Ravi just shrugged and went to the carpet, where the rest of the class had already settled. Frankie had to take a seat on the corner of the carpet, far away from Maya.
Ms. Cupid was sitting in her rocking chair next to the easel with a big piece of chart paper. “We are going to brainstorm about class pets,” Ms. Cupid explained. “We are going to try to come up with a list of possible animals.”
Frankie shot her hand up into the air. Ms. Cupid held up one finger, which Frankie knew meant that she had to wait.
“Before we can brainstorm, we need to think about what kind of animal we might be allowed to get,” Ms. Cupid went on. “We need to come up with some guidelines to help us narrow our focus. Sometimes we call these ‘parameters.’ ”
Frankie knew what Ms. Cupid was talking about. Her mom worked for a technology company that made robots and computers to solve problems. She always said that the first step was to define “the parameters of the problem.”
Ms. Cupid wrote the word “parameters” at the top of the sheet of chart paper. “First, the pet we get needs to be able to fit in this aquarium.”
That made sense, Frankie thought as she watched Ms. Cupid write the first parameter on the chart paper.
“Number two, the price of the animal itself must be less than fifty dollars.” Ms. Cupid wrote as she spoke, which Frankie thought was a very impressive thing to be able to do.
Frankie knew that the cost of a rat wouldn’t be a problem. Rats and other small rodents weren’t very expensive at all. The class would need to get other things for the cage, though. She raised her hand. “Just the animal, or anything else we need?” she asked when Ms. Cupid called on her.
“Good question. We have fifty dollars to spend total. Food, of course, will be an ongoing expense, but anything we need to get the pet set up has to be included in that fifty dollars.”
Ravi raised his hand. “What’s going to happen to the animal when we’re on vacation?”
Ms. Cupid tapped her nose. “Good question. Thoughts, everyone?”
“We bring our dog to the kennel,” Suki told the class. “Maybe we can bring our class pet to a kennel over vacation.”
“We’d need money for that,” Luke argued. “How about we take turns bringing it home?”
Frankie about fell over at that. A rat? At her house? That would be amazing! “We can definitely take it at my house!” she exclaimed.
Ms. Cupid nodded. “Good thinking. I am going to say that I can take the class pet home over vacations, or maybe it will get to visit some of your homes. In that case, the pet needs to be easily portable. We also can’t be bringing it back and forth each week. So our pet will need to be one that can be left alone for the weekend.”
“We leave my cat home alone some weekends,” Luke said.
“We can’t put a cat in an aquarium,” Ravi replied.
“True.” Ms. Cupid agreed. “But I think Luke is getting at a good point. He can leave his cat at home because the cat can take care of itself. It can go get itself some food, and it has a place to go to the bathroom, and it has plenty of space to move around in the house. A dog, on the other hand, is not good to leave at home, right?”
“Right,” Suki agreed. “We need to feed our dog every day.”
“And you don’t want it to poop in the house!” Luke exclaimed.
Frankie was only half listening to this conversation. She was imagining all the tricks she would teach the rat.
“So,” Ms. Cupid said, “I think we can add some details to our last parameter. It should be an animal that doesn’t need to be fed every day.”
She added this to her list, which now read:
PARAMETERS
1. Fits in aquarium.
2. Costs less than $50.
3. Easily portable.
4. Able to be alone for the weekend— does not need to be fed every day.
Frankie looked over the list. Fits in the aquarium? Check. That aquarium would be a palace for a rat. Costs less than fifty dollars? Check. She was pretty sure that rats cost much less than fifty dollars. Easily portable? Check. It could travel in its aquarium—or in her pocket. Able to be alone for the weekend—does not need to be fed every day? She bit her lip. She wasn’t sure about this one. Her aunt had told her that there were college students who worked in the lab every day. Some even came in on weekends to make sure the animals were okay. But did the rodents need to eat every day? She was pretty sure they did.
She felt her stomach sinking. So she pressed right on her belly. Frankie Sparks, you are a problem solver, she told herself. She needed to get a little more information, and of course she knew just who to ask. As soon as she got home, she would call Aunt Gina, and she’d get the facts. If a rat did need to be fed every day, well then, Frankie would figure out a solution for that.
“So right now I want everyone to think of three different animals that could meet these parameters. You might not know yet if it costs less than fifty dollars or if it can go a whole weekend alone. We will do some research tomorrow. For now, write down ideas of animals that you think could work. Three animals, three sticky notes. Got it?”
Frankie picked up her pencil. She wrote as neatly as she could. Sometimes, as careful as she was, her letters still came out wobbly. But this time they were pretty clear. Rat, she wrote on one sticky note. Hampster, she wrote on another. That didn’t look right. She crossed it out and wrote hamster. She tapped her pencil against her lips. “Guinea pig” was even harder to spell, but she did her best: Ginnee Pig. She figured Ms. Cupid would know what she meant. Ms. Cupid was pretty good about that sort of thing.
When they were finished, Ms. Cupid told them to find a buddy and try to sort their animals into types. Then the partners would combine with another pair for a group of four, and then again for a group of eight, until they had all the animal ideas sorted. Frankie went straight to Maya. Maya’s Post-its were all lined up. Her handwriting never wobbled.
Betta fish. Hermit crab. Goldfish.
Frankie could not believe her eyes!
“What about a rat?” Frankie asked.
Maya looked at Frankie’s pile. She looked back up at Frankie without a smile. She wasn’t frowning, either. In fact Frankie would have said her expression was worse than a frown. Her lips were all wiggly, and she wouldn’t look Frankie in the eye. Was it possible that Maya didn’t want a rat?
“How about a gerbil?” Frankie asked. “They’re really cute!”
Maya didn’t answer. Was it possible she didn’t want a rodent at all?
“A hamster?”
“I guess they could be kind of adorable,” Maya agreed.
Frankie grinned from ear to ear. Maya was Frankie’s best friend, and Frankie knew one thing for certain: Maya would be on her side when it came to making sure the class pet was a rodent. Now she just had to convince the rest of the class.