Unfortunately, Purcell nixed Bronson working with plutonium. "Plutonium stinks!" said Bronson.
"I thought you liked it and wanted to work with it," suggested Hailey.
"No one whose father is a safety expert is allowed to like plutonium," said Purcell.
"I just want to be on the team. We're going to have t-shirts made with the biohazard symbol and everything," Bronson pleaded.
Regrettably, this upset Purcell all the more. "Biohazard symbols should never be used for sartorial effect!" he warned.
"I guess you think I should stick a bunch of carnations in colored water to see what colors they turn. That would be a really exciting project," said Bronson sarcastically.
I pictured the whole Stella Rondo multipurpose room filled with eerily glowing carnations standing in vases of unnaturally colored water. In my mind they were interspersed with a few papier-mache volcanoes listlessly spewing red-dyed lava made of baking soda and vinegar, and I knew just what Bronson was feeling. How could we force him pass up the chance to work on a truly exciting science project?
When I tucked him in, Bronson had calmed down just a little. "Plutonium stinks! No wonder it's called pu. I wish I had never mentioned it," he said. "I just wanted to be part of the team," he added morosely. He said he didn't even feel like reading with his Itty Bitty Book Lite, but later I looked in and saw him reading a book from the school library about model rockets. Another science fair idea?
Fortunately, I was able to maintain a positive attitude and this morning called the team mentor. He said that the group will be building a Geiger counter from a kit. He mentioned something about testing it at the nuclear power plant where he works, but I can't imagine that there would be anything there to detect!
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