© Frank H. Jump
A couple of days ago, a colleague forwarded this hilarious blog posting at Photo Basement: 41 Hilarious Science Fair Experiments. We had put our dog ThelmaLu down and it was the first time I had laughed (or stopped crying) since. Since I do teach elementary science, I am a bit biased about my students’ science fair projects. The above images are from the Flatlands Amersfort School Science Fair 2007 and are not part of the 41 spoof. But I must say, for elementary school aged kids, they really rank amongst the Middle & High School calibre projects I’ve seen. And do they know their audience when they use vintage images of products or don’t they know their audience?
Henry L. Schorndorfer of Cleveland OH was a chemist and went into business with founder of Zipp Manufacturing Company – John Zipp in 1885 – the makers of Root Beer. Click here for a detailed PDF of the Zipp company. Schorndorfer later opened the Schorndorfer & Eberhard Co. Schorndorfer’s company was also known for making food extracts and in this image above, ammonia and cleaning products. Below are two Google Books archives citing the Schorndorfer & Eberhard Co:
According to the Annual Statistical Report of the Secretary General of Ohio – 1921, the Schorndorfer company name was officially changed to the Stern Bros. Co.
The trail ends there. Any leads?
Fading Ad Blog HAS MOVED! 
I saw that “hilarious” science fair site also and at first it seemed really funny, but then I started to think about this site. Everyone is linking to it, everyone is talking about it… giving it more presence on the web, pushing it up in the search engines. And what for?
Well, it is one way of getting kids to do science fair projects by getting them curiosity and answering their questions. I mean, who knew that those subjects are what kids are really interested in?
On the other hand don’t we want kids to do projects that bring their attention and awareness to subjects that impact their lives … gee… like doing environmental energy science fair projects? The effect of people’s behavior? Adding to a more quality life?
What do you think?