That is the question that a grade 8 student asked, and for the remainder of the winter used a potting bench and a fluorescent light to grow intertwined fast growing bean plants and radishes. He wondered if they might grow close enough to exchange some genetic information. The knowledge of Mendel and the science of genetics is not formally introduced to students until Grade 9, and a thorough development of the ideas regarding molecular genetics and gene manipulation is not part of the curriculum until the most senior Biology course. Sure, with my “sophisticated” level of knowledge, I could find a few holes in his hypothesis, but that is not the point. The point is that this student has developed on his own, an idea that he wanted to test, carried out the research and presented it to whoever came by his display at the Canadian Rockies Regional Science Fair.

I was in Banff as part of the unofficial kick-off for the Science Fair season in Alberta. Fairs were held this week in Fairview (Peace Country), Medicine Hat (Kiwanis Southeast Alberta), Priddis (Chinook Country), Red Deer (Central Alberta) and Banff (Canadian Rockies). By mid-April, the remaining Alberta Regional fairs will take place in Fort McMurray (Wood Buffalo), Hanna (Alberta Central East) Edmonton, and Lethbridge. Some of the best projects from these fairs will be showcased at the Canada-Wide Science Fair, held this year in Winnipeg, Manitoba from May 8 to 18.

Genome Canada has been a strong supporter of the Canada-Wide Science Fair since 2002, and Genome Alberta as part of its mandate to provide opportunities for public outreach programs is a significant sponsor of awards in all the Science Fair Regions of the province.

As a very long time advocate for the value of Science Fairs as a major cross-curricular activity, I was pleased to hear the same ideas advocated by Shari Worobey, the driving force behind Alberta’s newest Science Region – Canadian Rockies – now in its second year. She told the crowd in attendance at the awards ceremony, of the almost disbelief that as Language Arts teacher, she could be the main advocate for science fairs in the Bow Valley (Banff, Canmore and Exshaw). Yet as she said, Science Fair is an opportunity for students to develop research, writing and presentation skills by developing a project in an area of scientific curiosity and bringing it to the level required to present it in a public fair.

Can beans wear genes? I don’t think that was determined in this season of experimentation. I will tell you though; this young scientist will be a keen student throughout the rest of his high school career in part because he was able to pursue a real problem of interest to him. As a self-directed learner, he went much beyond the curriculum and none of it will ever show up on a standardized multiple choice exam used to rank his school.