Mario and the Hole in the Sky: How a Chemist Saved Our Planet

Rusch, Elizabeth

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Charlesbridge Publishing

Annotation: The true story of how a scientist saved the planet from environmental disaster--now in paperback!

Genre: [Biographies]

Reviews: 1

Catalog Number: #6643241

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing

Edition Date: 2020 Release Date: 04/02/24

ISBN: 1-623-54186-7

ISBN 13: 978-1-623-54186-6

Dewey: 921

Language: English

Reviews:

School Library Journal

RUSCH, Elizabeth . Mario y el agujero en el cielo: Como un quimico salvo nuestro planeta . tr. by Carlos E. Calvo. ISBN 9781580895828 .ea vol: illus. by Teresa MartÃnez. 40p. chron. further reading. notes. Charlesbridge . Nov. 2019. Tr. $16.99. Gr 1-4 Growing up in Mexico, Mario Molina loved exploring the world around him and performing experiments with his microscope. After attending boarding school in Switzerland and receiving his PhD, Molina began work in the United States, where he made a horrific discovery: CFCs, chemicals used in countless everyday items, were damaging the environment by destroying the ozone layer. Despite Molina and his colleague F. Sherwood Rowland's attempts to publicize this discovery, they were not taken seriously until scientists discovered a huge hole in the ozone above Antarctica. Finally, Molina and Rowland's hard work led to almost every country agreeing to stop the production of CFCs. Vibrant, imaginative illustrations convey the possibilities of science and the urgency of Molina's discoveries and depict Molina's interest from an early age. Both English and Spanish texts flow smoothly. VERDICT An excellent addition to children's nonfiction collections, and sure to be a great highlight of Hispanic Heritage Month biography collections. Selenia Paz, Harris County Public Library, Houston

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School Library Journal

Word Count: 2,088

Reading Level: 5.4

Interest Level: 1-4

Accelerated Reader: reading level: 5.4 / points: 0.5 / quiz: 195545 / grade: Lower Grades

Reading Counts!: reading level:4.5 / points:3.0 / quiz:Q74801

Lexile: 730L

Guided Reading Level: N

Fountas & Pinnell: N

Mario Molina was born in Mexico City on March 19, 1943. By the time he was six, the world was awash in amazing new products made from amazing new chemicals.
Spray. Spray. Mario's mother misted perfume onto her wrist. Squirt. Squirt. Someone polished a window. Spurt. Spurt. A press of a button propelled cleaner onto a counter, paint onto a fence, and hair spray onto curls.
But one of the new chemicals, used in millions of spray cans and refrigerators, had a dangerous side that no one had yet discovered. . . .
"¡Feliz cumpleaños, Mario!" On Mario's eighth birthday his parents gave him a microscope.
Mario peered through the lens at a drop of water.
Boring, he thought. Then he began to wonder: What would happen if I looked at dirty water?
Mario soaked some lettuce and let it rot. After a few days the gooey, brownish-green mess smelled awful. Mario plugged his nose, sucked up a dropper of the filthy water, and dripped it onto a slide. He peered into the lens and gasped.
"¡Increíble! All these amazing creatures in just one drop of water!" Mario studied everything he could under the microscope: sparkling salt crystals, tomatoes, onions, chilies from salsa--even toothpaste.
Mario was itching to see more.
"Can I use this bathroom as a laboratory?" he asked his parents. "No one ever uses it."
"¡Dios mío! " his mother groaned. "Sounds messy."
But they removed the toilet for him and installed some shelves.
"Don't blow anything up," his father warned.

Excerpted from Mario and the Hole in the Sky: How a Chemist Saved Our Planet by Elizabeth Rusch
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.

The true story of how a scientist saved the planet from environmental disaster--now in paperback!

Mexican American Mario Molina was a modern-day hero who helped solve the ozone crisis of the 1980s. Growing up in Mexico City, Mario was a curious boy who studied hidden worlds through a microscope. As a young man in California, he discovered that CFCs, used in millions of refrigerators and spray cans, were tearing a hole in Earth's protective ozone layer. Mario knew the world had to be warned--and quickly. Mario went on to become a Nobel laureate and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His inspiring story gives hope in fighting the ongoing climate crisis.

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