Common Core & NGSS

STEM Tuesday– The Human Body — Book List

By STEM Tuesday on February 4, 2020 / Common Core & NGSS, Human Body, STEM Tuesday

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Heart and Soul

As Valentine’s Day approaches, let’s explore what makes our hearts go pitter-patter with these books featuring various aspects of human anatomy.

Superbugs Strike Back: When Antibiotics Fail by Connie Goldsmith

For a long time we thought we had infectious diseases licked. But now we’re not so sure. What happens when bacteria become resistant to antibiotics? Goldsmith explores the science of superbugs in a accessible style that will make readers take notice.

Will Puberty Last My Whole Life? REAL Answers to REAL Questions From Preteens About Body Changes, Sex, and Other Growing-Up Stuff by Julie Metzger, RN, Robert Lehman, and Lia Cerizo

Nurse Julie Metzger answers the questions many preteen boys and girls have about their bodies.

Guy Stuff The Body Book for Boys by Cara Natterson and Micah Player

Advice, tips, and facts from a pediatrician fill this book specifically for boys.

Guts by Raina Telgemeier

Here is another heartfelt graphic novel-memoir from Raina Telgemeier. Dealing with a sensitive stomach, anxiety, and panic attacks, the author shares many mental and physical health issues middle-grade students face.

Human Body Theater: A Nonfiction Revue by Maris Wicks

This nonfiction, graphic novel presents a human anatomy lesson in a fun, humor-filled way.

Science Comic: The Brain – The Ultimate Thinking Machine by Tory Woollcott and Alex Graudins

Another in this popular graphic novel series that focuses on science topics. Readers will explore the ultimate thinking machine – our own brain! How our brains evolved, how our brain controls our senses, how we remember things, and more.

Human Cloning by Kristi Lew

This title for older readers explores the use of cloning and the depiction of human cloning in science fiction.

Future Humans: Hows-Whys-Tech-Medicine-Human Enhancement-Genetics-Wrongs-Rights-Playing God- Who Wants to Live Forever? – Science vs Morality by Tom Jackson

What does it mean to be human? Perhaps the future will force us to rethink our answer. Readers will explore artificial intelligence and deep questions on immortality and human potential.

Body 2.0: The Engineering Revolution in Medicine by Sara Latta

Discover the science of biomedical engineering and cutting edge research. This book for teens will inspire future medical professionals.

Illumanatomy by Carnovsy, written by Kate Davies

This book gives readers a chance to use three different lenses to view human anatomy. Readers can use the red lens to reveal the human skeleton, the green to look at muscles, and the blue to examine organs with x-rays. A unique way to understand what’s under our skin!

Florence Nightingale: The Courageous Life of the Legendary Nurse by Catherine Reef

It’s hard to discuss the human body without examining the life of the legendary nurse, Florence Nightingale. Reef’s biography will inspire future nurses and doctors.

Human Movement: How the Body Walks, Runs, Jumps, and Kicks by Carla Mooney and Samuel Carbaugh

Mooney’s book delves into how our bodies work when we play sports, dance, and walk. This is a great addition to science and sports collections.

Random Body Parts: Gross Anatomy Riddles in Verse by Leslie Bulion and Mike Lowery

With puzzles and fun verse, Leslie Bulion introduces human anatomy to middle-grade readers. Try this one during poetry month!

STEM Tuesday book lists prepared by

Nancy Castaldo has written books about our planet for over 20 years including, THE STORY OF SEEDS, which earned the Green Earth Book Award, Junior Library Guild Selection, and other honors. Nancy’s research has taken her all over the world from the Galapagos to Russia. She strives to inform, inspire, and empower her readers. Nancy also serves as the Regional Advisor of the Eastern NY SCBWI region. Her 2018 multi-starred title is BACK FROM THE BRINK: Saving Animals from Extinction. Visit her at www.nancycastaldo.com.

Patricia Newman writes middle-grade nonfiction that empowers young readers to act on behalf of the environment and their communities. The Sibert Honor author of Sea Otter Heroes, Newman has also received an NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book Award for Eavesdropping on Elephants, and a Green Earth Book Award for Plastic, Ahoy! Her books have received starred reviews, been honored as Junior Library Guild Selections, and included on Bank Street College’s Best Books lists. During author visits, she demonstrates how young readers can use writing to be the voice of change. Visit her at www.patriciamnewman.com.

Reading Restaurant

By Robyn Gioia on January 8, 2020 / Articles, Common Core & NGSS, Curriculum Tie-in, For Teachers

by Robyn Gioia

I was introduced to Reading Restaurant at a school get-together. Our school shared a professional day with teachers from a top-rated school in another district. Our assignment was to bring our favorite teaching units to share with everyone.

We met with the reading teachers. A manila folder was handed to us by two smiling masters. The manila folders were designed to look like restaurant menus. On the front cover was the title Reading Restaurant. When you opened the folder, you were met with a menu of different projects.

Instead of book reports or summaries, students have the opportunity to do a creative project.

Just like a restaurant, students select from each menu section. Their final selection must equal 100 points. For example, if they chose a 70 point dinner, they must choose another item worth 30 points.

The projects vary and can be tailored to the level and interest of your students. Some of the cool things are designing movie theater posters, writing and performing a play, or creating a cereal box that highlights selected literary elements with a playable game on the back. Of course you can add your own projects, but the restaurant menu format and a variety of projects is a big winner with the kids.

In my class, students usually mull over the selections. At the end of the month, each student presents their project to the class. I use a rubric to grade their project and presentation skills. Afterwards, the student audience is allowed to ask questions of the presenter. This generally creates a lot of excitement and generates a lot of interest in the different projects and featured books.

STEM Tuesday– Dinosaurs/Paleontology — Book List

By STEM Tuesday on January 7, 2020 / Common Core & NGSS, Dinosaurs/Paleontology, STEM Tuesday

If you’ve got a budding paleontologist in your home, you know there can never be too many books about dinosaurs! Who doesn’t love the mystery of ancient bones and tales of mighty lizards that roamed the Earth. These books run the gamut from detailed sketchbook to biography to comics to hands-on paleontology activities.

ALL ABOUT DINOSAURS:

Dinosaur! Dinosaurs and Other Amazing Prehistoric Creatures As You’ve Never Seen Them Before, by John Woodward
Highly illustrated, in depth, evaluation of dinosaurs from their definition through the Cenozoic era. Created by DK and the Smithsonian Institution, it is full of facts on fossils, amphibians, sea creatures, woolly mammoths, Neanderthals, insects, and more.

Dinosaur bones: And What They Tell Us, by Rob Colson
Opening this book is like opening a field sketchbook. It’s filled with watercolor drawings, complete with labels and descriptive notes. Annotated skeleton sketches allow readers to compare their own bones to those of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. A fun way to browse dino facts.

So You Think You Know About … Dinosaurs (series), by Ben Garrod
Scientist Ben Garrod reminds readers that we can be a scientist at any age. His books may be pocket-sized, but they are filled with dinosaur discoveries, battles, adventures, fascinating facts, quizzes, cartoon illustrations and paleo art. And lots and lots of passion for dinos. Each book focuses on one kind of dinosaur: Stegosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptor, and Triceratops.

Dining with Dinosaurs: A Tasty Guide to Mesozoic Munching, by Hannah Bonner
If you are starving for dinosaur knowledge, this book serves up a full-course meal of mouthwatering Mesozoic food facts. Starting with who ate who. Along the way, we meet scientists who explain tough questions about dinosaur poop, teeth, and more.

SCIENCE OF PALEONTOLOGY:

The Story of the Dinosaurs in 25 Discoveries: Amazing Fossils and The People Who Found Them, by Donald Prothero

Exploring paleontology from the eighteenth-century to the present, twenty-five individual chapters describe the stories behind the most important fossil discoveries and the researchers who found them. The book explores the escapades, rivalries, and scientific debates that have occurred around dinosaur bones.

Dinosaurs: Fossils and Feathers, by M. K. Reed (“Science Comic”)

This is a fun, graphic introduction to dinosaurs in their natural habitats. Follow paleontologists through history as they try to piece together the mystery of the giant bones uncovered in cliffs and deserts. Learn how our ideas about dinosaurs have changed and continue to change. Endnotes clarify ongoing scientific debates, and a glossary will have you speaking like a paleontologist in no time.

WORKING IN THE FIELD:

Gutsy Girls Go for Science: Paleontologists, by Karen Bush Gibson; illus. by Hui Li

The first chapter introduces the science of paleontology, along with tips for how to pack your field kit. Then we examine the work and challenges of scientists Mary Anning, Mignon Talbot, Tilly Edinger, Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, and Mary Leakey. There are plenty of “Field Assignments” (hands-on STEM projects) ranging from modeling an excavation to finding clues in teeth, and informative sidebars are sprinkled through the chapters.

BIOGRAPHIES:

Battle of the Dinosaur Bones: Othniel Charles Marsh VS Edward Drinker Cope, by Rebecca L. Johnson
Explores the struggle and legacy of two scientists, Othaniel Marsh (Yale) and Edward Cope (Philadelphia), determined to become world-famous paleontologists. This book details the confusion and mistakes created by their haste and rivalry that took years to sort out.

Curious Bones: Mary Anning and the Birth of Paleontology, by Thomas W. Goodhue

Biography of Mary Anning and her life’s work of collecting fossils. Details the important discoveries she made and her contribution to the emerging science of paleontology, even though women weren’t allowed to attend colleges. It includes a discussion of societal and religious changes which occurred because of her discoveries.

History VIPs: Mary Anning, by Kay Barnham

This biography explores the life of Mary Anning, from her first fossil finds at the age of ten to her sales of important discoveries to wealthy scientists. Mary’s fossil finds made a great contribution to what scientist understood about pre-historic life. Sidebars and text boxes give context to help readers understand the society and events of the wider world in which she lived, as well as quotes and fun facts that touch on the humorous side of history.

Tooth & Claw: The Dinosaur Wars, by Deborah Noyes.

This is a tale of the epic rivalry that exploded into a personal – and professional – war between two early fossil hunters. Edward Drinker Cope wanted to find the biggest, best bones of the newly discovered dinosaurs. So did Othniel Charles Marsh. Their race to uncover bones played out across the American West and they discovered dozens of dinosaur species. But their animosity ruined their lives. Includes a list of museums where modern dino-hunters can find bones.

Pre-HISTORICAL FICTION:

Dinosaur Empire! (Earth Before Us series) by Abby Howard

Ronnie is just a normal fifth grader, who is having a bit of trouble passing her science class quiz on dinosaurs. Until… her neighbor, a retired paleontologist, lends a helping hand. With a bit of time travel and science “magic”, Ronnie and Ms. Lernin find themselves in the Mesozoic era.
Other books in the series: Mammal Takeover! and Ocean Renegades!

The Dino Files Trilogy: A Mysterious Egg; Too Big to Hide; It’s Not a Dinosaur! By Stacy McAnulty

Nine-year-old Frank loves visiting his grandparents in the summer. His grandmother is a famous paleontologist and, along with his grandfather, owns the Dinosaur Education Center of Wyoming. Frank calls it DECoW and loves that it’s got labs and dig sites where people – including him – can dig for fossils. But what happens when fossils aren’t so … extinct?

STEM Tuesday book list prepared by:

Sue Heavenrich writes about science for children and their families, from space to backyard ecology. Bees, flies, squirrel behavior—things she observes in her neighborhood and around her home—inspire her writing. A long line of ants marching across the kitchen counter generated one of her first articles for kids. When not writing, you can find her committing acts of science from counting native pollinators to monitoring water quality of the local watershed. Her most recent book is Diet for a Changing Climate (2018).

Maria is a children’s author, blogger, and poet passionate about making nature and reading fun for children. She’s been a judge for the Cybils Awards from 2017 to present. And a judge for the #50PreciousWords competition since its inception. Her poems are published in The Best Of Today’s Little Ditty 2017-2018, 2016, and 2014-2015 anthologies. When not writing, critiquing, or reading, she bird watches, travels the world, bakes, and hikes. Visit her at www.mariacmarshall.com

Common Core & NGSS