to make kimchee more spicy and more sustainable

to grow silkworms (animal husbandry) and embroider the life cycle of the silkworm (domestic arts)

to help Kenny start a 50 States Quarters collection

to help Hugh, Ben, and Nicholas start a videography business

Chicago

Champaign

Carbondale

Countryside

Julia's mom; her Grandmother had farmed silk in Korea

Kenny, who was always sparking mints in the bathroom

Julia's dad, who thought they could get about a mile of silk from each cocoon based on his research at the University

Patrick's high school sisters Claire and Katie

Susan B. Anthony, who traveled through time to tell them about some beautiful black silk she was given for her 80th birthday

You might remember things better if you think about or read about them right before going to sleep.

Every story has another story inside. And if the main character didn't have a problem or two, there wouldn't be any story.

(Good) fiction is about the truth, even if it is not always factual. If you want to get really good at something like fiction (or embroidery) pay attention to the little things, because it is the little things that add up to make the big picture.

Good friends can tell when the other one is mad. But if someone is carrying on, you can't have a good conversation.

You don't know what you don't know (Julia didn't read the book about silkworms so she didn't know about the boiling). In life, the more you know about things, the more you can appreciate them.

Connecticut; Kenny

Illinois; Mr. Dixon

Florida; Mrs. Moran, their tech arts teacher

Utah; both of Julia's grandfathers, who were teachers

Seoul (population 10 million)

Busan (population 4 million)

Incheon (population 3 million)

Daegu (population 3 million)

Julia scrapes them and her father puts them in the dishwasher

Julia

Kenny

Patrick

Ancient Civilizations of the New World (Maya = BEG Mex : Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, and parts of Mexico)

Exponents

Get to Know Your Community, Model of a Water Molecule, Pleistocene-Era Mini-Landscape, Revolutionary War Diorama

Leaf collection in fifth grade (everything but Mulberry it seemed, except the indoor hibiscus)

Dumbhead

Snotbrain

Punkface

Boogerbrat

Once you make a plan, you won't be as mad anymore. But, if a complex problem is making you dizzy, you might have to move on to another part of the story and fix the problem later. Remember there is no such thing as perfect; everything in life has its messy parts.

Managing time is your responsibility. You should have plenty of time for your hobbies if you plan your time efficiently.

Ideas are easy. Good ideas are hard. And if someone feels like they are part of a project, they won't wreck it.

It doesn't feel good to think one thing while acting and saying the opposite (Agent Song).

People listen closely to those that make them laugh (Mrs. Roberts).

It is the same on the front and the back, which is (exponentially) harder to do.

It always features flowers.

It works well in a flag.

It has uneven running stitches.

They put up green signs around town and Mr. Dixon called them (having memorized 555-2139) and let them take leaves for the worms.

They planted one and waited a few years.

They decided to try quince leaves instead.

The figured they could maybe feed the worms slushies from the convenience store and see what would happen.

Abby and her flakey pie crust

Tony and Nathan with their tomato plants

Angela with her potato plants

Kevin with Gossage the Goose, who could untie shoelaces

Miss Mona, the lady at the gas station

Mrs. Roberts, Julia's favorite teacher ever, ever, ever

Patrick's aunt, an entomologist who has a fear of peanut butter sticking to the top of her mouth (arachibutyrophobia)

Gak

They put on a smooth, bland "perfect face."

They look down.

They make silly jokes and change the subject.

They point out in the distance and say, "Did you see that?"

They focus on playing little tricks with numbers to keep their mind sharp.

lemonade

brownies

mulberry ice cream

tomato soup

Julia has $12 and she borrows the rest (eventually) from her mom as an advance against her allowance

by selling American flags door to door

by using Mr. Dixon's phone number to sell battery chickens: 555-5088 (States and eights!)

by offering to do the research (Patrick) and hands-on work (Julia) for any other kid that wanted a silk farm, for a small fee

by selling ads on a You Tube channel featuring Kenny giving weather reports

the life-cycle of a moth (on day 15 the 26 little periods turn into commas and we go from there, all the way up to moths that live for ten days and then fertilize the soil)

the cycle of a story (they story is boss but there is back and forth between the author, the characters, and eventually, the readers)

the cycle on Mr. Maxwell's sustainable farm: grass, cows, cow patties, flies, chickens, weeds, sheep, grass....

the cycles of deepening friendship and understanding (Julia and Kenny get along better [she even gave him her extra brownie!], Julia and Patrick are more understanding of each other's issues [like worm-phobia and not wanting to seem "too Korean"], Julia's mom perhaps feels gradually more neighborly toward Mr. Dixon)

Julia's relationship to the project: the idea was the egg, the small caterpillar was Julia trying to get out of it, the growing caterpillar was her growing acceptance and enjoyment of the project, and the end of the life cycle (moth dying) was like the beginning again, with eggs they gave to the University

Julia very carefully uses a pin to move them onto new leaves twice a day for 5 days until they grew big enough to do it themselves.

The worms grew so big you could hear them eating. On a trip to get leaves, Mr. Dixon sent them home with some spicy peppers (for jambalaya?) and sweet pea flowers, which Julia's mom put in a vase.

Julia finds that the worms look like "miniature alien monsters" up close, yet decides they are so ugly, they are cute as they ripple across the leaves.

When the worms are two weeks old they molted, the first of three instars. Then at 24 days they stopped eating and created cocoons in the egg carton. Kenny suggested they could film one do so in a jar.

Julia comes to terms with the fact that they will have to boil five cocoons to get the silk they need. Their finished Project Mulberry: An Experiment in Sericulture consists of an edited video, the embroidery, and an album including Kenny's temperature recordings. They took second in State in Ecotherm Farming and a Special Citation in Domestic Arts. Both families now eat happy eggs from Maxwell's, Dixon bought a pound dog, and the kids may do a cabbage / kimchee project next year.