by Stacey HillI, Maximillian McGuffy, am going to win the coveted Science Fair Award this year. I know I said I was going to win the award last year but this year is different.
There will be no exploding volcanoes this time. Which is a real shame because my exploding volcano was AWESOME! It was just a little too awesome … and it also just happened to explode at the exact moment Principal Prissypants walked by.
How was I to know that having a narrower tube inside my model volcano would cause a larger reaction than was necessarily required? Okay, so maybe I did know. But I definitely did not know that my whole papier maché model would blow apart, covering Principal Prissypants in papier maché remnants and green dye. Using green dye instead of the traditional red probably didn’t help either. But green is my favourite colour and it did happen to resemble snot, which I found highly amusing. Principal Prissypants, however, was not amused.
But this year will be different. You see, I have the WHOLE solar system on my side … in model form! And it is the best solar system model EVER CREATED!
Mum isn’t too impressed that I used her favourite glass Christmas baubles as planets but sacrifices have to be made when there is a Science Award at stake!
A solar system model wouldn’t be complete if it didn’t rotate which is why I used Dad’s old record player for the base. Yeah, Dad isn’t too impressed about that, either. Then I used my sister’s round, plastic lampshade as the sun, complete with lamp. She didn’t notice.
A rotating solar system model that lit up. It was pure planetary awesomeness. Principal Prissypants wouldn’t be covered in green lava this year!
The day of the Science Fair finally arrived.
I set up my solar system and flicked the switch. The planets slowly started rotating around the sun. Then I watched as a spark flew out from the switch. Then another. And another.
I was slightly concerned.
Then I watched as the planets rotated faster and faster.
Now I was very concerned.
The planets spun so fast, they flew off their rods.
The Earth knocked Jimmy’s glasses off his nose, Jupiter bowled over the McKinley triplets, and Mars was eaten by Alex’s pet dog, Rufus. Venus landed in Mary’s volcano, causing it to erupt prematurely, and Neptune smashed through the hall window, landing in the school fountain.
But Uranus was my biggest concern. It was headed straight for Principal Prissypants!
I sprinted towards Principal Prissypants, not realising Saturn had spun to a stop in front of me. I jumped onto Saturn’s rings, slid across the floor and bowled over Principal Prissypants, who landed in Arnold’s fertiliser experiment.
I, Maximillian McGuffy, did not win the Science Fair Award this year but I did earn myself four weeks of detention. Plenty of time to plan for next year’s Science Fair.
Surely nothing could go wrong with a fire-breathing robot dragon?
Stacey Hill's friends call her Stack. She writes, doodles, juggles, flies her toy helicopter and takes photos of her feet - just your average girl really. Learn more about Stacey at her blog skHILLed.
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