The Science Team

 

The Science Team 

Zack and I joined the Science Team, a group of nerds organized by our science teacher, Mr. Kay.  A lifelong nerd himself, he had formed the Science Team with zero budget and no support from the administration. 

Our first expedition took us to a “creek” behind the school.  It was little more than a drainage ditch around the baseball field.  The ballplayers tried to shoo us off the field by calling us “brainiacs,” which we took as a compliment.     

Mr. Kay reached into the creek and snatched up a turtle.  It bit his hand, so Mr. Kay released it back into the creek.  The entire Science Team, both of us, whipped out our notebooks and scribbled down:

1.     Subject: Turtle. Subject bites observer’s hand.  Observer returns specimen to its natural habitat.

Next, Mr. Kay reached into the creek and pulled out a crayfish.  We recorded our next scientific entry:

2.     Crayfish.  Subject pinches observer’s hand.  Observer returns specimen to its natural habitat.

The bell rang, ending our first scientific expedition.  Mr. Kay marched back across the baseball field to class with us following right behind.  In left field, he stepped on a yellow jacket hole.  He was swarmed and stung repeatedly, then broke into a sprint toward the bleachers. When he fell on his face and slid into third, we slapped at the bees with our notebooks.  One of the baseball players tried to help by crushing the bees on Mr. Kay’s back with a baseball bat.

After his release from the hospital, Mr. Kay returned to teaching and dreamed up a new journey for the Science Team.  The new expedition led us to Mr. Kay’s home habitat, where we learned the scientific methods of weeding and pruning to introduce us to the botanical sciences.