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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > March > 13 > Entry
The difference between moms and dads
My third grade daughter is big into science. She’s also, for some reason, really interested in France. So last month she wanted to do a science fair project that was somehow also relevant to France.
I had a great idea — we could make wine! It’s actually pretty easy to do. On the Internet we found directions for how to turn ordinary grape juice into wine in just a few simple steps! I suggested she could make a photo slide show of herself making the wine, bottle some of the final product to bring in to show off and she could write up a short report on the history of winemaking in France!
About this time my wife came home and my daughter started telling her about this brillant plan we had and how she is going to make wine for her science project.
Needless to say, my smarter half pulled me aside and quietly asked — “ARE YOU COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR FREAKIN’ MIND?!?! The kid is going to bring some sort of home-concocted moonshine to her elementary school science fair and show the other kids how to make alcoholic beverages in buckets in their kitchens?!?!?”
I guess I didn’t really think of it that way at all. Needless to say, we decided to do something different for the science fair.
She made cheese from scratch instead.
(Image credit: Avon and Somerset Police)
Permalink | Comments (11) | Categories: Teaching and Learning
Comments
By Happy Homeschooler
March 17, 2008 10:54 AM | Link to this
LOL Terri- We have a science fair coming up for our homeschool co-op… maybe I should see if one of my sons would like to try this as an experiment? :-)By Terri
March 16, 2008 11:06 PM | Link to this
How very funny! This is going to make lunchtime conversation tomorrow at work! I guess a home schooled student could do the experiment.By Scott Elliott
March 16, 2008 10:41 PM | Link to this
Hey, science wasn’t my strong suit in school. Writing and history were. But Mary is right that my thinking was that making wine would be a lesson in chemsitry. As it was, making cheese involved some pretty similar processes while remaining alchol free. I don’t think it is illegal to make wine in your own home if you are underage but aided by a parent. Still, I think it was good sense to switch project and avoid any problems at school. We ended up make a sort of cottage cheese that we squeezed into a ball using a cheese cloth. We used stainless steel salt shaker that I bought for a mold and ended up with tall round chunk of soft cheese. And for the record, my wife is a guidance counselor, not a teacher.By Teacher and Taxpayer
March 16, 2008 9:47 PM | Link to this
So, Scott, how did the cheese turn out?By Barb
March 16, 2008 5:22 PM | Link to this
Is it possible to arrange the blogs differently? It would be nice if they would be arranged by those that are still having people comment. The way they are now you have to go back and look through all of them. Just a suggestion.By Rich
March 16, 2008 3:55 PM | Link to this
My wife, who is also an elementary school teacher, made a comment to me this weekend that also considers the difference between men and women regarding how public schools used to be structured, versus what schools are now evolving into. She disagrees in a way with Scott’s thesis here, but her comment really cuts to the heart of “education reform” in this country. My wife believes that the ART of teaching (which has been dominated for decades by women) is being lost, replaced by the so-called SCIENCE of teaching (motivated mainly by men, who she believes have a naturally masculine, i.e. non-feminine, approach). I can’t really disagree with her — other than suggesting that moving the balance away from old-style teaching methods to embrace what research shows will work better is the best way. A happy medium is almost the best, avoiding the error of abandoning those things that DO work.By Dave
March 15, 2008 12:15 PM | Link to this
I recall a science fair project on wine-making when I was in high school many, many years ago. The student had a bottle of colored water as an illustrative aid. By the way, I saw that project at the state science fair, where it was one of the finalists!By Oldprof
March 15, 2008 10:13 AM | Link to this
Political correctness? Mary, any competent teacher knows that it’s AGAINST THE LAW to bring alcohol onto the grounds of a public school without special permission. Moreover, while it’s legal to make your own wine at home, it’s not legal for a minor to do it. Gosh, France plus science? Did Marie Curie’s name never come up?By MC
March 14, 2008 8:17 PM | Link to this
Scott, your story just cracked me up. I say go for it, make the wine! What fun! But you probably ought to keep it at home!!! Good Luck and thanks for sharing that story!By Mary
March 14, 2008 7:45 AM | Link to this
Scott, your wife is a teacher (as I recall)who is probably under extreme pressure to be politically correct for all parents. Actually, I like the wine project and think there is probably a lot of interesting science, particularly chemistry, to it. There is also a lot of science about the grapes and how they need to grow, particularly temperature. However,some people who have suffered alcoholism in their families, have someone who was killed or almost killed by a drunk driver, or who participate in religions where alcohol is taboo, might make the science project taboo as well. I would enjoy also knowing more about the science of alcoholism. One theory discussed in the “blood type diet”, is “secretors” are less likely to become addicted to things like alcohol. “Secretors” secrete blood antibodies into their sweat and saliva. “Nonsecretors”, according to this theory, do not and have a much higher rate of alcoholism. They do not metabolize or process alcohol the same way a secretor would. However, moderate amounts of alcohol also supposedly help the heart health of nonsecretors even more than secretors. If this theory is correct, perhaps people should be measured for secretor and nonsecretor traits and “medicate” themselves with alcohol in their diets accordingly if they wish, but also be taught what moderation is. I think red wine is known to raise HDL 2 or 3, one of the good cholesterols.By Happy Homeschooler
March 13, 2008 11:46 PM | Link to this
LOL, that is so funny! Yes, moms and dads are very different in how they approach things with their kids (with dads usually being more laid back, lol). Very cute story.