Join The Bacterial Team
Justin decided that the only way to get out of Mr. Bott’s remedial math class and into Mr. LeFour’s algebra class was to join the baseball team. The only problem was that he didn’t have a clue how to play. For his plan to work, Justin would have to impress Mr. LeFour with his skills. Unfortunately it wasn’t Justin’s math skills that Mr. LeFour would notice.
All three of Justin’s friends (Tyrone, Juli and Wendy) were in Mr. LeFour’s class and though Tyrone was always complaining about the work load, Justin noticed that they were pretty happy with the things they were learning in the class. According to Juli, Mr. LeFour’s class was pretty laid back and he followed the algebra book very predictably. “But if you are on the baseball team, you get the royal treatment,” she added with a look of disdain on her face. “I hear that they automatically place you in his class if you’re on the team. It’s like he controls the whole thing or something. Pretty corrupt if you ask me.”
“In this school, corrupt is a way of life,” thought Justin. “I may as well get in the game myself.”
But how does one go about learning to play baseball from scratch? Back in New York City, nobody he knew was into baseball. The Yankees and the Mets were all over the t.v., but his school was the soccer capital of the City. He was the star goalie and captain of the team. It seemed obvious to Justin that his soccer skills would not carry over to baseball.
One thing that Justin did not lack was confidence in his abilities to overcome obstacles. He decided to go directly to Mr. LeFour and speak to him directly about joining the baseball team. He would figure out the game later.
After school the next day Justin went to Mr. LeFour’s classroom to knock on the door. He found the door left partially open. When he peered in he saw Mr. Lefour sitting at a table with a student Justin knew only in passing: Sydney. Justin was shocked. He could not imagine what she could have possibly done to be held back after class by a teacher. Juli and Wendy were both in awe of her. She was Head Cheerleader, star athlete and academic honor roll every month. “What’s left for her to accomplish?” said Juli as Wendy nodded. As confident as Justin felt, he was still bruising from the icy reception Cassidy, the new girl from New York City, had given to him when he came running up to her after English class last month. He was about to turn away when Mr. LeFour caught his eye and motioned him over. “No escaping this one,” thought Justin.
“Justin, just the guy I was looking for,” said Mr. LeFour. Justin was perplexed. What had he done to call Mr. LeFour’s attention?
“Sydney and I were just talking about you.” Now Justin was worried. “I read your file from your New York School. Saw that you were captain of the soccer team. Sydney has come to me with a proposal. You might find this interesting. She wants to start up a soccer team here at Willowside Middle School. I looked into the possibility as the Athletic Director and it turns out that the season starts right after Spring Break.”
“We need you, Justin,” said Sydney, looking him straight in the eye. At that moment Justin understood the powerhouse that was Sydney. He doubted there was anything she could not accomplish when she set her mind to it. “You probably don’t know this about me, but I’ve played soccer all my life. I’m so bummed out that this school only has a basketball and baseball team. Please help us. Please?”
Justin simply nodded his head, flustered by the proposal. Of course he would play. Finally he was carving out his own place in this forsaken school. And it was alongside Sydney, of all people. He could hardly wait to tell Juli, Wendy and Tyrone. He was so excited that he left Mr. LeFour’s room without even talking to him about his math class.
It wasn’t until the next day that Justin came to understand the complexities of his decision to lead the soccer team. He mistakenly thought that Mr. LeFour would be the coach. But how could he? Soccer season coincided with baseball. The only person left to coach was none other than Mr. Bott!
“Not fair ... not fair ... not fair” mumbled Justin to himself as he dragged his feet across Mr. Bott’s lifeless classroom. The walls seemed little grayer, the shadows a little darker and the air a little stuffier. Mr. Bott drawled on about Pythagorean Theorem: a topic Justin had learned the year before in New York City. Justin was doodling in his notepad but soon grew bored even of that brainless activity. The only piece of good news was that today was the Friday afternoon before Spring Break. As he contemplated his fate, he traced his index finger in random circles and spirals on the desk. He lifted up his finger and noticed the tip was dirty. “These desks haven’t been cleaned in ages,” he thought. “I wonder just how many bacteria are swimming around this desk right now.” He felt somewhat nauseous, but nothing out of the ordinary for Mr. Bott’s math class.
Your Task: Suppose the desk were clean. Say there are only 2 bacteria on the surface. The number of bacteria doubles every hour. Make a table and graph the results for n hours. How many bacteria do you predict will be on Justin’s desk on Monday after Spring Break?
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