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A woman wearing a white lab coat and gloves was bent over a tray. She looked up with a surprised expression. “Hold on a sec,” she said. “I need to cover these plates before they get contaminated.” “What are they?” Maya asked. “They look like clear hockey pucks.” Cooper swung an imaginary ice hockey stick. “Go, Scarlet Knights!” “They’re bacteria read more

Professor Apple picked it up and laughed. “This isn’t one of mine. In fact, these dark dots are drops of ink. And I would never leave purple smudges on a sterilized lab plate. Someone was playing a joke.” Everyone looked at Cooper. He held up his hands. “It wasn’t me.” Just then Pascal’s ears perked up. “Did you say purple read more

The Jersey Trackers had just gathered outside Waksman Institute of Microbiology by the bookmobile to wait for Mr. C and Pascal to catch up. Suddenly Jamal yelled, “Hey, look guys! I found a golf ball with a purple R on it!” “That can’t be right,” declared Chelsea. “The R should be red for Rutgers.” “Oh no! The Purple Math Dude read more

The Trackers hadn’t gone far down the service road when a gruff voice yelled, “Hey, where do you kids think you’re going? You can’t just walk onto the golf course!” A large, burly groundskeeper jumped out of his utility vehicle and scowled at the Trackers, then squinted his eyes and pointed right at Cooper. Cooper froze. Everyone grew silent. “I read more

When the Trackers got to the Pump House they expected to see some complicated mathematical formula for water pressure per square inch and the distance and elevation from the Raritan River and rotation and velocity of the pump’s turbines. But what they saw, scrawled in purple chalk on the Pump House door, stopped them dead in their tracks! 4 🡪 read more

This time Mr. C had to laugh. “I sure did, Cooper. And yes, Jamal, fore is a golf term. When you hit a golf ball wrong, you have to “forewarn” all the other players on the course. So, you yell “fore”. It’s part of golf etiquette. It means you are practicing good golf sportsmanship and being a good sport.” “Jamal, read more

They had barely approached the Werblin Recreation Center when Simon offered excitedly, “Hey, I see some purple writing on the back of the building!” “There’s also something on the side of the building, too!” countered Jamal. They pulled the bookmobile to a stop near the front. Cooper bounded out and proclaimed, “Hey, there’s even more purple writing on the front!” read more

“Well, let’s think about this, and break it down so it makes sense,” she replied. “I think you’re all correct that these numbers have something to do with each other. So, let’s start at the top: There are 360 degrees in a circle….” “That’s true, Gab, but not just a circle. A ball as well—” said Cooper, adding thoughtfully, “—well, read more

The rest of the trackers stood in front of the Marvin Apartments, while Gabby ran up the steps two at a time and tugged on the front door. When the door would not budge, she switched to knocking on the glass. Finally, she cupped her hands around her eyes, leaned forward, and peered into the building. “We can’t get in!” read more

Cooper ran across the campus with the rest of the Trackers trailing behind him. They had reached the Student Center, by the time Pascal caught up to them. Panting, he said, “Are you sure this is where we should be? After all, this is where Dr. Newton disappeared.” Cooper was already holding the door open wide and waving the Trackers read more