Mary Catherine Seeks Some “Oil-ternatives”
CAST:
Esteban
Nat
Mary Catherine
Wendy
Jimmy
Esteban (reading): Here’s our new assignment. It sounds easy. “To foster the goal of reducing oil use, design and draw a car for the future that Doesn’t rely on petroleum or plastic.”
WENDY: That means no tires! Most rubber today Doesn’t come from rubber trees. It’s synthetic—manufactured using ingredients found in petroleum.
Mary Catherine (quoting from a text): Write this down. “It takes seven gallons of oil to make one car tire.”
Esteban (erasing): Then we also lose the car’s hoses, belts, and wipers. They’re “rubber,” too.
MARY CATHERINE: Lots of synthetic fabrics are made from petroleum.
Esteban (erasing): But that means the car seats, the carpets…even the driver’s clothing!
Nat (reading): We can’t even wash the car. Many detergents contain petroleum products, too.
JIMMY:Wait. It seems like petroleum-based products are all around us. They just don’t look like oil.
Mary Catherine (diagramming): Exactly. Petroleum is made from hydrocarbons, molecules containing carbon and hydrogen. By rearranging those molecules, or adding others, you can make all kinds of things.
Jimmy (reviewing their work): And as a result, our car is disappearing!
Esteban (frustrated): I’ve erased so much, only the metal parts are left.
Wendy (searching the internet): Bad news. Even those use petroleum. It’s not in the metal, but in the energy that’s used to make steel and then construct the parts.
NAT: So we have no car at all?
JIMMY:We don’t even have a road. Highways are made of asphalt — a leftover from the oil industry.
Esteban (erasing): My drawing is completely erased. We’re going to have to start all over again!
MARY CATHERINE:We need some “oil-alternatives.”
NAT: Very funny.
MARY CATHERINE (at her laptop): Not really. I’m reading here about car parts made from corn.
NAT (rolling his eyes): Do you weave the corn stalks together?
MARY CATHERINE: No, they’re bioplastics. Instead of using petroleum, scientists combine molecules of carbon and hydrogen found in plants to create new materials. That way, we can build a car.
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Adapted from Mary Catherine Seeks Some “Oil-ternatives”, by Nick D’Alto, ©️ by Cricket Media, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
How do you know this text is a drama and not a poem?
If this text were a poem, it would include a cast of characters, stage directions, and lines of dialogue.
If the text were a poem, it would have paragraphs and rhyming lines.
If this text were a poem, it would be organized in sentences and paragraphs.
If this text were a poem, it would use lines, stanzas, and a rhyme scheme.