"Babysitters Club 057 Dawn Saves The Planet" - читать интересную книгу автора (Babysitters Club)

I looked at my notepad once again. "Is there anything else we forgot?"
"Well, we never did decide how long the class would be," Stacey said, studying my list.
"I think it should be an hour. From 3:30 to 4:30. Any longer and the kids will get restless."
We agreed to find out who would need transportation. "That way we can make a list and then maybe ask your mom or mine to help carpool," I finished.
After only an hour of dialing clients, we found eleven members for our class: Charlotte Johanssen, Becca Ramsey, David Michael Thomas, Karen and Andrew Brewer, Buddy and Suzi Barrett, Nicky and Vanessa Pike, and
Hannie and Linny Papadakis. And because the Papadakises live across the street from David Michael, Mrs. Papadakis offered to drive the kids who needed a ride to the classes. Things were working out perfectly.
Stacey checked the list and said, "Only one more family to call, the Kormans. Do you want to do it?"
"Sure." I dialed quickly and when Mrs. Korman answered, I started my speech. By now I'd said it so many times I was feeling like a real pro.
"Hi, Mrs. Korman, this is Dawn Schafer. Stacey McGill and I are going to be teaching an ecology class one day a week after school. This class will last an hour and is aimed at elementary school age children. Stacey and I are doing it as a project for our school but we feel very strongly that you're never too young to start protecting our planet. It's important for everyone to know that we can make a difference."
As I spoke Stacey gave me a big smile. She was obviously impressed by my speech. I explained to Mrs. Korman about the six classes, and how they were absolutely free, and also about the Green Fair. I don't know what came over me but I added a new touch.
"Our Green Fair will serve two purposes," I declared. "It will help tell people about ecology and what's happening to the environment, and it will also be a way to raise money for an organization, which we will choose later, that helps save the planet."
Stacey whispered, "What a brilliant idea."
It was hard to stay calm during the rest of the conversation.
"We're very proud of our project, Mrs. Kor-man," I said, hoping my voice didn't sound too excited. "I'll call you back and let you know the exact date and time of the class by tomorrow afternoon."
I hung up the phone and announced, "Well, that does it. Thirteen kids for our class."
"Lucky thirteen," Stacey giggled. "I love it that the Green Fair will also be a fundraiser for an environmental organization."
I grinned. "If our project goes right, we'll be showing not just our school but all of Stoneybrook that we are concerned enough about our community to do something to change it."
"All right, Dawn!" Stacey applauded enthusiastically and I hopped off the bed and took a bow. If this was how our project was going to go, I couldn't wait for it to get started.
Chapter 5.
The first meeting of the Save the Planet class is officially called to order," Stacey announced to the thirteen children sitting cross-legged on her living room floor.
"Yea!" Buddy Barrett led the applause. I knew we could count on him to be an enthusiastic student.
After calling roll, Stacey gestured to me and said, "Dawn will pass out the special badges we want you to wear during our classes."
Stacey and I had spent an hour cutting out cardboard circles at her house. Then we used glitter ink to write the words KIDS CARE on them.
"These will be a constant reminder to ourselves arid to our parents," she told the kids, "that what we are doing is important."
After Stacey and I finished pinning the badges on the kids, I stepped back up to the front of the group. All of a sudden I felt a little
nervous. I'd never actually taught a class before. I looked down at my notebook, where Stacey and I had carefully plotted out every second of the class. "First, I want to ask you a question," I began. "Do you think our world is clean?"
Becca Ramsey waved her hand frantically in the air.
Stacey grinned. "Becca?"
Becca, who is eight and a half, stood up and said, very seriously, "Yes, except where there is dirt, like under our lawn or at the park."
It was hard not to giggle at her reply but Stacey and I managed to keep a straight face. Then nine-year-old Bill Korman said, "It's clean when it rains and everything gets washed."
Charlotte Johanssen, whose mother is a doctor, raised her hand. "But the world is not always clean. Sometimes the air gets dirty from the smoke that comes out of factories and
cars."
"That's right," I said. "Our world may look clean and shiny, like after a rainfall, but things float around in the air that make it very dirty. And it's not just dirt like the kind you find under your lawn. This dirt can come in all shapes and sizes."
"Like trash on the side of the road," Stacey chimed in.
"Or it can appear in water," I added. "Have any of you ever seen a shiny film on the water in a creek?"
Linny Papadakis nodded vigorously. "I have. And sometimes I've even seen this foam that looks like bubble bath floating on the top of it."
Stacey and I exchanged concerned looks. "The shiny film is oil that shouldn't be there," I explained. "And the foam is probably soap coming from homes or factories. They're both bad for the water and the fish that try to live in the water. It's like poison to them."
"Oh, no!" Becca Ramsey gasped in alarm.
"This dirt is called pollution," Stacey said. "Can everyone say it?"
"Plushun!" Andrew Brewer called out.
"Po-lu-ton," Suzi Barrett said, giggling.
Stacey and I smiled at each other. Even if they couldn't pronounce the word, the kids seemed very enthusiastic about what could have been a boring subject.
"Pollution comes in all kinds of forms," I continued. "Sometimes it's invisible. Does anybody know what that means?"
Vanessa raised her hand. "Invisible means you can't see it. Like ghosts."
"Ghosts!"
This set off a rumbling among the younger members of the group, especially Andrew,
who is only four. He looked over his shoulder and muttered, "I don't like ghosts."
I hurried to get them back on track. "This pollution isn't a ghost but it can be scary. It's scary because it hurts things."
Stacey nodded. "It gets in the water we drink. It gets in the air we breathe and makes us cough. It even goes way up in the sky and tears a hole in a special layer of gas called ozone that circles the earth. The ozone protects us from the hot, hot rays of the sun."
"You mean, we could get sunburned without it?" Hannie Papadakis asked, wide-eyed.