nonfiction Archives - Page 569 of 611

whoosh
Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions
by Chris Barton (Author) and Don Tate (Illustrator)

Booktalk: The Super Soaker is one of top twenty toys of all time. And it was invented entirely by accident. Trying to create a new cooling system for refrigerators and air conditioners, impressive inventor Lonnie Johnson instead created the mechanics for the iconic toy.

A love for rockets, robots, inventions, and a mind for creativity began early in Lonnie Johnson’s life. Growing up in a house full of brothers and sisters, persistence and a passion for problem solving became the cornerstone for a career as an engineer and his work with NASA. But it is his invention of the Super Soaker water gun that has made his most memorable splash with kids and adults.

Snippet: When NASA was sending an orbiter and probe called Galileo to Jupiter, the space agency needed to ensure a constant supply of power to the computer memory. The engineer who had to figure out how to do it was Lonnie.

whoosh2

Don is one of my former students!

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

7.5tonsofsteel
Seven and a Half Tons of Steel
by Janet Nolan (Author) and Thomas Gonzalez (Illustrator)

Booktalk: There is a ship, a navy ship. It is called the USS New York. It is big like other navy ships, and it sails like other navy ships, but there is something special about the USS New York. Following the events of September 11, 2001, the governor of New York gave the Navy a steel beam that was once inside one of the World Trade Towers. The beam was driven from New York to a foundry in Louisiana. Metal workers heated the beam to a high, high temperature. Chippers and grinders, painters and polishers worked on the beam for months. And then, seven and a half tons of steel, which had once been a beam in the World Trade Center, became a navy ship’s bow.

Snippet:
Out in the ocean, a storm started to swirl.
Wind twisted. Water churned.

Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans.
Levees broke, homes flooded, and
businesses were swept away.

Many shipbuilders lost their homes.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!