EPHRATA — Eighteen children showed what they had learned about the world around them Saturday at the Little House Science Fair in Ephrata. 

“Every year we have a theme, and this year’s theme is “Hands On,” said Hannah Gustafson, who organized the show for the Little House in the Desert Homeschool Group. “So when you look around at the projects, you can see that people are able to  pick up something or practice with an example using their hands.” 

The students ranged from kindergarten to eighth grade, and exhibits covered topics like which ingredients make the best bouncy balls, how a catapult’s energy varies with the weight of the projectile and what happens when you run an electric current through Play-Doh. 

Seventh-grader Emily Fortner had experimented with five different kinds of fruit in gelatin and determined that the only one that ruined the dessert was pineapple. 

“Pineapple has a lot of bromelain,” she said. “It breaks down collagen, but it’s not an acid.” 

Second grader Jael Pinkerton’s display traced the lifestyle of a chicken. 

“It starts out with a hen and a rooster,” she said. “The hen lays an egg, (which) turns into an embryo, then a chick hatches out. Then it turns into a teenager – a pullet or a cockerel – and then grows to a hen or a rooster.” 

The event was held at Bethlehem Chapel in Ephrata, and the young scientific researchers’ parents, grandparents and siblings were all there to check out the displays. There were refreshments laid out and play spaces for the younger children as well. 

The group, made up of families from Quincy, Soap Lake, Moses Lake and Ephrata, meets once a week, Gustafson said, and also takes field trips together. They’ll put on a drama presentation in February, she added. 

Maddison Jones of Ephrata has four children in the group, she said, and has been homeschooling them for a couple of years. 

“My two oldest did public school until fifth grade, and then we pulled them both out and did home school,” she said. “(At school) and on the bus, they had a lot of bullying and the teachers didn’t do much about it, so we just chose to walk  away.” 

Groups like Little House in the Desert make it easy for children to have time with their peers, belying the common misconception that home schooled kids don’t socialize, Jones said.  

“The older kids sometimes they wish they had more friends, so it's good to do stuff like this,” she said.  “It gets them in with other kids and activities.” 

At the end of the fair, the students received awards for their presentations. Every student got a certificate for participating,  and a few outstanding entries were recognized. There were first-, second- and third-place prize in the K-2, 3-6 and 7-8 categories. The attendees voted for first- and second-place prizes in a people’s choice category as well. 

Gustafson praised the children for their hard work. 

“Maybe you solved a super-hard puzzle, or maybe you won your favorite game on a tablet or a computer. Maybe you drew a picture of a family member, or maybe even did a science fair project. It sure feels great when you complete that, doesn't it? Because you achieved something.” 

    The Little House in the Desert Homeschool Group Science Fair Saturday covered all kinds of topics in physics, biology and chemistry.
  

    Isla Fortner, left, and Ceana Davis check out a display that examines which fruits will ruin a gelatin dessert and why.
  

    First-grader Samantha Wolf trots off the stage after receiving her third-place award for her exhibit at the Little House in the Desert Homeschool Group Science Fair Saturday. Samantha’s experiment looked at the effect of soft drinks on raisins.