June 2019 – STEM Friday

June 28, 2019June 27, 2019

Dogs in Space

Dogs in Space
by Vix Southgate (Author) and Iris Deppe (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Meet Belka and Strelka, two stray dogs from Moscow who, in1960, became the first animals to orbit Earth and return home safely.

Snippet:

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

June 21, 2019June 20, 2019

Scampers Thinks Like a Scientist

Scampers Thinks Like a Scientist
by Mike Allegra (Author) and Elizabeth Zechel (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Scampers is no ordinary mouse. She’s curious. She asks questions. And she experiments. In short, she thinks like a scientist! Her friend Nibbles, reluctantly joins her as they set out to discover the truth about the owl in the garden.

Snippet:

BONUS! Download the Activity Guides

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

June 21, 2019June 3, 2019

The Orca Scientists

June is Orca Awareness Month and, at the end of May, Orca scientists celebrated the birth of a new calf to the J-pod off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. So the perfect time to share this book (that had found a great hibernation space at the bottom of my book basket!).

The Orca Scientists (Scientists in the Field Series)
by Kim Perez Valice; photos by Andy Comins
80 pages; ages 10 – 12
HMH Books for Young Readers, 2018

In the early 1970’s Dr. Mike Bigg, a marine mammal scientist, pioneered a method of photo identification for orcas. He found that the dorsal fin “saddle patch” for each whale was unique, like fingerprint in humans. And that allowed him to follow individual whales and their pods.

Today, Ken Balcomb and other whale researchers use those techniques as they continue the research on resident and transient orcas off the coast of Washington state and southern Canada. Ken is the founder and principal investigator for the Center for Whale Research at Friday Harbor. From May through October, he and other scientists keep track of who’s swimming with whom.

Despite their name of “killer whales”, over his 40 years of observing Ken’s never seen any of his whales kill anything other than the fish they eat. And they eat a lot – about 5% of their body weight in fish each day. Unfortunately, a decreasing fish population creates problems for the whales. They have to travel greater distances to find food, and that means less time for socializing, playing, and resting.

What I like about this book: Reading this book is the next best thing to being in a boat with the whale scientists. We really get to know some of the personalities and lifestyles of the orcas. We get side ring seats to a mother whale teaching her calf how to hunt. Hint: it’s similar to how mother cats teach their kittens.

We learn about other environmental issues that put orcas (and whales in general) at risk – such as the pollution. And we get a close-up view of scientists taking blubber samples to determine levels of PCBs and DDY. Unfortunately, even banned chemicals remain in the environment for a long time.

There are great sidebars that help explain things like why orcas are black and white, and the Samish naming ceremony for the whales.
There’s a great chapter about Tucker, the detection dog who works with the whale scientists. Tucker’s job: to locate whale scat.

There are a lot of unanswered questions, but it’s not too late to make a difference. Check out the Orca Network and Whale Research Center for more information.

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

June 14, 2019June 13, 2019

Is That Your Dad?

Is That Your Dad?
by Carles Ballesteros (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Who is Froggy’s dad? Froggy knows who his dad is not–he’s not the roaring lion or the squawking parrot or the growling bear. And with the turn of each board book page, Froggy gets one step closer to finding him!

Snippet:

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

June 7, 2019June 7, 2019

Apollo 11 Quick Tips column

My new Focus on STEM column: Apollo 11 is in the June Quick Tips for Schools and Libraries newsletter.

Booktalk: Use the approaching fiftieth anniversary of the lunar landing to inspire school- and library-friendly activities.

Snippet: July 20 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the first successful lunar landing. Round up these new Apollo 11 books–along with the ones already in your collection–for a book display/activity table in your library.

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

June 7, 2019May 26, 2019

Like a Lizard

Like a Lizard
by April Pulley Sayre; illus. by Stephanie Laberis
32 Pages; ages 4-8
Boyds Mills Press, 2019

Can you run like a lizard? Sun like a lizard?

What about doing pushups? Or dashing across water like a lizard? If you could live like a lizard, you’d have lots of choices about how to behave. That’s because there are about 6300 kinds of lizards living on Earth, and each of them is adapted to its habitat in certain ways. April Pulley Sayre presents an inside look at how 28 lizards make their living.

What I like about this book: I love that each page asks the reader to compare their life with that of a lizard – and each page features specific lizards doing their thing. Like frill-necked lizards showing off their collars, and geckos climbing twigs. I like the bright and realistic illustrations – I never knew about some of these lizards! And I like the back matter, where lizard secrets are revealed. Most of all, I like April’s message that lizards and people can live together in harmony.

Head over to Archimedes Notebook for a book about crocodiles and some beyond-the-books activities.

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