8. Welcome to the Science Fair

8 Welcome to the Science Fair We spent the next week making our projects. My mom and dad helped me build my remote-controlled flying sausage delivery drone. It was the coolest. It had to be cooler than the secret lame project Andrea was working on. Finally, it was the day of the science fair. When I got to school, there was electricity in

the air. Well, not really. If there was electricity in the air, we would all get electrocuted. But all our parents and teachers were there. Galileo was there. The owner of Porky's Pork Sausages, Peter Porky, was there. And of course, Mrs. Ella Mentry was there. She was walking with crutches because she'd hurt her leg in the Great Egg Drop Challenge. The walls of the gym were covered with science posters and banners. Before the opening ceremony, we got to walk around and look at all the science projects. One girl made a periscope out of a milk carton. Some boy made a hoverboard. Somebody else made fossils out of bread and gummy bears. A fifth grader used a lemon to make electricity. A fourth grader made a fountain out of soda and Mentos. Somebody made a rotten egg stink bomb. It was cool.

There were solar ovens, weather stations, balloon rockets, levitating magnets, exploding toothpaste, and glow-in-the-dark slime. Kids had created projects using Jell-O, paper airplanes, Silly Putty, invisible ink, Play-Doh, lava lamps, and walkie-talkies. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" the Snowman said as he walked around the gym. "I love it!" Andrea's project was a big secret, but now she had to show everybody what it was. She pulled a sheet off the table, and you'll never believe in a million hundred years what she had under there. It was a volcano! "I made it out of papier-maché," Andrea announced. "When it erupts, lava will shoot out of it." Oh, man! Why didn't I think of that? Andrea was sure to win the grand prize with an erupting volcano. She always wins everything. Why can't a volcano erupt on

Andrea's head? Everybody in the gym was buzzing. Well, not really. We're not bees. Mr. Klutz stepped up to the microphone and made the shut-up peace sign with his fingers. Everybody stopped talking.

"Welcome to the Ella Mentry School

science fair," Mr. Klutz announced. "Blah blah blah blah young future scientists blah blah blah blah unlock the secrets of the universe blah blah blah blah thank Dr. Snow for organizing blah blah blah blah our special guest, Mrs. Ella Mentry, blah blah blah blah..." He went on like that for a million hundred minutes. What a snoozefest. Finally, he stopped talking. "Let the science fair begin!" announced the Snowman. "A.J., start things off! Andrea, you can warm up your volcano now." "Sure thing!" we said. I flipped the switch on the remote control. The rotors on my drone started to spin. The drone rose up in the air over everyone's head. "What a great idea!" said Peter Porky. "This could be a good way to deliver Porky's