The Eco Treasure Hunt
A Better World Kids Adventure
by Robert Alan Silverstein
illustrated by Vineet Siddhartha

      
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You've successfully found Chapter 3 in the Eco Treasure Hunt
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Chapter 1 ... you've missed a lot of fun!
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Chapter 3. Eco Gate

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.

© 2004-2014 Robert Alan Silverstein
Better World Kids Illustrations by Vineet Siddhartha

 

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