Six Swell Science Fair Projects to Do at Fort Wilderness

I admit that my stomach sinks the day that seven-page stapled paper comes home with a science fair project that will consume the next three months. It may be even worse for people like me, and here’s why. Even though it’s not my project, I go straight into my survival-of-the-fittest mode. I pester my kid immediately to work together to come up with the most creative title, the most relevant topic (we had an oil spill project after the Gulf of Mexico disaster), and the most clever graphics. What worked: we ended up having some fun, and he won it all in a large school – twice. What didn’t work: it sucked a lot of time and money. If I had it to do over again: we might try to double the fun, and do all or part of it at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground.

If I were going on a long-planned vacation, then I wouldn’t do a full-scale science fair project at Fort Wilderness. Seriously, who wants to leave the Meadows Pool and find a Hobby Lobby for the tri-fold boards? Instead, I might do a very abbreviated version as an authentic learning experience. Or better yet, I do think that a science fair project could be an excuse to make a new trip to Fort Wilderness, right? Or one that you’ve actually planned, but using the science fair project as the opportunity to announce the “surprise.” So, here are six ideas (of possibly hundreds) that could be done in Fort Wilderness fairly easily, with little equipment, and in a short time frame.

#1. Determine if lichen on trees helps one to interpret navigational direction.

This is one that we’ve actually done, and I like it because it involves walking, and looking closely at trees. Yep, happy, good things. Native Americans often used moss and lichen growth on trees to help them determine which direction they were going. The theory is that such growth generally occurs on the north side, where there tends to be less sun (in the northern hemisphere). While some scientists have reported that this is not true, our experiment actually found that lichen is significantly more prevalent on the north side of a tree. Here is how to do a directional experiment with moss. Lichen follows much of the same principles.

#2. Compare how long it takes to make S’Mores in a solar ovens made of various materials.

This may be among the most fun at a campground. The goal is to create two or three solar ovens, and determine which one “cooks” your s’mores the quickest. Then you’ll need to research and analyze why one material works better than another. Materials are simple, and include pizza boxes, aluminum foil, newspapers, and black paper. Instructions.

#3. How could Trail’s End Buffet operate differently to reduce their total waste product?

For this experiment, you’ll need to eat at Trail’s End, and spend a little time observing, and taking a few photos. While Disney is well known for its conservation efforts, restaurants must also balance efficiency. You’ll observe which items are likely pre-packaged (most waste), what types of utensils and plates are used (disposable is more waste), whether or not food choices are provided, and the types of trash you observed at tables or in trash cans. At the end, you can make recommendations for reducing waste, and even share them with Disney! This example provides a step-by-step experiment for a school cafeteria, but it can be adapted.

#4. Do men and women process visual information differently? What is the difference in their recall after looking at pictures related to Fort Wilderness?

The theory behind this is that the “hunter-gatherer” brains enable women to see more details and men to observe things that are far away (Telegraph, 2009). For this experiment, you could take a picture of a large, busy scene at Fort Wilderness. Then take it over to the Contemporary’s Business Center to print on a full-size piece of paper. You’ll give people at the Fort (family, new friends, waiters) 10 seconds to look at the picture, and then name as much as they can. You’ll record and analyze the differences in their recall. Instructions.

#5. Does wearing a swimming cap increase swimming speed?

This one can be done ideally at the larger Meadows pool, but probably should be done early in the day, when there are few people there. Three or four of your family members will compare their fastest times swimming across the pool both with and without a swimming cap. It works better to repeat it on multiple days for higher validity, since you will likely not have as many people as called for in this version of the experiment.

#6. How do temperature and weather conditions affect butterfly behavior?

Right outside of the Outpost Reception area at Fort Wilderness is a lovely, lovely butterfly garden. For this experiment, you will observe butterfly activity at several times of the day, recording both temperature and weather conditions (sunny, cloudy, drizzly). Ideally, this would be repeated over two or three different days. Then research to find out why butterflies might be more active or prevalent based on these conditions, and if your results confirm existing data.