Reading and viewing

The spare spool Mina had tested her kite in the garden all week. At the park, she reached into her bag and found the kite but no spool of string. Across the grass, Leo was packing away a kite with a torn wing. Mina almost asked to borrow his string. Last week, however, she had refused to lend him her coloured pencils. She walked over anyway. “I wasn't very helpful last week,” she said. “I'm sorry. Could I borrow your spool?” Leo studied his broken kite, then handed it over. “Only if I can help launch yours.” Soon they were both looking up. Mina held the spool for a while, then placed it in Leo's hand.

Testing the shade cloth Our class wanted to find out whether a shade cloth helped the soil stay damp. We filled two identical trays with the same amount of soil and water. We put them side by side outside. One tray was covered by shade cloth; the other was uncovered. We checked both trays at three o'clock each afternoon. Monday: covered soil damp; uncovered soil damp. Tuesday: covered soil damp; uncovered soil slightly damp. Wednesday: covered soil slightly damp; uncovered soil dry. We concluded that, in our three-day trial, the covered soil stayed damp longer. We want to repeat the trial in different weather before making a general claim.