Hi Peanut –

I have written many times about our wonderful stops at our dear friend Jo Ann’s house on the way to or from school to pick flowers. Her yard is a mystical wonderland of the widest array of flowers you or I have ever seen. And she is the most selfless person in the world with sharing the blossoms as they emerge. This year alone, I think she has helped you choose, pick and assemble more than 7 bouquets – gifts for teachers, centerpieces for the classroom, and bunches for you to bring home. You are absolutely giddy about spending time there. In addition to the flowers, Jo Ann is our friend and adviser. When we were struggling with strategies for how to lovingly deal with a friend at school who was getting under your skin a bit, she sat down with us for quite some time to help us brainstorm… and days later, she asked us how things were going. As we left her house each time, she would say – give me your forehead, and she would give you a sweet kiss and tell you she loved you.

One day when we arrived, Jo Ann had a task for us. She had done some research about how to press flowers, and found some conflicting results. Some people said that pressing flowers in wax paper was best. Others advocated for the use of card stock.

So, Jo Ann gave you the challenge to conduct a scientific experiment and figure it out.

We picked 2 of many different kinds of flowers (more than 12), and pressed one of each kind in wax paper and one in card stock. All of our samples were stored safely in a large book she had ready for us. When we came back the next week, she had the book ready to give to you along with…

your very own science journal

complete with the protocol for our experiment all written out!!

Today, we completed our study – here are photo representations of our data and your analysis. Wax paper won, 7 to 5 – a pretty close result – perhaps we will have to collect more samples to increase the trustworthiness of these conclusions. 🙂

We had such a ball!

Sample 1: Cardstock “came off easier”

Sample 2: Wax – “came off easier”

Sample 3: Wax – “has more color”

Sample 4 – cardstock – “bigger”

Sample 5 – wax – “flower was more transparent”

Sample 6 – cardstock – “stayed together”

Sample 7 – “stem shorter”

Sample 8 -wax – “not sloppy”

Sample 9 – cardstock – “smaller”

Sample 10 – wax – “Stayed together”

Sample 11 – cardstock- “Smooth”

Sample 12 – wax – “More color”