Justine McKeen, Queen of Green by Sigmund Brouwer Page B

“Come up to the front, and remember, introducing yourself is part of a good presentation.”
    Justine walked to the back of the classroom and grabbed the posters she had made. She marched to the front and turned to face everyone.
    â€œHello,” she said. “My name is Justine McKeen. But I won’t mind if you call me Justine McKeen, Queen of Green. Somebody gave me that name in the cafeteria today, and I like it. It is very important to be green, and my science project today is about how we can help the environment. I want to start by showing you a poster of a cow from Argentina.”
    Justine held up her first poster. It was of a black and white cow with a huge pink tank strapped to its back. The tank was tube-shaped. It stretched from the cow’s head to its tail.
    â€œThis tank is made from the same kind of plastic as a beach ball,” Justine said. “And the tank is filled with something lighter than air. It is filled with a gas called methane. The tank collects methane from the cow’s body.”
    Safdar put up his hand. “Yes, Safdar,” Mrs. Howie said.
    â€œMiss Queen of Green,” Safdar said. “I thought cows made milk. Not methane.”

    â€œI don’t want to be rude,” Justine said, “but I will explain a different way. The tank collects the gas from the cow’s F-A-R-Ts.”
    â€œCow F-A-R-Ts!” Safdar said. “Cool! I vote that this is the best science project ever!”
    Michael put up his hand.
    Mrs. Howie had a tired look on her face. She sounded tired when she spoke too. “Yes, Michael.”
    Michael stood. “Miss Queen of Green, how does the tank collect the cow F-A-R-Ts?”
    â€œPlease call it methane,” Justine said. “We should use the scientific word.”
    â€œCool!” Michael said. “Cow F-A-R-Ts. Do you have a photo of the cow’s hind end? Is there a tube in the cow’s butt to collect the F-A-R-Ts?”
    Everyone laughed.
    Mrs. Howie stepped forward. “Class!”
    Nobody was listening. They were laughing too hard.
    â€œClass!” Mrs. Howie shouted. “Please, let Justine continue!”
    â€œThank you,” Justine said. “It is important for scientists to know how much methane a cow produces. Methane contributes to global warming. Argentina has fifty-five million cows. One cow produces one thousand quarts of methane a day. That is a lot of methane. Since farmers care about the environment, they want to know if there is a way to feed cows so the cows produce less gas.”
    Michael put up his hand again.
    â€œNo,” Mrs. Howie said, “we don’t have time for another question about cow gas.”
    â€œRats,” Michael said.
    Justine held up a poster of a hamburger. “I’m glad farmers raise cows, because I love to eat these.” She pointed at the poster. “But it would be cool if farmers raised crickets too. Insects are good protein. Farmers could have cow ranches and cricket ranches. Fewer cow ranches means less methane in the air.”
    â€œI LOVE this project!” Michael said. “Cow F-A-R-Ts and bug eating!”
    Mrs. Howie coughed. “No more interruptions, please, class.”
    Justine held up a poster of a cricket. “In Japan, many people eat this insect. I added crickets into melted chocolate to make brownies. I was going to share them with the class. The bad news is someone ate that part of my project in the cafeteria today. The good news is he seemed to like it.”

Chapter Four
    â€œHey, Justine, Queen of Green,” Safdar said as he and Michael sat down for lunch the next day. “There’s something you should know about Ice-Cream Heaven.”
    â€œYum,” Michael said. “Any ice cream is heaven to me.”
    â€œSeriously,” Safdar said. “Yesterday, I saw the owner throwing all his recyclables into a Dumpster.”
    â€œWhat!” Justine stood. “I’ve