STEM Friday

November 23, 2018

Rodent Rascals: From Tiny to Tremendous

Someone must have squirreled away Rodent Rascals: From Tiny to Tremendous — 21 Clever Creatures at Their Actual Size by Roxie Munro because it took a long time to get it at the library. The good news is it was worth the wait.

What are rodents? Munro lets the reader know right in the Introduction. Named for the Latin verb rodere = to gnaw, members of the order Rodentia are furry mammals that are defined by having a single pair of long incisors on their upper and lower jaws that continue to grow throughout their lifetimes.

The rest of the book goes on to explore rodent diversity. The author/illustrator features examples ranging from the tiny pygmy jerboa to the large dog-sized capybara, all of which are drawn with India inks and colored acrylic inks at life size. Accompanying each illustration is a detailed discussion of the history and biology of each kind of rodent. Although this looks like a picture book, the text is written at a high level and Rodent Rascals has been placed in the middle grade category for the Cybils contest.

Rodent Rascals is likely to enthrall children who already appreciate rodents and possibly entice a few more skeptical readers to join their ranks. Scurry on out and get a copy today!

For more details and added activity suggestions, see Growing with Science blog.

November 23, 2018November 22, 2018

Seafloor Scavengers

Seafloor Scavengers
by Melissa Gish (Author)

Booktalk: Explore the bottoms of the world’s oceans and learn about the life forms that dwell there. First-person accounts from scientists answer important questions about scavenging and parasitic creatures and how they survive.

Snippet:

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

November 23, 2018November 10, 2018

Renaissance series connects STEM with Art

Nomad Press has a fun new series out called Renaissance for Kids. The books in this series invite readers to dive into the Renaissance period and learn about inventors, thinkers, explorers, and artists. The series includes plenty of hands-on STEAM activities… Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.

Titles include: The Renaissance Artists, The Renaissance Explorers, The Renaissance Inventors, The Renaissance Thinkers. Written for young people ages 10-15.

Included in the volume on “thinkers” are Nicolaus Copernicus and Francis Bacon. “Being a scientist during the Renaissance could be a lonely business,” writes author Diane Taylor. “There were no graduate students to hang out with, no research institutes to work at, and no conferences to attend.”

Copernicus watched the night sky. He was an astronomer and noticed that not everything circled the earth once a day. Planets, for example, seemed to wander back and forth. He also suggested that the earth orbited the sun – a break with what people thought, that the sun went around the earth.

Francis Bacon is often called the “father of science”. Born in 1561, he was a gifted and prolific writer. He was passionate about science, and thought deeply about how scientists can know when they have discovered the truth of something. He developed a scientific method:

make an observation
ask a question
form a hypothesis
conduct an experiment
analyze the results

Sounds familiar to anyone who’s taken a science class. But in the 1600s scientists didn’t follow any sort of rigor that would lead to reliable results. So Bacon’s ideas were novel.

STEAM projects in this book include drawing with linear perspective, building a supportive arch, and creating your own Utopia.

The “inventors” include Johannes Gutenberg (printing press), Leonardo da Vinci (artist and engineer), Gerardus Mercator (mapping the world), and Galileo Galilei (astronomy and math). These inventors opened up the world for exploration and sharing information.

Prior to a printing press, books were transcribed by hand, and few people had access to them. Once people could mass produce words there were bibles, flyers, news broadsides, and eventually pamphlets in which scientists could share their findings.

da Vinci’s sketchbook contains designs for helicopters and submarines, airplanes and cars. Pretty cool, considering he died in 1519!

STEAM projects in this book include building a parachute, making a pendulum, making a map, printing, and playing around with mirror writing.

“Renaissance artists” introduces readers to Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli and more, and invites kids to make their own paint using eggs.

“Renaissance explorers” include Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, and others. Kids can make a working compass, build a beacon, create and hourglass, and invent a travel board game.

What I like about these books: They include timelines for each person, provide great biographical details, and mention other scientists, inventors, artists, and explorers living at the same time. Sidebars present quick facts, additional information about the culture, and raise questions for curious readers.

STEM Friday

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

November 16, 2018

Animal Families

‘Tis the season for family gatherings, so what better time to sit down with a child and read a book or two about animal families.

In the first book, Fur, Feather, Fin―All of Us Are Kin by Diane Lang and illustrated by Stephanie Laberis, animal “families” are what are mostly defined as “classes” in the traditional scientific way: mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish. Arthropods are also included, which are a phylum. It is a basic introduction to animal classification.

The rhyming text is likely to engage the younger readers in the targeted age range.

“All animals on Earth are kin,
while not the same outside or in.
Some we stroke with loving hand;
some we don’t yet understand.”

A few scientific vocabulary words (metamorphosis, oxygen, detritivore) are included.

The illustrations by Stephanie Laberis are just the right amount of vibrant and fun. They are filled with color, action, and excitement, as you can see from the swirling animals on the cover.

The back matter explains further, plus gives concrete ways the readers can help animals.

Fur, Feather, Fin―All of Us Are Kin will delight budding scientists and animal lovers. It might also make a good “entrance book” to entice less-interested readers to want to find out more. Try out a copy today!

Our second book, Meet My Family!: Animal Babies and Their Families by Laura Purdie Salas and illustrated by Stephanie Fizer Coleman, was previously reviewed at the older Stem Friday site by both Sue Heavenrich and Anastasia Suen.

In some animal families, both the mother and the father take care of the youngsters. In others, like sea turtles, the babies never meet their parents. Some offspring look like miniature versions of their parents, and some don’t resemble each other at all. Discover all the unique ways families are made up.

Throughout the text, Laura Purdie Salas injects words for mother and father in different languages, so it sounds as if the animals are speaking. If you are going to read this book aloud, I strongly recommend heading to the back matter and practicing the pronunciations in the glossary. While you are in the back matter, check out the awesome section on where these animals live.

Meet My Family!: Animal Babies and Their Families is not only a discussion of diversity in families that is likely to sooth youngsters who might be feeling their family is too “different,” but also a great introduction to a variety of cool animals.

For a bit more detail and an activity suggestion, see Wrapped in Foil blog.

November 16, 2018November 15, 2018

Bat Citizens

Bat Citizens
by Rob Laidlaw (Author)

Booktalk: Learn the facts about bats! From their habits and habitats to their importance for maintaining biodiversity, bat biology is explored alongside human-bat relations. Spotlight features on “Bat Citizens” encourages readers to pursue citizen science.

Snippet: Hibernacula are winter hibernation roosts. During winter, bats need stable, cool temperatures that do not change very much, and moist air that helps reduce the loss of body fluids.

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

November 16, 2018November 12, 2018

To the Moon and Back

To the Moon and Back: My Apollo 11 Adventure: A Pop-Up Book

By Buzz Aldrin and Marianne Dyson

Illustrated by Bruce Foster

National Geographic, 2018

In this gift-worthy, sturdy, pop-up book, middle-grade space enthusiasts will find a wealth of little-known details, personal remembrances, and photos from the quest to land men on the surface of the moon. In addition, the science and engineering is explained clearly and simply.

Buzz Aldrin begins with the start of his NASA career as an astronaut in the year 1963. He then chronicles the successes and failures of the many Gemini, Soyuz, and Apollo missions that preceded the famous voyage of Apollo 11.

Tucked within the pages and pop-ups, are pull-out sections titled Space Race and Aldrin Family Reflections. The pop-ups, created by paper engineer, Bruce Foster, include (among others) the Saturn V rocket which pops out to a height of over one foot, a lunar module, and the deploying parachutes of the lunar capsule’s splash landing.

One section titled, “Saved by the Pen,” includes this recollection:

“After 21 hours on the moon, it was time to go. But the ascent engine’s arming circuit breaker was broken off! If we didn’t find something to replace the pin, the engine wouldn’t start. We’d be stuck on the moon.

Armstrong and I looked around. We found a felt-tipped pen that fit into the slot. Problem solved!”

After reading To the Moon and Back, you will have a greater appreciation of what is often described as one of humanity’s greatest feats of engineering. The beautiful photos, pop-ups and a build-your-own lunar module are just icing on the cake.

Buzz Aldrin finishes his account with a query,

“Will we celebrate Apollo 11’s 100th anniversary under the pink skies of Mars?”

He hopes so. And perhaps it will be a woman who first steps on the red planet. I hope so.

stemfriday.tiny

See all of my reviews (and my personal photograph of author Buzz Aldrin) at

Shelf-employed.

November 16, 2018October 30, 2018

Path to the Stars

Path to the Stars, My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist
by Sylvia Acevedo
320 pages; ages 10 & up
Clarion Books, 2018

Rocket science is cool. It’s not all about igniting rockets in your back yard – though that is what Sylvia Acevedo did. A lot of rocket science is math. OK, most of it’s all about the math.

Her love of math is what led Sylvia to science. Her experiences as a Girl Scout provided the platform for her to build upon. Scouting taught her to create opportunities for herself. Scouting helped her plan for the future. It helped her develop entrepreneurial skills (so that’s what cookie sales were for. I thought it was all about the Thin Mints!) and nurtured her self confidence.

What I ~~like~~ love about this book: I loved the scene where Sylvia wove fabric strips and newspapers into a sit-upon. I remember how, in Brownies, we made sit-upons to take to day camp. And net bags for dunking our dishes into steaming water. And how we carried something in our pocket…

Sylvia talks about working for badges, and wanting to do science. Back then, there weren’t so many STEM badges, but she describes her experiments with plants and rockets to earn a science badge. Now girls can choose to explore plants, animals engineering, cyber-security, programming, robotics, and more. She tells a wonderful story about learning how to do regular car maintenance – things like changing oil, checking tire pressure, and replacing worn fan belts. Badges and scouting experiences taught her that she could take control of situations and be prepared for the unexpected.

The other thing she learned: aim high. Sylvia aimed toward space. She worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as an engineer, testing equipment for a solar probe that launched this summer (it takes a long time to build a probe for such a mission!). She also worked on the Voyager 2 flyby of Jupiter.

In an epilogue, Sylvia writes about the heroes who inspired her: Clara Barton, Florence Nightingale, Helen Keller. Although Sylvia isn’t working on space projects at this time, she’s still aiming high. As CEO for Girl Scouts of the USA, she is helping girls all across the country aim for the stars.

Head over to Archimedes Notebook for an interview with Sylvia.

STEM Friday

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

November 9, 2018

The Big Book of the Blue

Let’s take a look at one of the picture books nominated for a Cybils award, The Big Book of the Blue by Yuval Zommer.

Reviewing this book was a joy. First thing you notice is the beautiful blue color and the oversized dimensions, perfect for a book about the huge, expansive ocean. Then you pop it open and you see the playful, lively illustrations. You can imagine the fish swimming and the jellyfish bobbing. Delightful!

That isn’t all there is to discover. In the front matter is a challenge to find a sardine tucked into the illustrations throughout the book (the answers are in the back). Delving deeper, you find general discussions of different creatures found in the ocean before discovering two page spreads about specific ones from sea turtles to dolphins. Each one makes full use of the extra space and some are oriented landscape versus portrait. They are gorgeous! And packed with great information!

The back matter includes “Did you find?” the answers to the sardine challenge, “Fishy Phrases” about scientific vocabulary, and a whale-sized index. But don’t expect to arrive at the back matter quickly. Once you start swimming into the book, you will want to immerse yourself.

The Big Book of the Blue is the type of book that begs to be shared. Grab a copy, find a quiet corner, and spend time with it. Children will love it.

Today our review is at Wrapped in Foil blog.

November 9, 2018November 8, 2018

Making Models

My new Focus on STEM column: Making Models is in the November Quick Tips for Schools and Libraries newsletter.

Snippet:
Fall is here, and with the colder weather comes the yearly science fair. It’s time for students of all ages to think of a new way to solve an old problem and then test their ideas. To plan their experiments and to share their results, these young scientists will need to develop models.

Click here to read Making Models with eight #kidlit science books that support the Next Generation Science Standard for Developing and Using Models in the classroom and library.

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

November 9, 2018October 16, 2018

Bugs Don’t Hug, Six-legged parents and their kids

Bugs Don’t Hug, Six-legged parents and their kids, by Heather L. Montgomery; illus. by Stephen Stone

32 pages; ages 3-7; Charlesbridge, 2018

Mommy and daddy bugs don’t give good-morning kisses. They don’t tie shoes or untangle hair. And bugs don’t hug.

Open the pages and you find that there are things parent bugs simply “don’t do”. They don’t serve eggs and toast. They don’t play peekaboo. But when you turn the page you discover …

Yes! Bug parents are just like human parents. I like the way author Heather Montgomery uses compare-and-contrast to show the similarities and differences in parents. Maybe bugs don’t bake birthday cakes, but they do make a cake for their babies. It’s fun and best of all – surprising! The illustrations are cartoony and fun. And I LOVE the back matter (of course) – more about each of the insects featured in the book plus a note on scientific language. And a list of books to read for the naturally curious kids.

Head over to Archimedes Notebook for another book about animal parenting and some Beyond-the-Book activities.

STEM Friday

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