Chapter 8

8 Pablo struggled to free himself from the roots. Suddenly, there was a tug at his ankle. Pablo tried to kick away whatever was pulling at him. "Get off!" he shouted. He looked toward his flipper. But instead of some lake creature, he saw Violet and Deepak. "Violet! You found me!" Pablo exclaimed. He had never been happier to see his best friend. She and Deepak worked together to untangle the roots. "Stand up, Pablo!" Violet said into her watch. Pablo didn't understand. Stand up? He looked down. He was only a couple of feet above the

bottom of the lake. Pablo felt so embarrassed. He was in shallow water! Pablo stood up. Violet and Deepak did the same. "I'm sorry, you guys. I shouldn't have left like that. I just got…well…I got jealous," he said. He turned to Deepak. "Violet has been my best friend since I came to Newburg. Back then I was the new kid. Now you're the new kid. You're smart. And you like science." Pablo paused, then said, "I was scared you were going to become her new best friend." "Pablo, no one could ever replace you!" said Violet. She gave him a hug.

"I don't want to take your place, Pablo. I just want you guys to like me," said Deepak. Pablo understood how that felt. He remembered trying really hard to make friends. "I'm sorry I wasn't more welcoming to you, Deepak." "It's okay, Pablo. I'm glad we talked about this," Deepak said. "Me too," agreed Violet. The three friends hugged one another tightly.

Pablo checked his watch. "We only have forty Maker Minutes left!" Violet bit her lip. "Okay. Back to the challenge. We found water lilies. But we haven't finished crayfish yet. What if crayfish are scavengers and consumers?" she said. "Maybe their role in the food chain depends on where they live." "That's a good idea!" said Pablo. He swiped his watch until the screen read consumer. He selected it. Nothing happened. He swiped again until he saw scavenger. Then he tapped the screen.

RING, DING, DONG!! "Whew! That was super hard," said Deepak. He wiped his forehead. "I'm glad we worked together to figure it out." He gave Pablo a pat on the back. Violet activated her watch to scan a water lily. The group agreed it was a producer. RING, DING, DONG!! They started to search for a frog. "Over here!" Deepak shouted. A little green frog was sitting in the center of a water lily. Just as Deepak was about to scan it, the frog hopped away.

"Oh no!" said Violet. They followed it carefully. The frog settled on another water lily with a pink flower blooming from its center. As Deepak aimed his watch, the frog opened its mouth. Out shot a long pink tongue. Smack! It landed right on a fly that was buzzing through the air. "Its tongue moved so fast! That fly didn't stand a chance," said Pablo. "No wonder frogs hang out here," Violet added. "The flowers attract bugs!" Frogs were definitely consumers.