9 SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPALS

Scientific Principals "Welcome to the Emerson School Science Fair!" said a big sign over the cafeteria door. There

was the Principal, standing by the door, saying hello to parents. She was smiling, but Bean thought you could never be too careful about principals. "I know a shortcut," she said to her mom and dad. "Let's go through the kitchen." Once they were inside, Bean and her parents met up with Ivy and her mom. "Where's your project, girls?" asked Ivy's mom. "Our class is over here," said Bean quickly. "Let's go." Sure enough, there was Ms. Aruba-Tate, next to a table marked "Room Twelve: Global Warming." Before her parents could start yakking with Ms. Aruba-Tate, Bean dragged them over to a bench where five kids were sitting in a row. "Look," she pointed. "That's Vanessa's project." Her mom and dad looked. "Looks like a pack of kids to me," her dad said. "What's the project?"

"Wait. You'll see," said Bean. "Five," yelled Vanessa, holding a small clock. "Four. Three." "I have to go to the bathroom," said one of the kids. "No you don't. Two. One. Go!" All together, the five kids took a deep breath and held it. "These are my brothers and sisters," Vanessa explained to the watching parents. "We're reducing carbon dioxide by not breathing out. Toby can hold his breath for seventy-six

seconds. If everyone stopped breathing out for fifteen minutes a day, the world would be a lot cooler." She looked at her clock again. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One." "Whew." The kids blew out their held-up breaths. Their faces were red. "Are you guys doing yours soon?" Vanessa called to Ivy. Ivy made a shh-face and turned to her mom. "Come on, Mom. I want to show you MacAdam's lime car." MacAdam was hiding under the table, but he had a real lime with a paper clip and a penny in it and his drawing on the top of the table. It smelled good. Next door was fifteen minutes a day, the world would be a lot cooler." She looked at her clock again. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One." Eric's project. He hadn't had time to build the garbage robot, so he had used one of his toy robots to show his idea. A little plastic man had just tossed a clump of paper on

the ground. He was smiling. He had no idea that behind him, a robot was glaring, waiting to whack him on the head. Eric had also made a poster. It read, "Clean Up or Else!" Next to Eric's robot was a vacuum cleaner. Dusit's idea was to vacuum up all the heat, put it in a giant bag, and send it into outer space. In real life, it would have to be a special vacuum cleaner, but he had brought in a regular one as an example. "So that's where it went," his mom said.

Marga-Lee had made a picture of Earth with mirrors sticking up all over it. She said that the mirrors would reflect the sun's rays back out into space. "Wow," said Bean's dad, looking at her picture. "Pretty good idea." Bean almost said "Wait 'til you see ours," but she didn't. She looked at Ivy and made a mouth-zipping sign. Ivy nodded. Drew had made a baking soda and vinegar volcano. It didn't have much to do with global warming, but it was fun to watch the foam spurt out of the top. He had put green food coloring in the vinegar.