Making the Band

Chapter 1

It's a . . . Brushbot!

"Should we just . . . start?" Bella Diaz asked, glancing at her watch.

"Let's wait a few more minutes," Emily Adams suggested.

"Yeah," agreed Maddie Wilson.

The three friends were at their craft clubhouse--formerly known as the old shed in Bella's backyard. Usually, it was four friends, but Sam Sharma was nowhere in sight.



The craft clubhouse was filled with all sorts of materials the kids used for their crafty projects. They had a Sewing Station, where Maddie could often be found. There was a Coding Corner, with a computer that Bella had installed. Emily's Carpentry Cabinet contained tons of tools, gadgets, and materials like nuts and bolts. And Sam's Painting Pavilion housed different color paints and about a million brushes of different sizes.





But where was Sam?





"Sorry I am late!" someone shouted as the shed door flew open. There was Sam, breathless. "I had to clean my hamster's cage. It takes forever!" he explained.

Maddie nodded sympathetically. "I know what that's like," she said. "I mean, having to do chores. It's my job to set the dinner table every night!"

"You're both lucky," said Bella. "Since my dad is a chef, he uses every pot and pan when he cooks. And guess who has to clean up? But the other night, doing the dishes actually gave me an amazing idea for a new crafting project. Behold!"





Bella handed an object to each of her friends.

"Scrub brushes?" asked Sam, confused.

"Right now, yes," said Bella. "But we're going to transform them into: Brushbots!"

Bella opened her notebook to a diagram. "A Brushbot is a battery-powered scrub brush that can move on its own," she explained.

"And sort of looks like a robot! That's genius!" exclaimed Sam.



The first step was for each of them to attach a battery pack to a scrub brush. The kids continued working, carefully following Bella's instructions.



"Before we decorate them, let's try them out!" Bella suggested. "On the count of three. One, two . . ."

"THREE!" everyone yelled, flipping the switches.

Nothing happened.

"What did we do wrong?" Maddie asked.

"Maybe these batteries are duds?" suggested Emily.

Bella looked concerned. "But they're brand-new," she said.

"Are they the right kind of batteries?" asked Sam.

Bella pulled out a battery and examined it. Then she started to laugh. "I think I know what went wrong. You see how each battery has a plus sign at one end and a minus at the other?"



The other three nodded.

"Well, to make the connection, positive and negative need to be in the right positions. Once we do that . . ."

The friends rotated the batteries and flipped the switches. The Brushbots started working immediately!

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Excerpted from Making the Band by Martha Maker
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.