2 Ch2-The Power of the Potato

Chapter 2 The Power of the Potato We walked a million hundred miles to the science room. Michael, who never ties his shoes, was the line leader. "Science is for nerds," I said. "Science is fun!" said Andrea, who thinks everything about school is fun. The science room is probably the

weirdest room in the history of the world. In the corner there was a skeleton wear- ing a top hat. There was a cage with white mice running around it. There were strange machines, microscopes, computers, plants and other stuff all over the place. "This place is freaky weird," Ryan said. "Where's Mr. Docker?" Andrea asked. "I don't know," said Miss Daisy who doesn't know anything. We were looking at all the junk when the door banged open and an old guy came in. He was standing on one of those rolling things that looks like an old-time lawn mower. He was wearing a helmet,

goggles, and one of those doctor lab coats. What a nerd! "Hi, everybody!" he said. "I'm Mr. Docker!" Then he smashed into the chalkboard and fell off his rolling thing. We all

ran over to pick him up off the floor. "Are you okay?" we all asked. "Never better!" Mr. Docker took off his helmet and goggles. He had crazy gray hair that went off in all directions. It looked like he hadn't combed it in years. If my hair looked like that, my mother wouldn't let me out of the house. "Hey, I've seen that guy before," Ryan whispered. "He lives down the street from me!" Mr. Docker reached into his lab coat and pulled out a potato. He took a bite out of it. "Sorry I'm late," Mr. Docker said. "I had

to harvest my tubers." Huh? I didn't know what he was talk- ing about. "Tubers are potatoes," Andrea said. "I looked it up in the dictionary once." "Very good," Mr. Docker said. "Wel- come to science. I'm going to take you on a scientific journey. We're going to explore the wonders of our world. The future is in your hands. You will be the scientists of tomorrow." "Not me," I said. "I'm going to be a foot- ball player." "But we can all be scientists," Mr. Docker said. "All you have to do is look around and ask 'Why?' Why does the

Earth spin? Why do dogs wag their tails? Can anybody think of another science why question?" "Why do we have to learn science?" I asked. Andrea looked at me and rolled her eyes. "That's a good question," Mr. Docker said. I stuck out my tongue at Andrea. Nah-nah-nah boo-boo on her! "We have to learn science because science is all around us," Mr. Docker said. "When you bounce a ball, you're learning the science of physics. When you look at a flower, you're learning