6 Power Up!

CHAPTER SIX Power Up! Biodegradation (noun). A chemical process where matter is broken down by microorganisms like fungi. Fungi is the plural of fungus. This gives a whole new meaning to "there's a fungus among us." ON MONDAY AFTERNOON, Ms. Daly stood in the front of the science lab. It was after lunch, and everyone in my class was working on their STEM projects. "I'm going to give you"—she glanced at her watch—"a few more minutes to get organized. And then I want everyone to show off your materials and how you plan to use them with group members." Oh, I couldn't wait to do that! The class had been split into five groups. Ms. Daly put me with Jeremy, Memito, and Phoenix. The idea was that we were supposed to think through our projects together. And help each other, if we needed it. At the next table, Birdie was with Elijah, Avery, and Rory. I waved at her. And she waved back. I wished I could be with her. "When one of you is demonstrating your project," said Ms. Daly, holding up a pencil, "the rest of you will write down observations. For

第六章加油！生物降解(名词)。 物质被微生物如真菌分解的化学过程。 真菌是真菌的复数形式。 这给了“我们中间有一种真菌”一个全新的含义。 星期一下午，戴利女士站在科学实验室的前面。 午饭后，我们班的每个人都在做他们的STEM项目。 “我要给你，”她看了看表，“再给你几分钟整理一下。 然后我希望每个人都展示一下你的材料，以及你计划如何与小组成员一起使用它们。” 哦，我等不及要这么做了！这个班被分成了五个小组。 戴利老师安排我和杰里米、梅托和菲尼克斯在一起。 我们的想法是，我们应该一起考虑我们的项目。 如果需要的话，我们会互相帮助。 伯迪和以利亚、艾弗里和罗里坐在邻桌。 我向她挥了挥手。她也挥了挥手。 我希望我能和她在一起。 “当你们中的一个人在展示自己的项目时，”她说。 戴利举起一支铅笔，“剩下的人写下观察结果。 为

example, you could write, 'I see a clear liquid.' When everyone is finished, hand in your notes. That means even when it's not your turn to present, you'll be actively learning and participating." "Will we be tested on this?" asked Avery in a worried voice. She's pretty competitive when it comes to grades. I guess I am, too. "Nope, no quiz," said Ms. Daly. "But I will give everyone participation points." Lots of kids sighed with relief. While we set up our materials, everyone in my group started talking about what they'd do with the money if they won on STEM night. Which wasn't actually that far away, just eleven days. "I'd use the prize money to get new soccer goals for the school," said Jeremy. "Soccer is great," said Phoenix. "But we already have cones. They work fine. I think we need to buy some big composting bins for the garden." "Actually, we need to get more raised garden beds, to supply veggies for the cooking club," said Memito. "Which we'll definitely need to start." "Kate, what are you going to do with your money, if you win?" asked Jeremy. "I don't know." I flipped through my binder. "I'm still trying to figure it out."

例如，你可以写，“我看到一种透明的液体。”当每个人都讲完后，把你们的笔记交上来。 这意味着即使不轮到你发言，你也会积极学习和参与。” “我们会在这方面接受考验吗？”埃弗里担心地问。 说到成绩，她很有竞争力。 我想我也是。“不，没有测试。” 戴利。“但我会给每个人加分。” 许多孩子松了一口气。 当我们准备材料的时候，我们组里的每个人都开始讨论如果他们在STEM之夜赢了钱，他们会怎么花。 其实也没那么远，只有11天。 “我会用奖金为学校买新的足球目标，”杰里米说。 “足球很棒，”菲尼克斯说。 “但我们已经有锥体了。 它们工作得很好。我想我们需要为花园买一些大的堆肥箱。” 梅米托说：“实际上，我们需要更多的花圃，为烹饪俱乐部提供蔬菜。” “我们肯定需要开始。” “凯特，如果你赢了，你打算怎么花你的钱？”杰里米问。 “我不知道。”我翻看活页夹。 “我还在努力弄清楚。”

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Ms. Gottfried, our librarian, stroll into the lab. A black camera with a maroon strap hung around her neck. "Don't mind me, everyone," she said. "I'm taking photos and video for our school website." Soon enough, I was scribbling furious notes while I listened to Phoenix. She held up a 2-liter soda bottle that had been cut in half so the bottom could serve as a stand for the top half turned upside down. Dirt, orange peels, and shredded napkins filled the inside. Memito held his nose. "That's stinky." "It's kind of awesome," said Jeremy. "I agree!" I wrote: awesome way to recycle a bottle. "I want to dump that bottle on my brother's pillow," said Jeremy with a sly smile. "It's not something to just throw away," sniffed Phoenix. "Everything comes from the earth. And most of it can be recycled, reused, or composted. If you throw it into a landfill, it just sits there." As Phoenix stirred the dirt with a spoon, I studied the criteria judges would be using to evaluate our projects. They would be looking at 1) scientific thought, 2) thoroughness, 3) demonstrated skills, and 4) our ability to communicate our project and make STEM connections. There was no doubt that Phoenix

我用眼角的余光看着她。 我们的图书管理员戈特弗里德走进实验室。 她的脖子上挂着一架带有栗色带子的黑色照相机。 “大家别介意我，”她说。 “我正在为我们学校的网站拍摄照片和视频。” 很快，我一边听菲尼克斯的歌，一边愤怒地写着笔记。 她拿起一个两升的汽水瓶，这个汽水瓶被切成两半，底部可以作为一个支架，上面的一半是颠倒的。 里面堆满了灰尘、橘子皮和碎餐巾纸。 梅托捏着鼻子。“臭”。 “这真是太棒了，”杰里米说。 “我同意!”我写道：回收瓶子的好方法。 “我想把那瓶酒倒在我哥哥的枕头上，”杰里米狡黠地笑着说。 “这可不是随便扔掉的东西。”菲尼克斯嗤之以鼻地说。 “一切都来自地球。 其中大部分可以回收、再利用或制成堆肥。 如果你把它扔进垃圾填埋场，它就会留在那里。” 当菲尼克斯用勺子搅拌泥土时，我研究了评委用来评估我们项目的标准。 他们会考察1)科学思想，2)彻彻底，3)展示技能，以及4)我们沟通项目和建立STEM联系的能力。 毫无疑问，菲尼克斯

would be able to do all of that. I couldn't get jealous. Scientists need to support each other. I pointed at the compost pail. "Hey, that's cool chemistry!" I motioned over to Ms. Gottfried. "You should get a photo of this." Ms. Gottfried glided closer. Pushing up her aqua-colored glasses on her nose, she grinned. "Good idea." Then I could hear her camera going click, click, click. "Kate's right," said Phoenix. "Composting is chemistry. According to my research, biodegradation is a chemical process where stuff is broken down by microorganisms like bacteria. But only some things break down that way." She pointed to pieces of plastic in the pail. "That's why I cut up lids from yogurt cartons. I predict they won't get broken down." Memito winced and wrote down in giant letters: can be stinky. "Sure you're not talking about your socks?" teased Phoenix. "My socks and your dirt," said Memito. During his turn, he held up a bag of dried fruit, and my stomach tightened. His project looked so far along. "Did you already finish your project?" asked Jeremy, who had been reading my thoughts.

就能做到这一切。 我不会吃醋。科学家们需要相互支持。 我指着堆肥桶。 “嘿，这是很酷的化学反应！”我向她示意。 戈特弗里德。“你应该拍张照片。” 戈特弗里德滑近了一些。 她把水绿色的眼镜推到鼻子上，咧嘴一笑。 “好主意。”然后我听到她的相机咔嗒，咔嗒，咔嗒。 “凯特说得对。”菲尼克斯说。 “堆肥是化学。根据我的研究，生物降解是一种化学过程，物质被细菌等微生物分解。 但只有一些东西会这样分解。” 她指着桶里的塑料片。 “这就是我把酸奶盒的盖子剪开的原因。 我预测它们不会坏掉。” 梅米托畏缩了一下，用大字写下：可能很臭。 “你肯定不是在说你的袜子？”菲尼克斯揶揄道。 “我的袜子和你的脏东西。” 轮到他的时候，他拿起一袋干果，我的胃一下子绷紧了。 他的计划看起来很顺利。 “你已经完成你的项目了吗？”杰里米问，他一直在读我的心思。

"Yup," said Memito. "I was so excited to get started." While he talked about the science of drying fruit, I tried to contain my worry about being behind. Instead, I focused on the fact that Ms. Gottfried was now filming Birdie. Yay Birdie! She was talking about her chromatography project. I wanted to clap when Birdie held up her project, which almost looked like a tie-dye cloth, with splashes of sea blue, plum, and hot pink. She had just as many colors as Avery, who sat next to her with jars of DIY lip gloss. "Ahem," grumbled Memito, poking me in the shoulder. "Oh, sorry!" I whirled back around. Memito waved a baggie of dried mangos. "Don't you want some?" "Sure!" I grabbed a morsel of fruit leather. "Mmm, this tastes so perfect." "Thanks," said Memito. "Which means I'm not going to put it anywhere near that bottle of dirt." "Compost," corrected Phoenix. "Okay, everyone, it's fruit-powered battery time." I waved my arms. "Hey, Ms. Gottfried. Do you want to see the true power of a lemon?" I pointed to the one on the table. "Get ready!"

“是的，”梅托说。“我很兴奋能开始工作。” 当他谈到水果干燥的科学原理时，我试图抑制自己对落后的担忧。 相反，我关注的是这样一个事实。 戈特弗里德正在拍摄《小鸟》。 耶小鸟!她在说她的色谱项目。 当伯蒂举起她的作品时，我真想鼓掌，她的作品看起来就像一块扎染布，上面点缀着海蓝色、李子色和艳粉色。 她的颜色和艾弗里一样多，艾弗里坐在她旁边，手里拿着一罐自制的唇彩。 “嗯哼，”梅托嘟囔着，戳了戳我的肩膀。 “哦,对不起!”我转过身来。 梅托挥舞着一袋芒果干。 “你不想要一些吗？”“当然!”我抓了一小块果皮。 “嗯，这味道太棒了。” “谢谢，”Memito说。“这意味着我不会把它放在那瓶土附近的任何地方。” “堆肥。”菲尼克斯纠正道。 “好了，各位，现在是水果电池时间。” 我挥舞着双臂。“嘿,女士。 戈特弗里德。你想看看柠檬真正的力量吗？”我指着桌上的那张。 “准备!”