Lawyers gone wild in the grade school science fair

Paul K. Dickman · 2005-11-16T16:53:28+00:00

I thought you guys would get a chuckle out of this.I am helping my neice with her science fair project and among the standard forms required to be pasted on the front of your display is this:SAFETY SHEETThe Illinois Junior Academy of ScienceDirections: The student is asked to read this introduction carefully, fill out the bottom of this sheet, and sign it. The science teacher and/or advisor must sign in the indicated space.SAFETY AND THE STUDENT: Experimentation or research may involve an element of risk or injury to the student and to others. Recognition of such hazards and provision for adequate control measures are joint responsibilities of the student and the sponsor. Some of the more common risks encountered in research are those of electrical shock, infection from pathogenic organisms, uncontrolled reactions of incompatible chemicals, eye injury from materials or procedures, and fire in apparatus or work area. Countering these hazards and others with suitable controls is an integral part of good scientific research.In the space below, list the principal hazards associated with your project, if any, and what specific precautions you have used as safeguards. Be sure to read the entire section in the Policy and Procedure Manual of the Illinois Junior Academy of Science entitled "SAFETY GUIDELINES FOR EXPERIMENTATION" before completing this form.I first saw this with last years project, and I sent it in with about 20 pages of MSDS sheets for things like vinegar and baking soda.This year I noticed that they have two more forms (required if applicable).The "Humans as test subjects endorsement" and the "Non-human vertebrate endorsement"Apparantly it's open season for invertebrates.Paul K. Dickman

Nov 16, 2005 42 Replies

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John 20 years ago

They had plenty of kerosene back then. Some tractors ran on kerosene. They started them on gas and got them warm first. Most farms didn't even have electric back then. They used ..... Kerosene lamps.

John

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Mike Fields 20 years ago

I remember about 50 years ago, in the elementary school library where I went, they had "the boys first book of radio and electricity" or some title like that (there was also a second and third book). In it, they showed the plans for connecting an old Model A? spark coil to a vacuum tube wrapped with aluminum foil to generate your own X-Rays (and how to x-ray your hand etc onto film).

eeeeek !!

mikey

scientific

applicable).

vertebrate

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Karl Vorwerk 20 years ago

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