“I really am sorry,” said Jeremy. “I was just mad, I guess.”
“Oh,” I said. And for a minute, I understood just a little bit. There were things I wanted to do when I was mad, too, that I knew weren’t the right thing to do. But I wanted to do them anyway. “No matter what, it wasn’t okay to take my stuff. Or write on my poster.” My voice grew shaky.
“You’re not bad at science,” said Jeremy. “You’re the opposite.”
“Thanks,” I breathed.
“Jeremy, I’m afraid your project is disqualified,” said Ms. Daly. “STEM Night is a privilege, not a right. I’m going to speak with your parents and you’re going to watch but not participate in any activities.”
Jeremy’s face turned as pink as his strawberry milk. “Okay,” he whispered.
For a moment, I felt really sorry for him. He wouldn’t be able to enjoy any of the hands-on activities. Outside in the parking lot there was even a telescope for stargazing.
It seemed like Jeremy really did care about his science project a whole lot. He sure had a funny way of showing it, though.
After he handed me the calculator and packed away his poster, I looked away so he wouldn’t feel bad. Even though I was still upset at him, I knew what it was like to feel that way. That nothing would work out.
Afterward, I caught up with Birdie in the multipurpose room.
Birdie asked, “How did it go?”
“Fine,” I said.
She crossed her fingers. “I hope that nothing else goes wrong.”
“Thanks, but right now I don’t need luck or superstition. I just need to remember the most important thing—that I love science!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Together We’re Better
Scientific collaboration (noun). When scientists work together to strengthen their research projects. This means that they share ideas, not that they take their ideas to the gym.
MY VOICE WAS GROWING HOARSE. So many parents, kids, and people had come by to ask me about my Rube Goldberg machine. I answered about a zillion questions.
And I loved it.
It’s like the whole world was suddenly science obsessed.
So far three judges had come by—Ms. Daly and our two fifth grade teachers. They all carried tablets as they scored me and asked a lot of questions.
With a smile, I glanced over at the rows of tables with everyone’s posters set up next to one another.
Lights flashed as parents and grandparents took photos.
To my left there was no poster. That was where Jeremy was supposed to be set up.
On the other side of Jeremy’s empty spot, Dr. Caroline was talking to Phoenix.
I elbowed Birdie, whose poster was set up to the right of mine. “Look,” I whispered. “See who’s coming to me next. Okay, I’m calm.”
Birdie rolled her eyes. “You’re not calm. If you were a crayon, you’d melt.”
“Okay, fine. But I’m going to act like it’s completely normal. I mean, I know I sort of spoke with her before. But this is different. I’m going to be speaking to Dr. Caroline in person about my project. About science!” I smoothed out my lab coat. I hummed. “Just a normal life. Just la dee da.”
Birdie nudged me. “Kate. Kate! She’s here.” I glanced up, right at Dr. Caroline. She had on a really pretty silver chain with a double helix that dangled right in front of me.
“Oh, you’re wearing DNA—deoxyribonucleic acid!”
“Yes, I am!”
I glanced down at my lucky pink cowboy boots. “We’re both wearing pink!”
“An amazing color,” said Dr. Caroline.
“Did you know that anything that has a bluish red to light red color can be considered pink? It can even have slight hints of orange, like in the color salmon, right?” I asked.
“That’s right.” Dr. Caroline said as she leaned forward. “So, tell me about your project, Kate. How did you choose this idea?”
“I’m fascinated by batteries,” I admitted. Even though my voice was steady, my insides weren’t. I was a jumble of nerves. But I bravely plowed on. “As a little kid, I was always taking them out of flashlights. The remote control for the TV. Anything. I was just wowed that a tiny little battery could do so much. So, when I discovered that lemons, limes, and apples—oh, and potatoes!—could be used as batteries, I knew I wanted to learn how to do it.”
Dr. Caroline smiled and made a note on her iPad.
“But I realized I wanted to do more. So I thought about how I could use batteries in a Rube Goldberg machine. I learned from your show that Rube Goldberg was a fascinating person—a cartoonist, an engineer, and an inventor—who liked to make complicated machines that accomplish simple tasks at the end. And I thought that turning on a calculator is a simple task that scientists do all the time. Plus, you can watch kids and adults make Rube Goldberg machines on YouTube. They’re fun and the chain reaction inspires people all over the world to dive into science. And what’s better than something that inspires people to become scientists?”
I demonstrated the machine (it worked!) and explained the science of every part of it—the geology behind the pebble, the physics behind dominoes, the size and shape of real strawberries and the properties of beeswax, the water displacement and absorption, and the chemistry of my lemon batteries. After that, I admitted some of the failures along the way. Like forgetting to test my batteries before trying the robot.
“What did you feel like you learned from your mistakes?” asked Dr. Caroline.
“I realized that you learn as much from what doesn’t work as you do from what does.”
Dr. Caroline nodded. “Cognitive science, which is a special branch that studies the brain, shows that making and discussing mistakes makes us learn faster.”
“That’s good. My best friend and I also talked a lot about our mess-ups. And helped each other with ideas. The strawberry looks good because of her,” I said, pointing to Birdie.
“Well, I’m having trouble not gobbling that strawberry up,” said Dr. Caroline. “It looks so real.Your friend is an amazing artist.” Dr. Caroline’s eyes lit up as she gazed at the chromatography experiment images and drawings on Birdie’s poster. “So, you two worked together?”
“Well, we helped each other out,” I said.
“Nice. Science is all about collaborations.”
Then Dr. Caroline asked me a few more questions before moving on to Birdie. At first, Birdie spoke in a quiet voice, but once she starting talking about getting to see ink separate, her voice grew more and more excited, more confident.
Then she added that chromatography taught her how to catch a crook.
Dr. Caroline took more notes, then she went over to the next aisle to look at Rory’s cloud project. I could hear Dr. Caroline’s voice. She was pointing and nodding and getting all jazzed about Rory’s work too.
I was proud of my project, but, honestly, I was worried about winning. I realized that a lot of other kids did a great job. And that was a good thing. But it meant I had competition with a capital C. I thought about what Dr. Caroline had said before, that it wasn’t about winning. And I suppose it wasn’t, but I still wanted to win anyway.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The Winning Team
Results (noun). The detailed report of your data in a science experiment or inquiry. It might agree with or contradict your hypothesis. That’s because in science it’s okay to have a wrong hypothesis. Evidence always wins.
“WE ARE SO HAPPY to announce the winners of our fifth grade science competition during our first annual STEM Night,” said Ms. Daly. She stood up onstage in the multipurpose room.
In my chair, my legs shook. I’m sure every molecule in my body was shaking, too. Next to me, Birdie bit her lip.
Ms. Daly glanced at the judges who were sitting on seats up onstage. Dr.
Caroline sat in between Mrs. Que and Mrs. Eberlin. Up onstage earlier, Dr. Caroline had already done a whole bunch of demos and they all were awesome. In one of them, she showed how static electricity worked by putting her hands on a silver globe called a Van de Graaff generator. Dr. Caroline’s long dark hair was shocked into the air in a way that made it look like she had antenna on her head. In another one, a solution she had created went back and forth between blue and yellow.
It was all awesome, and now the announcement part of the evening was happening. It was exciting, but also nerve-wracking.
“I speak for the entire faculty and staff,” continued Ms. Daly, “when I say that we’re so proud of our fifth graders. You have stepped up and shown us your hard work. You’ve asked wonderful questions. Created hypotheses for your experiments and worked hard to create your projects from scratch. You’ve let nothing get in your way.”
That’s when Birdie looked at me. And I looked at her. Because that part was true. The only thing that was going to get past us would be subatomic.
“What impressed the judges is how unique all of the projects were, which reflects the diversity and interests of our awesome students here at Rosalind Franklin Elementary. Honestly, you kids made this really hard on the judges. It was a very difficult decision. You will notice that on all of your projects, we have placed yellow ribbons. These participation ribbons let each and every one of you know how awesome you are and how great all of your projects were.”
“I want a ribbon,” Liam said in the chair next to me.
“You’ll get one,” I answered.
“When you’re a fifth grader,” said Birdie.
He slapped his forehead. “That’s in ten hundred years.”
“Okay, we’re going to hand the mic back over to Dr. Caroline now,” said Ms. Daly.
Everyone craned their heads forward.
There were hundreds of people in the room, but it was silent as Dr. Caroline hopped out of her seat.
“Hi, everyone!” said Dr. Caroline, waving.
Liam waved back. “I think she saw me!”
“Okay, it’s time to announce our winners,” said Dr. Caroline. “I know, like me, you’re very eager. But first I want to say that all of you in this room can be scientists.” Squinting her eyes, she peered around the packed room.
Liam tapped his chest. “Me?”
“Yes, you,” I said, and Liam cheered along with the rest of the crowd.
“All of you can grow up to help make the world a better place,” continued Dr. Caroline.
“I want to make it better,” Liam admitted.
“Me too,” I breathed. Because that was what it was really about. I wanted to use science to help people and our planet.
“And I was impressed with every single project I saw here tonight.” Dr. Caroline looked down at her clipboard. “But the winners didn’t just have fantastic projects, they also understood the science behind their projects and were able to explain it to me perfectly. So, the third place winner is . . . Avery Cooper!”
Avery jumped out of her chair and raced to the microphone. Dr. Caroline handed her a trophy and an envelope. “Avery’s experiment was called Mind Your Beeswax and it was about the science of lip gloss.” Dr. Caroline handed the microphone to Avery and she explained a little bit about her project.
“And what will you do for the school community with the prize money?” asked Dr. Caroline.
“I’m going to buy curtains for our theater,” said Avery. “My dads can get us a discount.”
Everyone applauded.
Okay, only two more opportunities to place. I squeezed my knees together and crossed my fingers. I couldn’t look up.
Dr. Caroline smiled so her whole face lit up. “The second place winner is Memito Alvarez for his project Tasty Leather, the science of fruit dehydration.”
A cheer went up and I could hear Memito’s brothers whistling. Memito jogged up to the podium. Then he bowed as he accepted his trophy and his check. “I’d like to thank the Academy for nominating me for best actor,” he joked.
Birdie and I cracked up. Elijah called out, “Best actor in a cooking show!”
“It’s funny you should say that,” said Memito, pointing at Elijah. “’Cause I’m going to use my prize money to start a cooking club.”
Dr. Caroline clapped. “I’m going to have to come back and test out some recipes.”
Memito made his way back to his seat with lots of people shaking his hand and slapping his back. Dr. Caroline said, “It’s time to announce first place.”
My stomach felt hot, like something was starting to boil inside.
“We have a tie for first place,” said Dr. Caroline with a huge grin. “Two scientists who embodied the principles of teamwork and support. The winners are Kate Crawford and Brinda ‘Birdie’ Bhatt. Kate’s project, a Rube Goldberg machine called Lemon Power, included multiple scientific principles and, after many moving parts, ended with a calculator being turned on. Birdie’s project was Color Sleuthing, which looked at the wonder of ink chromatography.” The audience cheered and thundered their applause.
Birdie and I locked eyes before launching ourselves out of our seats for a big hug. I was glad for all that chemistry taking place to power our muscles.
“They won not just for their projects,” continued Dr. Caroline, “which were awesome, by the way, but because the two of them used what they knew about science and applied it to everyday life, and they helped each other make their projects better.”
As we walked up to the front, I knew there was a tiny part of me that didn’t like sharing first place. But if I had to share it with anyone, it would be with my best friend Birdie.
After we both got to share a little bit more about our projects, Dr. Caroline asked what we would do with our money.
“I would like to make a mural on the brick wall facing the playground,” said Birdie. “And I’ll need lots of helpers.”
I could hear Liam’s voice cheering—mine too.
“And Kate, what about you?” I was about to say I’m going to upgrade the science lab, but then I got an idea.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Reaching Out
Liquid nitrogen (noun). The liquid form of nitrogen. It’s super cold. So cold that it could burn you. Just like you would never drink boiling oil, you’d never drink this. It’s that cold.
“I WANT TO USE MY MONEY to do a livestreaming event,” I said. “Maybe we could do science experiments on the internet like you do, Dr. Caroline. I could use my prize money to get all of the materials we’d need, and people might like them so much that they’d donate to the school. And maybe we could raise enough money to fund everyone’s ideas. Phoenix could get composting bins for the garden and Elijah could start a battle of the bands!”
“Woo-boy!” Dr. Caroline put her hand up to her forehead like it was blazing hot. “That’s a lot of ideas.”
“We have two fifth grade classes,” said Birdie. “So forty of them.”
“You want to do a science show like mine?” asked Dr. Caroline, after she was quiet for a moment. I nodded. She looked like she was thinking about something and then smiled. “Let’s do it! Let’s do it here and now. And it won’t cost a thing. You can use your prize money as the first donation for the event. Let me just set up the livestreaming funding app on my phone, and we’ll see what science fans all over the world will donate to fund these awesome ideas—ideas that will give you all even more learning opportunities. Plus, I’ve got the perfect bonus demo.”
She grabbed her phone. “While I’m doing this, why don’t the rest of you take a five-minute water break?”
That’s when Jeremy came up to me. He hung his head. “I’m so, so sorry, Kate. For messing everything up. I think you really did figure out the best way to use the prize money.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I hop
e this works and we can get those soccer goals you want.”
Jeremy nodded and I could see his parents standing nearby looking pretty serious. I’m sure he was going to get a very big lecture when he got home tonight.
Dr. Caroline went back to the microphone. “Okay, everyone, it’s time for our demo. And for our livestream fundraiser to begin.”
Dr. Caroline made a few taps on her cell phone and before we knew it, we were livestreaming a fundraiser in our multipurpose room. She asked our AV guru, Ms. Gottfried, to film.
Dr. Caroline looked at both Birdie and me. “I want you two to stand up onstage. We’re going to make a cloud.”
That seemed just perfect. Because I was already on cloud nine. That means your happy place, according to my dad. Only Dr. Caroline was going to make an actual cloud.
“This is my all-time favorite demo,” said Dr. Caroline. “And it’s my finale. Because I’ve gotta catch a plane home tonight!”
The idea of Dr. Caroline leaving made me a little sad. But only just a smidge. Because there I was standing next to Dr. Caroline, who was about to do her favorite demo ever. With me. I just knew I would remember this day for the rest of my life.
“We’re going to make actual clouds inside the multipurpose room?” asked Birdie, who looked just as wowed as the audience.
“Yes! Yes!” I was already clapping.
“So right there you have a bucket of liquid nitrogen,” said Dr. Caroline. She pointed to the white bucket.
I knew that was when nitrogen, usually a gas, was cooled so much that it became a liquid. “It’s super cold!” I said.
“Exactly!” exclaimed Dr. Caroline. “Almost negative 200 degrees Celsius. Don’t touch it or drink it. Safety first. That’s why I’m handing you all goggles”—I took a pink pair and Birdie grabbed a blue one—“and cryogenic gloves to protect your hands. And in this blue bucket I have hot water at about 80 degrees Celsius.”
The STEM Night Disaster Page 7
