When I was in school, I loved science experiments. I

When I was in school, I loved science experiments. I loved to watch the vinegar and baking soda volcano, gaze in wonder at the simple electric circuits that a teacher would construct, or even marvel at the hydrogen explosion that the visiting science program once did for our school. Nonetheless, when it was time for science fair projects, I couldn't think of anything. Not a single science experiment came to my head. I was completely stumped, and I had barely started. I knew that I had to think of something, but I couldn't decide what.

The problem wasn't that I didn't have any idea for science experiments. I had plenty of ideas, they just were beyond my abilities. I wanted to build a perpetual motion machine, or an improved version of the airplane. I wanted to investigate superconductors and nanotechnology. I had read a little bit about a great many topics, and my ideas for science experiments would have been involved for graduate students. Don't get me wrong, I didn't know much more than your typical elementary school kid does about science. It's just that I had a fascination with scientific discovery. I didn't want to do a science experiment that demonstrated something that other people had already figured out. I wanted something new.

The science experiments that I ended up coming up with for science fair were kind of lame. I would investigate the nutritional benefits of different foods for rats, construct rockets powered by water and compressed air that kind of thing. They were about mid-level science experiments attempts nothing revolutionary, but nothing too bad. I was disappointed, as I was never near the top in the ranking for science fair projects. I knew that if I have the resources and the education, I could design a science experiment that would change the world. All I needed to do was figure out how.

It turns out that my life took me in different directions than my young mind had planned. I did do a science experiment or two in college in the pursuit of a masters degree in physical science, but in the end I decided to be a teacher. Now almost every day I get to set up a science experiment to baffle and amaze my elementary school class. Although I never got to design a science experiment that changed the world, I sure have been able to change quite a few young minds.