Harryâs Necklace
âH ey, Doug,â Sidney whispered when he walked into Room 3B, âwhatâs Harry wearing around his neck?â
âIt looks like a necklace,â I said, hanging up my jacket.
âA necklace?â Sid giggled. After he put his lunch box on the rack, we walked over to the science corner. Harry was standing on our new round yellow moon rug, checking the mold we were growing. Everyone in Room 3B had taped a Baggie to the wall with one slice of bread in it. We had started the experiment ten days ago.
âLook at the cool green mold!â Harry exclaimed.
Sid was unimpressed. He wanted to talk about Harryâs jewelry. âHey Harry, donât you know that girls wear necklaces? Not boys!â
Just as Harry put a fist up, Mary appeared. âI canât believe you said that, Sidney La Fleur. Donât you know boys have been wearing necklaces for years? Men too. Didnât you watch the World Series? Half of the baseball players had necklaces on. And what about Michael Jordan? He wears a gold earring.â
Sid took a step back, turned, and walked over to the art supply table.
Mary moved closer to Harry and examined his necklace. âHmm, interesting,â she mumbled. âItâs hexagonal, six sides. Is that a cover over it?â
âYup,â Harry replied. Now Song Lee, Dexter, and Ida joined us.
âWhatâs underneath the cover?â Ida asked.
âA locket?â Song Lee guessed.
âNope,â Harry answered. âIâll show you.â
Very slowly, Harry slid the cover to one side. âMy grandma got this for me at the museum shop on Sunday. Itâs a microscope. See the glass lens? You can look through it.â
Mary picked up the end of Harryâs silvery chain and looked through the dangling lens. âWow! I can see the lines on my own finger!â
âSure you can!â Harry said. âThis baby magnifies things ten times.â
When Song Lee took a turn, she used the lens to look at Harryâs face. âI can see the black hairs in your nose.â
Harry raised one eyebrow. âWant to see green hairs? Just look at the bread mold weâre growing.â
Song Lee looked through the hexagonal magnifying glass into the closest plastic Baggie. âOoooh neato! It looks like green fuzz growing out of craters.â
âYeah,â Harry agreed. âBut itâs not as cool as what I saw this morning on the way to school.â
âWhat did you see?â Mary demanded.
âYou mean, What did I discover?â Harry corrected. âI discovered a kingdom of mushrooms.â
âA kingdom of mushrooms?â we replied.
âHey, whatâs up?â Sid interrupted. He had returned to the science corner wearing a yellow yarn necklace. Three paper clips were hanging from it like silver jewels.
No one made a comment. We were too interested in Harryâs discovery.
Harry lowered his voice. âJust wait till recess. Iâll show you some wicked looking fungi. And you can look at it with my new magnifying necklace.â
âWhatâs fun gee?â Sid blurted out.
âFun guy,â Harry corrected. âDonât you pay attention in science? Mushrooms are a part of the fungus kingdom, like the bread mold weâre growing. My grandma told me we use fungi to make detergent, penicillin for antibiotics, blue cheese, and ...â Harry flashed his white teeth â... salami.â
âAaauugh!â Sid gasped clutching his throat. âMom made me a salami sandwich today. Iâm eating fungi for lunch!â
âWeâre all eating it for lunch, Sid,â Harry replied. âYeast is a fungus thatâs inside bread. But when itâs between our toes, itâs called athleteâs foot. You gotta be tough, Sid!â
Sidneyâs face turned as green as the mold in our experiment. Harry patted him on the back. âTodayâs your lucky