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Overview
When Kate learns that her class is going on a field trip to the aquarium, she is thrilled that she'll get to see the penguin exhibit! The rockhopper penguins are her favorite. To prepare, Ms. Eberlin assigns the class a project: each student has to do a report about a different animal at the aquarium. Even though Kate gets assigned sea lions, she's still thrilled to go. Kate, Birdie, and the rest of the class excitedly prepare for their projects until it's finally Aquarium Day! But when a huge snowstorm threatens to ruin the class's field trip, will Kate the Chemist be able to save the day with science?
From Kate the Chemist, chemistry professor and science entertainer as seen on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Wendy Williams Show, and The Today Show, comes a clever and fun middle grade series that is the perfect introduction to STEM for young readers!
Make Your Own Chocolate-Covered Pretzels! Experiment Inside!
Praise for the Kate the Chemist series:
"Proves that science and fun go together like molecules in a polymer."--School Library Journal
"It's a great introduction to the basics of chemistry that is readily accessible to a variety of ages . . . The way the everyday chemistry is blended in is done seamlessly, and has [me and my ten-year-old son] noticing how we are all doing a little bit of science every day." --GeekMom.com
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780593351284 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Penguin Young Readers Group |
| Publication date: | 09/28/2021 |
| Series: | Kate the Chemist Series |
| Sold by: | Penguin Group |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 144 |
| Lexile: | 630L (what's this?) |
| File size: | 12 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
| Age Range: | 8 - 12 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Chapter One
A SECRET TRIP
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 after-noon.” 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 loooooong 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 happi-ness 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 skyscrap-ers, 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.