All this thinking about food made me hungry. My stomach gurgled loudly. Sassafras growled.
“Silly Sassafras!” I ruffled his fur. “I’m just hungry for lunch. Let’s go back to the house.”
As we walked, I realized I had a great question for an experiment. I grabbed my brand new science journal and sat down with my sandwich. On the first page, I wrote:
QUESTION: What do baby dragons like to eat?
Hmmm. The baby dragon had scales like that little snake. I bet he was a reptile. If snakes ate worms, maybe dragons did too. Sure, this baby dragon was a lot bigger than the baby snake in the forest. So maybe he’d eat a lot of worms.
I knew I should try several different kinds of foods, just in case. I worried it might be hard to get the baby dragon to eat, so I picked some of my favorites. I set my choices on the kitchen table and wrote them all down.
MATERIALS:
Now to make a guess. I would eat the marshmallows, but that baby snake ate the worm as if it tasted like a marshmallow. I shrugged. Maybe worms were like the reptile version of marshmallows?
HYPOTHESIS: I think he will eat worms. (Sorry, worms)
Now I needed to set up my experiment. Every time I’m experimenting, my mom always tells me the exact same thing: “Remember to change only one thing, and keep everything else in your experiment the same.” And by every time, I really mean she says it every time.
I wanted to change the kind of food I was giving him, so I needed to keep everything else the same. I got seven of the same white plates out of our cabinet. I measured out the same amount of each kind of food — one kind of food per plate. I grinned. This experiment would make my mom happy.
MATERIALS:
Next I decided what my steps would be.
1. Set one handful of each food on each plate at the same distance from the baby dragon.
2. Step out of the pen and watch him.
3. Write down what he eats.
All set! I gathered my supplies in my arms and tucked my science notebook under my chin.
When Sassafras and I got to the barn, I was surprised to see that the dragon was looking around a bit. “Hey, little guy,” I said softly. “I’ve got some foods here for you to try!”
I set each plate of food the same distance away from the dragon. He watched me with big, curious eyes. Once everything was in place, I stepped out of the pen to take notes. The baby dragon got up and carefully licked the food on the first plate. The cereal stuck to his tongue! He scrunched up his face, jumped back, and pawed at his tongue. Whoops!
I made a quick note in my journal:
Dragons do not like cereal.
Once he wiped off all the cereal pieces, he calmed down. Then his nostrils got really wide. He sniffed and took a few steps, then sniffed some more. He skipped all the other plates and went straight to the marshmallows. His little blue tongue shot out for a lick, and his eyes lit up. He was so excited, he let out a little hiccup. A spark landed on the marshmallow and smoked a bit before going out. The dragon immediately gobbled up the toasted marshmallow.
I had to giggle — roasted marshmallows are the best! I bet he would really like s’mores! I wrote down my conclusion:
Dragons love marshmallows!
As Sassafras and I watched him cough out a spark to toast each of the marshmallows that were left, I made a decision.
I looked down at Sassafras. “We need to call him something other than ‘little guy.’” I grinned. “Let’s call him Marshmallow!” Sassafras purred in agreement.
A few minutes later, Marshmallow was running and hopping around the pen, flapping his little wings as he jumped into the air. I couldn’t stop laughing. Eating a whole plate of marshmallows would make me feel the same way!
Sassafras couldn’t resist the fun and joined Marshmallow in the pen. The two of them played and played until they fell into a fluffy, scaly heap. Sassafras was panting a bit so I brought a big bowl of water to the pen. They eagerly drank with their heads side by side. Then Marshmallow settled down in the dirt. He tucked his tail in, rested his head on top, and closed his eyes.
“Time for another nap, huh?” Marshmallow didn’t make a peep.
Through the barn windows, I could see that the sky was getting dark. “Sassafras!” I whispered. “Time for dinner! Let’s leave Marshmallow to sleep for the night. We’ll see him in the morning.”
As Sassafras and I tiptoed out of the barn, I spotted the camera. Oh man, I couldn’t wake the little guy now. And I wanted his sweet face in the photo. I’d have to take the picture the next morning.
When I got back to the house, my dad was at the stove, cooking. I grinned when I saw what he was making. Sassafras-shaped pancakes. A Dad specialty. He makes it look easy, but it isn’t. My mom and I have tried to make them, but our pancakes end up looking like weird blobs.
Dad looked up and smiled at my Thinking Goggles, still perched on my head. “Whatcha been working on?” he asked.
I almost told him about Marshmallow. But then I remembered how he couldn’t see magical creatures. I figured I’d better leave out the details about the baby dragon.
“Just some science experiments with Sassafras out in the barn.”
Dad flipped another pancake. “That’s great, honey. I’m so glad you two have been able to keep yourselves busy with your mom gone.”
Oh, we were keeping ourselves busy all right. If Dad only knew!
I could hardly wait for morning to come. First, I’d get my magical photo of that sweet little face. Then I’d spend the whole day playing . . . with a baby dragon!