Some Penguin Problems
Page 1
ALSO BY DR. KATE BIBERDORF
Kate the Chemist: The Big Book of Experiments
Kate the Chemist: The Awesome Book of Edible Experiments for Kids
Kate the Chemist: Dragons vs. Unicorns
Kate the Chemist: The Great Escape
Kate the Chemist: The STEM Night Disaster
Kate the Chemist: The Birthday Blastoff
HI! MY NAME IS DR. KATE BIBERDORF, but most people call me Kate the Chemist. I perform explosive science experiments on national TV when I’m not in Austin, Texas, teaching chemistry classes. Besides being the best science in the entire world, chemistry is the study of energy and matter, and their interactions with each other. Like how we can use salt and sand to prevent ice from forming on roads during a snowstorm! If you read Some Penguin Problems carefully, you will see how Little Kate the Chemist uses chemistry to solve problems in her everyday life.
But remember, none of the experiments in this book should be done without the supervision of a trained professional! If you are looking for some fun, safe, at-home experiments, check out my companion books, Kate the Chemist: The Big Book of Experiments and Kate the Chemist: The Awesome Book of Edible Experiments for Kids. (I’ve included one experiment from that book in the back of this one—how to make chocolate-covered pretzels!)
And one more thing: Science is all about making predictions (or forming hypotheses), which you can do right now! Will Little Kate the Chemist be able to use her science skills to solve the penguin problem? Let’s find out—it’s time for Kate the Chemist’s fifth adventure.
PHILOMEL BOOKS
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, New York
First published in the United States of America by Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2021
Copyright © 2021 by Kate the Chemist, LLC
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Philomel Books is a registered trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.
Visit us online at penguinrandomhouse.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
Ebook ISBN 9780593351284
Edited by Jill Santopolo
Cover art © 2021 by Barbara Szepesi Szucs
Cover design by Jessica Jenkins
Design by Lori Thorn, adapted for ebook by Michelle Quintero
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
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For five fierce women in my life:
Kim, Kelsea, Caity, Jessica, and Gabi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: A Secret Trip
CHAPTER TWO: What Contains the Answer?
CHAPTER THREE: Grow This Answer
CHAPTER FOUR: What If?
CHAPTER FIVE: The Parent Problem
CHAPTER SIX: A Strange Reaction
CHAPTER SEVEN: Conference Time
CHAPTER EIGHT: What’s in the Bag?
CHAPTER NINE: What’s the Matter?
CHAPTER TEN: A Crystal Ball
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Open Up!
CHAPTER TWELVE: Present Your Point
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Chances Are . . .
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Something Stinks
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Don’t Let It Snow
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Plowing Through
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: A Wonderland
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: An Unexpected Move
CHAPTER NINETEEN: Absolute Zero
CHAPTER TWENTY: Fun and Games
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Quite a Sight!
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Go with the Flow
CHAPTER ONE
A Secret Trip
Convection (noun). A process that involves the transfer of heat. Basically, molecules in gases or liquids will really start moving and grooving. A burst of steam from your freshly made hot cocoa means that heat is transferring into the air.
I CAN KEEP A SECRET. At least that’s what I told myself.
But it was next to impossible. After all, my best friend can practically read my mind. Her name is Birdie Bhatt, and we stood together in our school hallway the day after I found out. The morning bell was about to ring.
“C’mon, tell me, Kate.” Birdie flicked her long hair over her shoulder. “You know something.”
“Um, well . . . maybe.” I glanced at a nearby bulletin board. In rainbow letters it said Throw Kindness like Confetti. Telling your BFF a secret isn’t just like telling anyone a secret. Especially when she’s told you so many secrets herself. And she’s a great secret-keeper too. A bunch of kids slogged past us in winter coats and backpacks. I yanked off my turquoise mittens. It was toasty warm inside the school.
Lowering my voice, I leaned forward and whispered the secret.
“I can’t hear you.” Birdie pulled off her mittens too. They were purple with swirls of silver. Which was typical of her unflashy-yet-artistic flair.
She pointed at the noisy first graders at the end of the corridor.
Stepping closer, I cupped my hand over my mouth. “Fifth grade is going on a field trip,” I said in a low voice. “I overheard my mom talking about it yesterday afternoon.” My mom just happens to be the principal of our school, so if I’m lucky, and quiet, I can overhear lots of secrets.
“Where are we going?” Birdie sounded as excited as I felt.
“Not sure. All I know is that it involves a looooong bus ride.” I couldn’t help bouncing up and down right in the middle of the hallway. A long bus ride meant somewhere awesome and far away, like Detroit or Chicago.
“That’s so cool about the field trip, but”—she paused—“I get car sick. And bus sick.” She smiled, but it was wobbly. Suddenly I remembered what happened when my family took her up to the Tunnel of Trees in northern Michigan. The road twisted like a pretzel, and Birdie lost her lunch at a spot known as Horseshoe Curve.
“You won’t get sick if you sit up front,” I reminded her.
“You’re right. And I can take those ginger chews. Do you know when we’re going?”
“Nope, but I sure hope we go soon.” I gestured at the window next to the double doors leading outside. A few flurries fluttered down. “We need to have something fun to look forward to. The month of January is way too long.”
“Yeah. Unless we get some snow days.”
“Don’t even think about snowstorms right now,” I said in a warning voice. We turned into the fifth-grade corridor. “For our field trip, we want perfect weather. Clear blue skies and white puffy cumulus clouds.”
Cumulus clouds are the kind everyone draws. Especially Birdie. They look like fluffy cotton balls and form due to convection, which means a transfer of heat. You see, I’m all about chemistry. That’s because you don’t just study it, you experience it. Chemistry is how snowflakes form crystals. Or how your muscles kick a soccer ball. It even explains why
you feel bubbles of happiness when you know you’re going on a field trip.
Our school, Rosalind Franklin Elementary, is named after one of the most famous chemists that ever lived. Learning about Dr. Franklin is how I got interested in science in the first place. She helped discover DNA, which is like the secret code for life. It carries all the info about how something will look and act, from dandelions to elephants to humans. It even decides whether someone will be prone to car sickness, like Birdie. Pretty much everything except not-alive stuff like water fountains has DNA.
“Please don’t tell anyone.” I took a sip of water from the fountain. “You know, about the field trip.”
“I won’t.” Birdie held up her hand. “I swear on the BFF code of honor.” I sighed with relief because I knew the secret was safe with Birdie. She never breaks the BFF code of honor.
A few minutes later, we settled into our class. At first, I tried my very best to forget about the secret. Only it got hard. I kept on thinking more about our long trip. It had to be a city, and someplace indoors because of the winter weather. Both Chicago and Detroit had silver skyscrapers, and both of them were on the water. Detroit was on the Detroit River with views of Lake St. Clair. And Chicago was on one of the Great Lakes—Lake Michigan, one of the largest lakes in the world.
In my mind, I kept on picturing the jagged skyline and all of that shimmering water. Oh, it was so exciting! Usually, my family goes to Chicago or Detroit just a couple of times a year. In my seat, I tried to stay calm. But that became way too challenging when Mrs. Eberlin said she had a “special announcement” to make right after attendance.
Leaning back against her desk, she wore an extra-huge smile.
“Class, let’s stop the chitchat,” she said. “I have an amazing field trip to tell you about.”
Birdie whipped around in her chair, and we exchanged looks. Oh wow! It seemed like our class trip was happening sooner rather than later. And that was just fine with me.
I definitely couldn’t wait to find out where we were going.
CHAPTER TWO
What Contains the Answer?
Erlenmeyer Flask (noun). This is a special container that scientists use for a number of different things in a lab. It was designed by German chemist Emil Erlenmeyer, and its glass is so strong that he could do big chemical reactions inside the flask without worrying about it shattering. It has a ginormous name for a ginormous invention!
OUR TEACHER, MRS. EBERLIN, stood in front of the whiteboard. She pushed her glasses up on her nose and suddenly looked very serious. “In order to figure out where we are going on a very special field trip, you’re going to have to do some work.”
Some kids moaned. Others, like me, leaned forward expectantly.
“Told you, it’s going to be special,” I said softly to Birdie, whose desk was in the row in front of mine.
“Told you what?” asked Elijah Williams, who sat behind me. He’s my next-door neighbor and my other closest friend. Immediately, I felt guilty about not telling him the secret.
“The field trip is going to be someplace cool and far away because we’re going on a long bus ride,” I whispered.
“Did you say a long bus ride?” asked Elijah in way too loud a voice.
“Shhhh!” said Birdie and I in unison. But it was too late.
“Kate knows we’re going on a long bus ride!” shouted Memito Alvarez. “Tell us where we’re going!”
Suddenly, everyone in the classroom was staring at me. My cheeks warmed.
“Kate, if you know where we’re going, I’d appreciate you keeping it to yourself,” Mrs. Eberlin stated. She put her hands on her hips in that teacher way that meant business.
“I actually don’t know where we’re going,” I admitted.
“Yeah right, Kate.” Shoving his floppy bangs out of his eyes, Jeremy Rowe glared at me. “She knows. And she’s not telling.”
“Actually, Kate really doesn’t know where we are going,” stated Birdie quietly, and I gave her a grateful look. Birdie might be shy, but she always stands up for what she believes in.
“Thanks, Birdie,” I said. “Just because my mom’s the principal doesn’t mean I know everything.”
Jeremy shook his head. Just last week, Jeremy had been sent down to the office for grabbing Mia Wong’s cookie out of her lunch bag and taking a bite out of it. My mom had given him a talking-to, and for the past few days he had been giving me these withering looks.
Sometimes having your mom as a principal is awesome. And sometimes it isn’t.
“I bet we’re going to Lansing,” said Julia Yoon, who is our student body president and is good at knowing stuff like that. Lansing is the capital of Michigan, the state where we live. In fourth grade, Julia was the first kid to memorize all the states and their capitals.
“I think we’re going to Detroit,” I said. “There’s tons of museums there.”
“Nah, not a museum,” said Elijah. “I bet it’s the Binder Park Zoo. That one near Battle Creek.”
“What about Greenfield Village?” said Avery Cooper. “You can visit an inventor’s lab. Plus, they have people dressed up in costumes, so you get to learn history.” Avery is a fan of anything to do with costumes and drama. Her dads run the theater in our town.
“Brrrr!” Phoenix Altman, Avery’s best friend, rubbed her hands together. “It’ll be too cold for the zoo or the village. I want to go someplace where we can be inside and toasty warm, like a museum.”
On her desk, Birdie tapped her box of pastels. “I hope it’s the Art Institute in Chicago. They have masterpieces there by Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet and other famous artists.”
“Those are all great guesses,” said Mrs. Eberlin. “But none of you are right. To find the answer, we’re going to solve a mystery.” Mrs. Eberlin used a giant black dry-erase marker to write the number 8.1 on the board.
“What’s that number?” asked Elijah.
“My sister’s age,” said Julia.
Memito held up eight fingers. “It’s the number of slices of pizza I’m going to eat for lunch.”
“Nope.” Jeremy shook his head. “It’s how many minutes school should last.”
Some kids laughed, and Mrs. Eberlin tapped her watch. “When you love what you’re doing, time really does fly,” she said with just a hint of her Brazilian accent. When she gets excited, it shows up a little. “Like right now, I promise you time will whiz by. Because we’re going to solve a mystery together. Just watch.”
She reached under her desk and pulled out four Erlenmeyer flasks. Chemists use that kind of flask all the time. It has a narrow neck and a wide, flat bottom. You can put a stopper on the top if you need to swirl and swoosh a solution.
Personally, I love to do the swirling and the swooshing. When my dad makes homemade salad dressing in a jar, he always lets me shake it up.
It’s one of the best ways to mix stuff.
“Now I need some volunteers,” said Mrs. Eberlin. “Who wants to come up and help the class solve the mystery? Using some science. Chemistry, to be exact.”
My hand shot up. “Me!” I shouted. “Please! Please! Please!”
CHAPTER THREE
Grow This Answer
Litmus Paper (noun). This is a piece of paper that has been treated with a special dye that changes color when it interacts with an acid or a base. When you dip it into a liquid, the paper will turn red if it’s an acid or blue if it’s a base. If only getting answers for my math test were this easy!
MRS. EBERLIN SCANNED THE CLASSROOM. “For our volunteer, I’m going to pick Elijah. He’s waiting very patiently with his hand up.”
Did that mean I wasn’t patient? Probably.
With a grin, Elijah strode up to the front of the classroom.
“All right, here’s the clue,” said Mrs. Eberlin. “It will help you all figure out
just where we are taking our field trip. Think of yourselves like explorers or scientists about to make a discovery.”
Almost everyone in the class was quiet. We studied our teacher, who stood up in front of her desk wearing an extra-big smile. “Okay, Elijah,” said Mrs. Eberlin. “Open this box, take what’s inside, and show the class.” Elijah scooped something out of a small cardboard box. Then he held up three capsules that looked a little bit like my dad’s vitamin pills. Only they were red, green, and blue.
“The capsules in Elijah’s hand need the number 8.1”—Mrs. Eberlin tapped the number on the whiteboard—“in order to survive and thrive.”
“Huh?” Phoenix dramatically slapped her hand on her forehead. “I don’t get it.”
“Me either,” I admitted.
“These capsules are weird,” said Elijah as he and I exchanged looks. We had no idea what our teacher was up to.
Next Mrs. Eberlin pulled little strips of purplish paper out of a jar. She waved them at us, and they made a little swishing sound. Mrs. Eberlin asked us to guess what the strips of paper were for.
“Little flags,” suggested Avery.
“Teeth whitening,” called out someone else.
And then, all of a sudden, I got it. My hand shot up.
Only Mrs. Eberlin called on Birdie, and I had to press my lips together to stop from blurting out the answer.
“The little strips would be perfect for drawing mini cartoons,” said Birdie.
“For who?” asked Jeremy. “Hamsters?” A bunch of kids giggled along with Birdie.
I waved my hand in the air again.
“It looks like Kate might have the answer,” said Mrs. Eberlin.
“Yes! Those are litmus strips,” I said, “which is a fancy name for pH paper. They tell us whether something is an acid or a base. An acid is like lemon juice, and a base would be like dishwashing detergent.”