Horrible Harry at Halloween by Suzy Kline Page A

blackboard:
    Water Experiments
    Miss Mackle had an empty aquarium, plastic containers, and four jugs of water set up on a side table. Mary set her bag down on a desktop.
    â€œThese are the materials you need to do my experiment,” she explained as she pointed to each one. “A glass, oil, food coloring, and a spoon. Now I will tell you about each step.
    â€œFirst, you fill the glass with water. I’m adding orange coloring for Halloween.

    â€œThen you drop a spoonful of oil in the glass.
    â€œSee what happens?”
    â€œI can’t see,” Sidney complained.
    â€œMe either,” Ida said.
    Mary held the glass up in the air. “The oil and water do not mix. The oil is just floating around the top like beads.”
    â€œCool,” Dexter said.
    â€œI knew that already,” Harry said.
    Mary shot Harry a look.
    â€œWonderful job, Mary!” Miss Mackle exclaimed as she recorded a grade in her red book.
    Suddenly, Harry sneezed.
    Right on the back of Mary’s head.
    Mary turned around. “Aaaugh!” she complained. “Why don’t you use a tissue ?”

    â€œDon’t need to,” Harry said. Then he pulled a white hankie out of his back pocket. “See?”
    It had two big boogers on it.
    â€œYou’re so gross! ” Mary groaned.
    When she turned around, Harry showed me the boogers up close. They were just raisins.
    â€œIt’s an old joke,” he whispered. “But Mary fell for it.”
    Harry and his Halloween tricks! They were just beginning....
    â€œHarry Spooger?” Miss Mackle called. “You’re next.”
    Mary folded her arms.
    Harry took his backpack with him to the front of the room. Carefully he put the aquarium tank on Mary’s desk and started filling it with water.
    After we watched him empty three jugs into the tank, Harry opened up his backpack.
    â€œSee if you can guess which things will sink or float,” he said.
    First he pulled out a pumpkin. “Who thinks this will sink?”
    Everybody raised their hands.
    Harry dropped the pumpkin into the water. It made a big splash, dipped under the water, and then popped back up!
    â€œIt floats!” everyone shouted.
    â€œTricked ya!” Harry grinned. Next, he held up a potato. Harry had drawn a face on it with a black marker. It looked like a shrunken head. “Do you think this will sink or float?”
    â€œFloat!” everyone replied.
    Harry dropped the potato into the tank.

    It sank to the bottom.
    â€œTricked ya again!” Harry snorted.
    Mary started to pout. “I’ll get the next one!” she said. “For sure!”
    Harry cackled as he held up one purple grape. I noticed there was a black dot colored in the middle. It looked like an eyeball. “Sink or float?”
    This time no one called out anything. People were still thinking.
    â€œFloat,” Mary said first.
    â€œFloat!” some other people agreed.
    â€œSink,” said Song Lee.
    Harry dropped the purple grape into the tank. It sank to the bottom next to the potato.
    Mary made a face.
    Harry explained everything like he was a professor. “If something has air pockets, like a pumpkin or lemon, it floats. If it’s solid, like a potato or grape, it sinks. I tricked ya today in science. I’ll trick ya some more on Halloween!”
    Most people groaned, but Song Lee and I smiled. Miss Mackle clapped. “Great job, Harry.”
    Song Lee went last. She filled a plastic jack-o’-lantern with water. It had a short rope tied to the handle. “I will show you how centrifugal force works.”
    First she stepped as far as she could away from the blackboard. “Will the people in the front row please put their heads down?”
    They did, but their eyes looked up.
    Then Song Lee twirled the bucket over her head. We gasped as she swung it around and around.
    Miss Mackle’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. The water stayed in