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STEM Tuesday– Tiny Worlds (Microscopic/Nanotech)- In the Classroom

By on July 16, 2019   /   Common Core & NGSS, STEM Tuesday, Tiny Worlds/Microscopic/Nanotech  

This month’s STEM Tuesday theme revolves around the small, the tiny, and the microscopic—from nanotechnology to microorganisms. Microbes and fungus may be small, but their effects in the world are far from that. They are vital to Earth’s complex, constantly cycling systems, which range from microscopic to monumental. What could microbes do? Try this activity in the classroom to help students understand how microorganisms can have big effects.

 

Yeast + Sugar Balloon Experiment

Student Prep

Read through Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes by Nicola Davies and It’s a Fungus Among Us: The Good, the Bad & the Downright Scary by Carla Billups and Dawn Cusick as a class. Then tell students that microbes are in everything from the soil to our bodies to even our food. Explain that they will be doing a microbial experiment using yeast (a microorganism that is a member of the fungi kingdom). Then distribute materials to groups of students.

Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes by Nicola Davies

This book is perfect for the curious kid who wants to know how microbes work. All around the world—in the sea, in the soil, in the air, and in your body—there are living things so tiny that millions could fit on an ant’s antenna. They’re busy doing all sorts of things, from giving you a cold and making yogurt to eroding mountains and helping to make the air we breathe.

It’s a Fungus Among Us: The Good, the Bad & the Downright Scary by Carla Billups and Dawn Cusick

All about Fungus! Who wouldn’t want to read this book? In It’s a Fungus Among Us, you’ll meet the wild group of organisms that can turn ants into zombies and eat trillions of pounds of feces every day. They’re not all gross though, these are the same types of organisms that make cheese stretchy, add sour tastes to candy, and make bread rise!

 

Materials

  • empty clear water bottle
  • yeast packet
  • balloon (stretched out by inflating a few times)
  • warm water
  • 1 tsp. sugar

Steps

  1. Have students empty the yeast packet into the water bottle. Then tell them to pour some of the warm water inside. Students should move the bottle a bit to mix the yeast and water.
  2. Ask students to stretch the balloon over the water bottle opening and observe what happens in the next 5 minutes. They should record their observations.
  3. Next have students carefully remove the balloon. Tell them to add 1 tsp. sugar to the bottle and mix. Students can now put the balloon back over the bottle opening.
  4. Have students observe the mixture and the balloon over the next 20 minutes. They can record their observations ever 5 minutes.

Conclusion

As the yeast consumes the sugar in the warm water mixture, the microbes produce gas that inflates the balloon at the top of the bottle. Tell students that this process is called fermentation, which is a process used to make all kinds of foods that we eat. Bread becomes light and airy due to fermentation. Milk turns into yogurt or kefir because of fermentation. The fermentation process also helps humans and animals digest food. This is just one of the many examples of how microbes affect us on Earth.

 

Need more ideas for teaching middle-school students about microbes? Check out these resources:

  • BioEd Online, Science Teacher Resources from Baylor College of Medicine, Microbes
    This site has 12 lessons to help students investigate microbes related to health (bacteria, fungi, protists, and viruses). Students will learn that microbes have important roles in humans, and that some help while others cause diseases. http://www.bioedonline.org/lessons-and-more/lessons-by-topic/microorganisms/microbes/
  • Microbiology Society, Microbe Passports
    Students can check out a virtual microscope on this site to study different microbes—from Bifidobacterium (which lives in human intestines) to Geobacter metallireducens (a metal-eating microbe that lives in muddy riverbeds).
    https://microbiologyonline.org/students/microbe-passports-1
  • Science News for Students, The dirt on soil
    Read all about the microbes in soil on this online science news publication site run by the Society for Science and the Public. It includes a glossary of “Power Words,” links for further reading, and a downloadable wordfind worksheet.
    https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/dirt-soil

 

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Karen Latchana Kenney loves to write books about animals, and looks for them wherever she goes—from leafcutter ants trailing through the Amazon rain forest in Guyana, where she was born, to puffins in cliff-side burrows on the Irish island of Skellig Michael. She especially enjoys creating books about nature, biodiversity, conservation, and groundbreaking scientific discoveries—but also writes about civil rights, astronomy, historical moments, and many other topics. Her award-winning and star-reviewed books have been named a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, a 2015 Book of Note from the TriState Review Committee, a 2011 Editor’s Choice for School Library Connection, and Junior Library Guild selections. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and son, and bikes, hikes, and gazes at the night sky in northern Minnesota any moment she can.

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Diversity in MG Lit #11 Indigenous and First Nations books

By on July 15, 2019   /   Book Lists, Diversity, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents  
New data on the representation of diverse characters in children’s literature came out recently and once again the least represented group is Indigenous youth. I have found that a MG books in particular are in short supply as most of the books with First Nations characters are picture books. Here’s a round up of a few new books and one gem from a few years ago that will work particularly well for young readers.
This Place: 150 Years Retold Forward by Alicia Eliot, 2019 
    This is a collection of graphic novel short stories about the history of First Nations in Canada. I LOVE this book. It covers areas of history not mentioned in text books. The words and art are by First Nations creators. Each story comes with a short preface and a timeline to place the story in context. This was published to coincide with Canada’s 150 anniversary, so all the stories take place in Canada. But many of the issues raised happened in the US as well. For example the potlatch was outlawed in the US in the same time period and for the same reasons that it was in Canada. There is plenty here for both kids reading for pleasure and teachers looking to expand their knowledge of North American history.
 Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse, 2019
    Fans of the Rick Riorden formula of hero story will love this new offering set in the American Southwest and utilizing the rich source material of Diné (also known as the Navajo) mythology. Sister and brother team Nizhoni and Mac Begay take on the inheritance of the Hero Twins, and along with their friend Davery, a biracial boy, undertake a series of heart-stopping trials. They reach the Sun God who gives them awesome weapons to defeat the monster who kidnapped their parents. It’s a fun read with a glossary in the back for the Diné words that are sprinkled through the text.
Indigenous People’s History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, 2019
    Here’s a guide to US history through the lens of the Indigenous experience. It covers the full range from first contact through the recent pipeline protests. At 270 pages it’s more encyclopedia than narrative but it will be a valuable tool for teachers in adding context to the history they are teaching.  It has been adapted from an edition for adults with real sensitivity to the needs of the young reader by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese.
1621 A New Look at Thanksgiving by Catherine O’Neill Grace and Margaret M Bruchac, 2001 
    This lushly photo-illustrated book is a solid attempt to add some historical context and balance to the Thanksgiving story and is very useful guide for rethinking how the holiday is presented in the school context. Maps, timelines, recipes, and a bibliography give helpful context.
Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids  by Deborah Ellis 2018
    This gem of a book is a collection of interviews of Indigenous children ages 9 to18 in the US and Canada. Their stories are moving and diverse. The children are artists and athletes, able-bodied and living with disability, activists and survivors. They have much to say about living as Indigenous people today and they say it with candor and humor and sometimes sorrow. The book is photo illustrated and has an extensive list of resources in the back.
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KidLit Auction for Refugees

By on July 12, 2019   /   Oh MG News  

Standing Against Border Camps: #AuthorsforFamilies has launched an auction to raise money to help migrant families being held in intolerable conditions in border camps. They’re already more than halfway to their $20,000 goal, in fact, one item alone has more than $1,000 in bids. All proceeds will be donated to RAICES, an organization that provides free and low-cost legal services to migrant families and refugees. The auction has a huge slate of offerings, including critiques, books, book swag, and consultation services from well-known authors and agents.

You have until July 22 to check it out and bid on your favorite options.

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