Ivy and Bean: What's the Big Idea? (5 page)

“Well, in real life, they'd probably have to drop them out of airplanes, but for the science fair, we could just throw them up in the air to show what we mean.”

Bean slapped her hand on the table. “Great idea! And easy, too!”

A minute later, they were running out Bean's back door with all the ice cubes they
could find in the freezer. The next minute, they were running back inside to get a thermometer from the bathroom closet. And the minute after that, they both stood on Bean's trampoline, holding bowls full of ice cubes.

“The higher we can throw them, the more they'll cool down the weather,” Ivy said, looking at the sky.

“On your mark,” said Bean. “Get set. Go!” Together, they began to bounce, higher and higher, higher than they had ever been before.

“I can see my house,” yelled Ivy.

“I can see the North Pole!” shouted Bean. But that reminded her of what they were supposed to be doing. “You ready?”

“Yup.” Ivy scooped up a handful of ice. “We have to do it quick.”

Together, they boinged as high as they could get and hurled the ice up into the air. “Quick, quick, get the thermometer!” yelled Bean. Flinging her bowl to the ground, Ivy snatched the thermometer and bounced up again, waving it in the air.

“It's definitely cooler up there,” said Bean, collapsing onto the trampoline. “What's it say?”

Ivy slowed down and peered at the thermometer. “I don't know,” she said. “It looks like 37.”

“That's cold,” said Bean. “I can feel it. Lookit—I'm shivering.” Ivy looked.

Bean's backyard gate swung open. Nancy and her friend Mischa came in, giggling. They stopped when they saw Ivy and Bean. Nancy looked at the lawn. “Why is there ice all over the backyard?” she asked.

Bean would never have told her in a million years, but Ivy didn't have an older sister, so
she came right out and answered, “Global warming.”

“What?” asked Mischa in a snippy voice. She was Nancy's meanest friend.

“We're curing global warming,” said Ivy. “With ice cubes.”

Nancy and Mischa burst out laughing. “What
ever
,” said Nancy. “Come on, Mischie. But just so you know, guys, ice cubes won't stop global warming. The sun is stronger than a billion ice cubes. And besides, making ice cubes uses up energy. Duh.”

“No offense, but that's, like, the dumbest thing I ever heard,” sneered Mischa.

Bean looked down at the trampoline. It was covered with melting ice cubes. Quickly, she grabbed up an armful and tossed them at Nancy and Mischa. “Hailstorm!” she yelled. “Watch out!”

At least it was fun to watch them run.

Bean and Ivy hadn't found a way to stop global warming, but Bean was willing to bet big money that no one else had either. She was famous for her good ideas and excellent fish prints. Ivy knew more about dinosaurs and prehistoric stuff than anyone in the whole school. If they couldn't figure it out, who could? Take poor Zuzu, for instance. She was going to be an ice skater when she grew up. What did she know about science? Nothing. There was no way she had come up with a good science idea.

But she had.

Zuzu and Emma had decided to plant trees all over the school lawn. In fact, they hadn't just decided it, they had started doing it, during recess. They were digging holes everywhere. “Trees clean the air because they eat car exhaust and make oxygen,” said Emma proudly.

Bean had to admit that was pretty good. She and a bunch of kids from Ms. Aruba-Tate's class sat under the play structure and watched Emma and Zuzu dig holes. They had to dig fast so Rose the Yard Duty didn't catch them. Rose the Yard Duty didn't care about global warming.

Eric leaned over the rim of the slide and said, “I'm going to make a garbage robot.”

“You mean a robot made out of garbage?” asked Bean.

“How's that going to fix global warming?” asked Ivy. She was reading a paper called “Science Fair Rules.”

“It's not a robot made out of garbage; it's a robot that attacks people who litter,” Eric said. “I'll hide behind a corner, and when I see some guy drop a cup or something, I'll press the button and this giant robot will come out and crush him.

He'll scream—AAAAHHHH!— but too bad, he's dead.”

“Wow,” said Bean. It seemed rude to ask Eric how he was going to make the robot.

“Isn't the dead guy kind of like litter?” asked Drew.

Eric disappeared down the slide. “It says no mold and no body parts,” said Ivy, reading.

“Yuck. Mold is gross,” said Bean.

“I kind of like it,” said Ivy. “But that still doesn't help us think of an idea.”

“You guys don't have an idea yet?” asked Vanessa.

“No,” said Ivy.

“What's your idea?” asked Bean. Vanessa was either first or best at everything. She even had a retainer already. It was very annoying.

“Okay,” began Vanessa, sounding like a teacher, “you know how Shayna said that the earth gets warmer when carbon dioxide gas
holds the heat in? Well, guess what? People make carbon dioxide when they breathe out. So, if everyone breathed less, there would be less carbon dioxide, right?” Ivy and Bean nodded. “My idea is I'm going to make all my brothers and sisters hold their breath for fifteen minutes a day. I've got three brothers and two sisters. That's a lot of carbon dioxide.” She looked at Bean and Ivy. “Good, huh?”

“No one can hold their breath for fifteen minutes,” said Ivy.

“Not all at once,” said Vanessa. “A minute at a time, fifteen times in the whole day. I bet I win the certificate.”

Bean bet so too, but she didn't say it. She said, “That remains to be seen,” in a mysterious voice. But after Vanessa left, she turned to Ivy. “If we don't think of something soon, we're toast.”

School was over, and Ivy and Bean still didn't have an idea that would stop global warming. They didn't talk much as they walked home. They were thinking.

As they turned the corner of Pancake Court, Ivy and Bean saw Bean's neighbor, Mrs. Trantz, walking her dog Dottsy. Dottsy looked like she was pink, but she wasn't. It was her skin showing through her hair. She and Mrs. Trantz were both old. Whenever they went for a walk, it was a very slow walk.