing investigations on rocks, bubbles, or household items, but I was stuck on polymers. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to do something I knew nothing about so that everything I learned would be an adventure. My goal was to learn and discover as much as I could about polymers. Now all I needed was the courage.

After arriving back from winter break, our class discussed the ideas we came up with. Other class members suggested: bubbles, batteries, magnets, balloons, water, water clocks, and all of our favorite, mold. I suggested polymers and, to my astonishment, three boys excitedly responded they wanted to investigate polymers as well. A group project was born. Yikes! I went from being scared to sit next to them and terrified at the thought of speaking to them, to being partners with three of them- all in a matter of a few fateful minutes.

I think Mrs. Hoyer sensed my initial uneasiness, especially since our group was the only mixed girl/boy group in class. She was very encouraging and used a lot of humor to help us think of ourselves as a ground breaking force to be reckoned with. Whatever she did, it worked. Stewart, Joey, Chase and I started to act as a team and the research began.

One of our first tasks was to write to a company that made polymers in the hopes that they would write back and give as much information as possible. Along with writing to the company, we read books and designed experiments. The more research we gathered, the more information we learned and the more experiments we did, the more questions we had. Because this was a substance we knew nothing about, everything we learned was a surprise. We recorded all of our findings and experiments on paper in an organized fashion. Being able to share our data at the conference was a very important part of the process.

All the other groups were immersed in their research as well. Sometimes what one group learned would benefit another group. The soap group informed us that when a particular type of soap was added to water in high concentration, it formed the consistency of a polymer. “Was it one?” we asked ourselves. This is when we started looking more closely at what a polymer is, rather than just what it does. The definition we found explained that a polymer is a long strand of molecules arranged in a certain way. What! We were in the fourth grade, and we didn’t have a clue what that meant.

When my mom went to a National Science Teachers Association meeting, she brought back a Polymer book titled, “Polymers Around Us,” which provided us with a lot of answers to our questions. We found things that we would have never thought were polymers- everything from contacts, to diapers, to plastic, and everything in-between. Through reading the book and our own work we came to the conclusion that a polymer is an absorbent material, and that when it comes in contact with a liquid it expands and absorbs the liquid.

We wanted to try to apply this concept to practical uses so we designed experiments to test our understanding. One of our favorite experiments was when we added a polymer to vinegar and baking soda in a volcano eruption simulation. Luckily, we performed this experiment outside, because we added way too much vinegar, and the reaction went everywhere! We were amazed that the polymer actually slowed down the flow of the eruption. Then we thought that since it absorbs liquid, that maybe it would help with oil spill clean ups. We filled pans with water, and used three different kinds of oil, and used different types of polymers. It wasn’t very successful because the polymers also absorbed the water, but it was only our second try at finding a useful way to use polymers. Through our research we learned that failure is an important part of science and can benefit scientists’ understanding just as much as successes.

Our group wound up working perfectly. We each brought our own strengths to the team. Steward was always noticing unusual things that made us continue to investigate further. Joey was hysterically funny and made science ten times more fun. Chase was always flexible and gave us a new perspective on things. My organizational skills helped to keep us on track and maintain our data.

The time finally came for the conference. We put a lot of work into the preparation because we wanted our research to be taken seriously by our fellow scientists. My whole class piled in a bus, along with our posters, demonstrations, samples, and literature, and off we went on our excellent adventure. Over one hundred and fifty other students joined us to share research, examine projects, ask questions and be inspired. I don’t remember taking a breath during my entire presentation but our group did a really good job and we were proud of our joint venture. Now at sixteen, I look back and realize KIC was one of the best experiences of my life. Not only did it meet my needs as a young scientist, but I gained confidence as a public speaker, overcame my shyness, learned how to be flexible and work with others, improved my organization skills and most of all, I learned how to think “outside the box.”