The Treehouse Group presents:
The Grown-Up Science Fair

Do you find yourself reminiscing about the awesomeness that was your Grade 6 science fair? Are you still kicking yourself for choosing the Egg Drop over the (clearly superior) Volcano? Do you feel as though you never really had your moment in the Science and Technology-related sun?

The Grown-Up Science Fair is an attempt to rekindle this passion, and to allow you to revisit those halcyon days. Join us on May 10, as part of the city-wide event Science Rendezvous, to peruse science fair projects from a wide assortment of Toronto's best and brightest. Artists, government workers, teachers, lawyers, musicians, and maybe even some real scientists, will all try their hands at employing the scientific method to find answers to all manner of burning questions, big and small. Some great prizes will be given away, and it will be an excellent opportunity to see creative problem-solving in action.

Interested in taking part?

Whether you consider yourself to be naturally "Science-y" or not, you are welcome to take part in the Grown-Up Science Fair - all you need is the right question and a little imagination! The Treehouse Group's aim is to create opportunities for collaboration between people from a wide variety of different backgrounds, so whether you are involved in arts, sciences, politics, or anything in-between, we would love to see you there. Studies have shown that the most innovative ideas in various areas of science come from people who are new to the field, so don't be daunted by a fear of science � you're probably better at it than you think.

Email sciencefair@treehousegroup.org if you would like to get involved, or to suggest science fair topics. On this page we will keep a list of our science fair participants and their projects. All participants have the opportunity to win one of many prizes from businesses, museums, and organizations from across Toronto .

Here's what you need to do:

Pose a question. Silly or serious, your question needs to be testable by some sort of experiment.
Suggest a hypothesis. Take a stab at answering your question, based on what you know of the topic. If you have no idea, take a wild guess.
Test your hypothesis. This is the fun part: test your hypothesis by performing one or a set of experiments. Keep track of the materials you use and your procedure.
Conclusion. Was your hypothesis correct?

The Event:

The Victory Café (upstairs) at 581 Markham Street (@ Bathurst). Doors 7:30 pm Come and peruse science projects from around the city, participate in Treehouse Group activities, listen to music, and check out some great photos.

Need some ideas?

How many pigeons are there in the City of Toronto ?
What's the best way of getting out a red wine stain?
How much water is in a shovel-full of snow?
Which water to people prefer: tap, bottled or filtered?
How much sugar is in a popsicle?
How does chewing on food affect your sense of smell?
Will it float? (See: Dave Letterman's classic, and highly scientific, project of tossing stuff in a tank of water to see what happens)
What happens when you put different materials in Coke?

Still stuck? Check out these great sites:

www.cockeyed.com/inside/howmuchinside.html - This group answers a tonne of questions that answer the age old conundrum, "How much is inside..." (ink in a sharpie, gold in a bottle of Goldschlager etc.)

www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/project_ideas.shtml - Some great project ideas from Science Buddies.

www.yesmag.ca/projects - YesMag is an excellent science magazine (for kids, but don't let that stop you).

www.livescience.com - Follow the tabs for some great info on different topics.