Maddy wins 1st Place!

The 5th graders at our school have to do a science project. It is optional to have it judged, but if you have to do a project anyway, why not, right?

Well Maddy did a great job on her project and even had a good time doing it. She decided to see if your sense of smell really can affect how well you taste. We gathered 20 foods, basically in sets of items w/ similar textures - ie. barbecue and cheese chip, strawberry and peach yogurt, Sprite and rootbeer, chocolate and vanilla ice cream, etc. She had people come to our house one Sat., blindfolded them, and then helped them taste all the foods w/ their noses plugged and then again with their noses unplugged. We recorded all of their answers. People really struggled identifying most of the things with their noses plugged. Sometimes they just guessed right based on texture, but weren't really sure. With their noeses unplugged people did much better. On average people were able to identify twice as many things with their noses unplugged.

She put the board together herself. She did a really good job. Thanks Tara for letting us borrow your Cricut to make the title! I think it all turned out great and I guess so did the judges because she won 1st place! Now her project is sitting in a big convention center with hundred, maybe even thousands of other projects to be judged on a regional level. We'll find out tomorrow how she did there. She's just proud to have done as good as she has.

WAY TO GO MADDY!