day.
To lose a dog.
Stop!
I turned back to Mr. Purdy.
“Okaaay,” he said. “Let’s get started. Today I’m going to introduce you to something so fun you will think you’re on vacation. Ready?”
We all perked up. Vacation?
Shayla bounced in her seat. “What is it, Mr. Purdy?”
Shayla sat next to me. She was a know-it-all pest, and to make things worse, she was always smiling at me. “She thinks you’re cute,” my friend Maya once told me.
Cute?
Blaaach!
“Yeah, Mr. Purdy,” Rubin shouted from the back. “We going on a class trip or something?”
“That we are, guys, that we are, because today I am going to introduce you to … discovery!”
Huh?
“Primary research,” Mr. Purdy added.
It got so quiet I could almost hear the ants sneaking up on Shayla’s pink-and-purple lunch box.
Doreen raised her hand. “Is that like looking things up and stuff?”
“That would be called secondary research, Doreen, or research that’s already been done. This is called
primary
research, which means you’ll be the first to do it.”
Silence.
Mr. Purdy chuckled. “This will be fun, trust me. You’re all going to be detectives. You’re going to ask a discovery question, then answer it.
You can interview people, make observations, gather and analyze things that haven’t been analyzed before. Think of the possibilities!”
This was a vacation?
“Then,” Mr. Purdy continued, “you will present your findings to the class. Boy, are we in for a fun time!”
You could have heard a mosquito burp in that classroom.
“Come on, boot campers,” Mr. Purdy said. “You’ve got till next Tuesday. I’m going to show you how fascinating it can be to discover and study something new. And you can study whatever you want. No pressure, no rules, no limits … well, I take that back. I wouldn’t want you researching the value of picking your nose or why you should sleep in class, of course.”
That got a few snickers.
Still, this all sounded like work.
“I urge you to use props, too,” Mr. Purdy added.
Rubin raised his hand and spoke at the same time. “What’s props, Mr. Purdy?”
“Something to help you present your findings, Rubin. Let’s say you discovered something new about cockroaches. Then to help you explain it to the class, you might bring in a cockroach in a container. That would be a prop. You can also make posters, take photographs, or bring in various objects. Those would all be props.”
“Cock-a-roaches,” I said to myself.
Once, Mr. Purdy made us think of pretzels to start our essays. It was weird. But it worked.
“So,” Mr. Purdy said. “What do you want to discover, detectives? What do you want to research that hasn’t been researched before? Think about it.”
Hmmm.
Maybe I could research something about Las Vegas. Dad had moved there about four years ago with his new wife, Marissa. He was Little Johnny Coconut, the singer. He made up that last name, and then he made it legal. Now it was our for-real last name.
Dad took our dog, Chewy, to Las Vegas when he left.
I smiled, remembering that little rat-nosed mutt. Dad kept him a lot cleaner than I kept Streak. But I figured, why give a dog a bath when she’s just going to get dirty all over again?
Hey! An idea for my research project popped into my head.
It was a weird one.
I liked it.
Stampede
“H ow about movies, Mr. Purdy?” Ace asked. “Can we do that?”
“Sure you can. Just come up with a unique question to start things off. Something like ‘Why do kids reach under their movie seats to see if someone stuck gum there?’ Ask a question, then answer it.”
“Ick,” Shayla said. “I’m not doing that one.” I grinned, thinking of the question I’d come up with: Why do dogs have stink breath and how can you un-stink it?
Shayla said, “Can we work with a partner, Mr. Purdy?” She glanced at me.
I put my elbows on my desk and covered my face with my hands. Where was that dog breath when you
To lose a dog.
Stop!
I turned back to Mr. Purdy.
“Okaaay,” he said. “Let’s get started. Today I’m going to introduce you to something so fun you will think you’re on vacation. Ready?”
We all perked up. Vacation?
Shayla bounced in her seat. “What is it, Mr. Purdy?”
Shayla sat next to me. She was a know-it-all pest, and to make things worse, she was always smiling at me. “She thinks you’re cute,” my friend Maya once told me.
Cute?
Blaaach!
“Yeah, Mr. Purdy,” Rubin shouted from the back. “We going on a class trip or something?”
“That we are, guys, that we are, because today I am going to introduce you to … discovery!”
Huh?
“Primary research,” Mr. Purdy added.
It got so quiet I could almost hear the ants sneaking up on Shayla’s pink-and-purple lunch box.
Doreen raised her hand. “Is that like looking things up and stuff?”
“That would be called secondary research, Doreen, or research that’s already been done. This is called
primary
research, which means you’ll be the first to do it.”
Silence.
Mr. Purdy chuckled. “This will be fun, trust me. You’re all going to be detectives. You’re going to ask a discovery question, then answer it.
You can interview people, make observations, gather and analyze things that haven’t been analyzed before. Think of the possibilities!”
This was a vacation?
“Then,” Mr. Purdy continued, “you will present your findings to the class. Boy, are we in for a fun time!”
You could have heard a mosquito burp in that classroom.
“Come on, boot campers,” Mr. Purdy said. “You’ve got till next Tuesday. I’m going to show you how fascinating it can be to discover and study something new. And you can study whatever you want. No pressure, no rules, no limits … well, I take that back. I wouldn’t want you researching the value of picking your nose or why you should sleep in class, of course.”
That got a few snickers.
Still, this all sounded like work.
“I urge you to use props, too,” Mr. Purdy added.
Rubin raised his hand and spoke at the same time. “What’s props, Mr. Purdy?”
“Something to help you present your findings, Rubin. Let’s say you discovered something new about cockroaches. Then to help you explain it to the class, you might bring in a cockroach in a container. That would be a prop. You can also make posters, take photographs, or bring in various objects. Those would all be props.”
“Cock-a-roaches,” I said to myself.
Once, Mr. Purdy made us think of pretzels to start our essays. It was weird. But it worked.
“So,” Mr. Purdy said. “What do you want to discover, detectives? What do you want to research that hasn’t been researched before? Think about it.”
Hmmm.
Maybe I could research something about Las Vegas. Dad had moved there about four years ago with his new wife, Marissa. He was Little Johnny Coconut, the singer. He made up that last name, and then he made it legal. Now it was our for-real last name.
Dad took our dog, Chewy, to Las Vegas when he left.
I smiled, remembering that little rat-nosed mutt. Dad kept him a lot cleaner than I kept Streak. But I figured, why give a dog a bath when she’s just going to get dirty all over again?
Hey! An idea for my research project popped into my head.
It was a weird one.
I liked it.
Stampede
“H ow about movies, Mr. Purdy?” Ace asked. “Can we do that?”
“Sure you can. Just come up with a unique question to start things off. Something like ‘Why do kids reach under their movie seats to see if someone stuck gum there?’ Ask a question, then answer it.”
“Ick,” Shayla said. “I’m not doing that one.” I grinned, thinking of the question I’d come up with: Why do dogs have stink breath and how can you un-stink it?
Shayla said, “Can we work with a partner, Mr. Purdy?” She glanced at me.
I put my elbows on my desk and covered my face with my hands. Where was that dog breath when you
Similar Books
