My three freshmen who'll represent Kansas at the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair are phenomenal. They have devoted hundreds of hours outside regular class time to a project that grew out of their own curiosity and imagination. I'm delighted to devote that time to them, but my blogging has paid the price lately.

Oh, that project? Y'know the candy, Shockers^TM? One of the students had (in the distant past) eaten a whole package at once and wound up with the insides of his mouth peeling away. The kids decided they wanted to try to figure out how that candy might affect teeth, and to what extent.

And of course, they're actually doing REAL science as it's done by research scientists around the world: by seeking only natural explanations of the phenomena. None of that intelligent design flim-flam or word-gaming, thank you very much.

Anyway, to help these kids get the material & intellectual tools they've needed has been a great joy. (Well, mostly - except for when I boiled the cow jaws to loosen & clean the teeth they needed. Blech. I *lurves* me my non-stinky physics!) We teachers might occasionally moan about salaries, but we do get intangible benefits the IRS hasn't yet figured out how to tax.

Yet.