Even
with their eyes closed, the
Better World Kids could tell
by that wonderful sensation
they were quite used to by
now, that they had just been
transported through the hyperlink
Ahmed had pressed.
So, it's only natural that
when they opened their eyes,
they expected to be on the
other side of the EcoGate.
But
unfortunately, they were still
standing in front of it. There
WAS something different, however.
There were three doorbells
lined up on the door. As the
kids moved closer, they saw
that there was writing under
each one.
They didn't need the magnifying
glass to read the words. Under
the first doorbell was the
name, "Jacques Cousteau."
Under the second, "Rachel
Carson." And under the last,
"Jane Goodall."
The Better World Kids felt
certain that they were supposed
to press the bell with the
correct answer. But what was
the question?
Sunanda stepped back from
the door to try to think by
herself a moment. Then she
noticed the plaque above the
door. She could now easily
see that it had a question
on it. "Whose 1962 book, Silent
Spring, helped to popularize
the environmental movement?"
she read.
The Better World Kids looked
back at Sunanda and realized
what she had discovered. Ahmed
hesitated only a moment, then
was about to start tapping
on his computer to research
the answer.
"Wait,
Ahmed!" Ling gasped as she
saw what he was about to do.
"We don't want to risk being
transported somewhere else
if you type in another hyperlink…"
Ahmed stopped himself just
in time.
"That's
okay. I know the answer to
this," Michiko laughed. "This
book is on my reading list
in Science class this year.
I haven't read it yet, but
I remember the author. It's
Rachel Carson!" she said and
she reached up to press the
second bell.
"Wait,
we should talk about it first!"
Sunanda gasped, not sure if
Michiko was pressing the correct
bell.
But Michiko was right, and
the bell chimed it so in a
pleasant voice. Unfortunately,
the Gate didn't open. Instead,
a new question appeared above
the door and instead of 3
bells, there were now 5 bells
with answers beneath them.
The
children were a little surprised
to have heard the chiming-voice,
but the new question-placard
grabbed their attention. "What
are the 3 R's for the Environment?"
the kids read.
"That's
easy!" José exclaimed without
missing a beat. "Reading,
Righting, and Rithmitic!"
he spurted out.
"No
way, José!" the kids groaned.
It seemed they said that a
lot during their Better World
Team meetings, because José
was quite a jokester.
"Uh,
guys, the first bell has that
written under it!" Jamal pointed
out.
"Yeah,
well the second has 'rivers,
rainbows and rhinoceroses
…" Erin said, shaking her
head. "They're all really
cool things, but I'm pretty
sure that's not the answer
either!"
"How
about, research, rescue and
regulate?" Ling offered after
reading the label under the
third bell.
Sounded
good, but no one thought it
was the answer they were looking
for. The kids shook their
heads and peered at the next
label down the line. "Responsibility,
recreation, relaxation…"
No.
"Reduce,
Reuse, Recycle."
Of
course that was the right
answer, and they all reached
forward to press it. Lots
of fingers piled on top of
each other.
"Alright
already," the bell chimed,
annoyedly. Suddenly, a few
more bells popped up under
the others, until there were
10 of them.
The
kids saw the question had
changed, too. They were starting
to get a little frustrated.
This was kind of fun, but
how many questions were they
going to have to answer?
"In
what year did leaders from
all over the world gather
in Kyoto, Japan to discuss
the problem of global climate
change?" the children read
together.
Then they looked down under
the doorbells. "1452, 1784,
1899, 1920, 1965, 1989, 1997,
2000, 2001, 2012."
"Oh,
I know this one!" Maya exclaimed.
"Grandfather went to that
conference for the non-governmental
organization he works for,
the year my sister was born.
Let's see, she's, um…"
"Right,
Erin exclaimed. "I know about
that. Most of the nations
of the world agreed to the
Kyoto Protocol. It set out
specific ways to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions…"
"Why
don't they like greenhouses?
Isn't that how we get beautiful
flowers in the wintertime!"
José piped in with
a smile.
All
the kids turned towards him
and rolled their eyes, thinking
about how to explain to him
what greenhouse gases were.
"I'm just kidding. I know
what they are! They're gases
like carbon dioxide that are
released when fossil fuels
like coal and oil are burned
to run cars and heat our homes.
They trap heat in the atmosphere,
which is a good thing, except
when there's too much. Which
there is now, and it's causing
the earth's temperature to
rise… which is causing a change
in climates all around the
world."
The kids were impressed. He
really did know a lot about
it. But then, they should
have expected it from him
by now. José is always
a big jokester, but he is
definitely really smart!
"1997!"
Maya exclaimed suddenly. "I
forgot her birthday for a
second. But that's the year
Grandfather went to Japan
for the UN conference. 1997.
That's the answer!"
Maya
pointed at the bell above
the answer she chose.
"Are
you sure?" the other Better
World Kids exclaimed. "Absolute…
well, pretty sure," Maya said,
now starting to doubt herself
a little. "No I'm sure!" she
giggled.
"Okay,
go for it!" the Better World
Kids agreed.
Hesitantly,
Maya pressed the buzzer. "Great
job!" the bell chimed.
Suddenly all the buzzers disappeared.
A single line of writing appeared
on the door. It was another
website address.
"www.EcoTreasureMap.com/maze.htm"
the children read together.
They paused a moment, took
a deep breath and gave Ahmed
a nod. He smiled and confidently
typed the new web address
onto his laptop.
