STEM Tuesday

STEM Tuesday–Peeking into the Mind of a Scientist/Engineer–In The Classroom

STEM TUESDAY from the mixed up files

This month’s book list offers fascinating stories about the lives and learning of scientists, famous and not-so-much, real and fictional.

That said, here and there, you may find content you want to be prepared to address, so be sure to read the books before you bring them into the classroom experience. That should prove no burden, as the books offer a lot of food for thought, richly textured profiles, and insights into STEM fields.

This month’s suggested activities fall into two categories: Getting to Know the Characters and Book-Specific Extensions.

Getting to Know the Characters

Chart Traits. Keep a running wall chart to track the characteristics and life experiences of the real scientists in these books—for example, Charles Darwin, Sylvia Acevedo, Irene Curie, and Lise Meitner—as well as Calpurnia in the novel. Different students can read different books. Complete the chart as students independently make their way through the reading. In the first column, list the scientists; dedicate each additional column to a trait or descriptor, each suggested by students based on “their” scientists. These traits might include: “intensely curious,” “passionate about science,” “imaginative,” “ambitious/has dreams or goals.” Students can place post-its with brief notes that illustrate when they see that a specific scientist demonstrates a given trait.  Use these notes as a basis for exploring similarities and differences among scientists, and for reflection.

After students complete the books and the chart, consider setting up small group discussions of follow-up questions, such as:

  • Which traits do you see as helpful and/or counterproductive to the scientists in their professional lives? … To their personal lives? Do you think there are examples of any one trait being be both helpful and counterproductive for any of the scientists?
  • Complete these sentence : “I share [trait] with … [scientist(s]. For example, I…[story from life to illustrate similarity].” “Something I don’t quite connect to with …[scientist] is…”
  • A life lesson I learned from each character is…
  • Out of all of these scientists’ interests, the ones I strongly share are: ….
  • How do the social norms and circumstances of each person’s time and place help or hinder their journey?
  • What opportunities and obstacles helped and hindered the scientists in their personal and professional journeys? Have you experienced anything like this? How might your knowledge of one or more of these scientists help you in your own life, personally or as you aspire for academic and, later, career success?
Additional activity suggestions:
  • Connect these scientists’ stories to the NGSS science and engineering practices. Have students create their own graphic organizers to reflect how they see these practices in action in these books.
  • If possible, invite scientists into the classroom for students to interview. Students can enter each scientist and anecdotes into the chart.
  • Each of the scientists in these books experienced both positive moments (successes, support from others) and set-backs (fears, life events, failures) in their professional and personal lives. Have students create a Chutes and Ladders style game representing these events, labeling each chute or ladder entrance’s game square with the episode from the corresponding scientist’s life. Each game piece can represent one of the scientists. Landing on a chute or ladder entrance that depicts an episode from the game piece-scientist, the player gets an additional turn. Later, keep the game available for informal time.
  • Discuss how other people—friends, family, and colleagues—support the achievements of the individual scientists in the books.
  • Take a cue from the Radioactive! teacher guide: Create a shared graphic of things that students are curious about. This will help connect students to the scientists and each other, and foster a culture of curiosity. Have students add the scientists’ likely responses to the graphic.

Book-Specific Extensions

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgSupport Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgThe Curious World of Calpurnia Tate and Charles and Emma

Both books may help students find their inner naturalists. Build on this opportunity with these ideas:

Collect Their Thoughts. Ask students to contribute inexpensive, readily available objects – seeds, leaves, pebbles, shells, marbles, and even paper clips of different configurations —  to an “interesting stuff” classroom collection. Challenge students to sort, organize, compare and contrast objects in the collection.  Conduct a collection circle discussion once a week:

  • Which objects do you find most interesting, and why?
  • What stirs your curiosity?
  • Do you know anything about this object? What interesting connections can you find between it and something else in the collection?

 

Make Science Social. At the beginning of the Charles and Emma, readers learn that Charles values the stimulating intellectual conversations of the day. Calpurnia also deeply enjoys the social aspect of science.  Help students experience this excitement with free-form, dorm-style, no-right-answer(-at-least-not-yet) science talks. Create a culture that encourages them to speculate, challenge each other, and use their imaginations to develop possible explanations for their questions.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgSomething Rotten

Look Inside. Author Heather Montgomery (one of STEM Tuesday’s own!) may be the real-world’s answer to Calpurnia. Like Calpurnia and her brother Travis, Heather embodies both curiosity and a connection to the natural world. Help students follow in Calpurnia and Heather’s footsteps by offering dissection opportunities for your students; if not with animals, then with plants or gadgets.

Do Some Good! Look for a citizen science opportunity, such as this one (in Vermont), to share road kill sightings with scientists so they can study and help wildlife. Or think about organizing your own study of a small section of your community. Students might track road kill along their bus routes for a period of time. They might not be able to investigate the details from the bus window, but they could create maps of the routes and areas of relatively frequent road kill incidents.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgPath to the Stars

Explore the Results of Rocket Science. On Page 289 of her autobiography, “rocket scientist” Sylvia Acevedo mentions two NASA projects she worked on. Visit NASA web pages to find out more about these missions. Solar Polar Solar Probe, now called the Parker Solar Probe, which launched this year, some 30 years after she worked on the project, and Voyager 2 Jupiter flyby. Check out the pictures of the results of these probes’ successful missions!

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgRadioactive!

Know the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma of Radioactivity. These resources can help kids grasp some of the book’s science content:

 

Bonus: Teacher Guides!

And, finally, for discussion ideas, as well as a few STEM-related activities, check out the teachers’ guides available for each book.

 

Drop Us a Line. As always, we at STEM Tuesday are eager to hear what you think of these ideas, how you use and adapt them, and how else STEM books have brought excitement to your classroom. Please leave a comment.

STEM Tuesday: Peeking into the Mind of a Scientist/Engineer Book List

STEM TUESDAY from the mixed up files

During the month of November, we feature a list of fascinating books about famous scientists and how they think. As an extra layer, we’d like you to consider this list from the nonfiction authors’ points of view as well. What parts of these scientists lives did we focus on? What did we leave out? What do you think interested us the most? Whether you realize it or not, every nonfiction story has an angle–something that connects us AND our readers to the topic. See if you can find it in the books listed below as you dive into the minds of these scientists who have shaped their fields.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Something Rotten: A Fresh Look at Roadkill by Heather L. Montgomery; illustrated by Kevin O’Malley

Readers will meet up with a scientist searching for a cancer cure, a boy engaged in animal anatomy, and citizens joining together to save an endangered species, with the help of roadkill. A great title for kids who enjoy a little gore with their science.

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Charles and Emma: The Darwin’s Leap of Faith by Deborah Heligman

Delve into the complex world of the Darwins in this award-winning title that introduces readers to the relationship of this famous couple.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Isaac the Alchemist: Secrets of Isaac Newton, Reveal’d by Mary Losure

Read about the growing mind of one of the world’s greatest scientists in this award-winning nonfiction narrative of Isaac Newton. A wonderful read for budding scientists.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Radioactive! How Irène Curie and Lisa Meitner Revolutionized Science and Changed the World by Winifred Conkling

A fascinating look at two groundbreaking and mostly unrecognized scientists who contributed to the science of nuclear energy and the race to build the atomic bomb. Readers might be more familiar with the work of Curie’s famous mother, Marie, but she was important in her own right.  A terrific read for Women’s History Month and every day after.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scouts to Rocket Scientist by Sylvia Acevedo

An inspirational memoir about a Latina rocket scientist whose early life was transformed by  her membership in Girl Scouts. Acevedo is currently the CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Google It! A History of Google: How Two Students’ Mission to Organize the Internet Changed the World by Anna Crowley Redding

Discover how two college students came up with an idea that has changed our world.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org The Hyena Scientist by Sy Montgomery; photographs by Nic Bishop

Noted nonfiction author debunks the stereotypes of hyenas in her latest Scientists in the Field title focused on scientist Kay Holecamp.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Think Like a Scientist in the Gym by Christine Taylor Butler

In this title, the readers are the scientists testing their scientific thinking by performing a series of fun experiments using basic gym equipment. Consider asking students to record results in a science notebook.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Alexander Graham Bell for Kids: His Life and Inventions, with 21 Activities by Mary Kay Carson

This 2019 finalist for the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Hands-on Science is a perfect title for budding inventors. Readers will learn about Alexander Graham Bell’s many inventions and have the opportunity to try their hand at creating some of their own.

 

FICTION PAIRINGS about kids thinking like scientists:

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org The Lost Tribes series by Christine Taylor Butler

Christine Taylor-Butler is a trained civil engineer, and she creates smart science-centered characters in this adventure-mystery series. Five friends team up to find their missing parents, who they discover are on a secret science mission. The friends must solve puzzles, crack codes, and think logically as they race against time to find their parents and save the universe.

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

Readers of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate will enjoy this next tale of young, inquisitive Calpurnia. A wonderful fiction title to pair up with one of the above informational books.

 

 

 

***** And Finally, we’d like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!! STEM Tuesday is celebrating our ONE YEAR Anniversary!! Thanks to all of our readers who have followed us faithfully the past year. We couldn’t do it without you. YAY for STEM/STEAM Middle Grade Books!!***

 


STEM Tuesday book lists prepared by:

Nancy Castaldo has written books about our planet for over 20 years including her Crystal Kite award-winning title, Beastly Brains: Exploring How Animals Think, Talk, and Feel, which delves into the study of cognition, both animal and human.  Nancy’s research has taken her all over the world from the Galapagos to Russia. She enjoys sharing her adventures, research, and writing tips with students during her author visits. She strives to inform, inspire, and educate her readers. Nancy also serves as a Regional Advisor for SCBWI. Her 2018 title is Back From The Brink: Saving Animals from Extinction. www.nancycastaldo.com

Patricia Newman writes middle-grade nonfiction that inspires kids to seek connections between science, literacy, and the environment. Her Sibert Honor-winning Sea Otter Heroes dives inside the mind of marine biologist Brent Hughes as he solves a food chain mystery. Other titles include:  Zoo Scientists to the Rescue, a Bank Street College Best Book and Plastic, Ahoy!, a Green Earth Book Award winner. New in 2018:  Eavesdropping on Elephants: How Listening Helps Conservation. Educators describe her author visits as “phenomenal,” “fantastic,” “passionate,” and “inspirational.” Visit her at www.patriciamnewman.com.

STEM Tuesday — Not-So-Scary STEM Books

STEM TUESDAY from the mixed up files

 

 

image from DavidArsenault

 

It was a dark and stormy night…which was just perfect for curling up with one of these Halloween-ish STEM books.

 

 

 

 

The Bat Scientists by Mary Kay Carson (HMH books for young readers, 2013)

There are so many creepy bat books, but this one talks about something even creepier: a killer fungus that threatens the bats’ very survival. Meet Dr. Merlin Tuttle and his team of researchers and learn about their work uncovering white-nose syndrome and searching for ways to protect the bats.

 

 

Mummies: Dried, Tanned, Sealed, Drained, Frozen, Embalmed, Stuffed, Wrapped, and Smoked...and We're Dead Serious CoverMummies: Dried, Tanned, Sealed, Drained, Frozen, Embalmed, Stuffed, Wrapped, and Smoked…and We’re Dead Serious by Chris Sloan (National Geographic Kids 2010)

 

Travel the world to check out thousands of years of mummified history. Learn the science of how these mummies were preserved in the past and the tools and technology used to search for their secrets in the present .

 

 

 

 

Oh, Rats!: The Incredible History of Rats and People, by Albert Marrin (Puffin, 2014)

Biology, ecology, epidemiology, and history–it’s a winning combination. Real rat history is as terrifying as a ghost story. Plus, there’s an ominous picture of a rat on the front cover.

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell (Albert Whitman, 2000)

No Halloween reading list would be complete without a pumpkin book. Unfortunately, while there are a lot of interesting pumpkin picture books for young readers, the pickings are slim for older readers. Therefore, I’ll suggest Pumpkin Jack for a read-aloud or a quick reading “snack.” It uses a fictional story frame, but follows the  life cycle of a jack-o-lantern as it rots, goes to seed, and regenerates for a new Halloween celebration.

 

Monster Science: Could monsters survive (and Thrive!) in the real world? By Helaine Becker (Kids Can Press, 2016)

This is a silly look at six  monsters and the serious scientific questions they raise. Can a jolt of electricity really bring a person (or Frankenstein) to life? Could two species blur to form a werewolf? When is a corpse like a vampire? Everything you ever wanted to know about the real-life possibilities for Frankenstein, vampires, Bigfoot, zombies, werewolves and sea monsters.

How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg and Kevin O’Malley (Bloomsbury)

This award-winning book for reluctant readers is a fascinating collection of remarkable deaths–and not for the faint of heart.

Over the course of history, men and women have lived and died. In fact, getting sick and dying can be a big, ugly mess–especially before the modern medical care that we all enjoy today. From King Tut’s ancient autopsy to Albert Einstein’s great brain escape, How They Croakedcontains all the gory details of the awful ends of nineteen awfully famous people

 

 

 

 

 

 

How They Choked  by Georgia Bragg and Kevin O’Malley (Bloomsbury)

The team behind the bestselling How They Croaked shines a light on the darker sides of history’s most famous failures, perfect for reluctant readers!

Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes, epic failures even lead to super successes . . . sometimes they become deep dark secrets. But remember–to fail is human, to laugh about our shortcomings divine. From Montezuma II’s mistaking a conqueror for a god to Isaac Newton turning from science to alchemy to J. Bruce Ismay’s jumping the lifeboat line on the TitanicHow They Choked knocks fourteen famous achievers off their pedestals to reveal the human side of history.

 

 

******* Have you entered our CoSTEM Contest?? There’s still time! Entries are due Midnight November 6th, 2018*************

See the details here  https://fromthemixedupfiles.com/2018/09/stem-tuesday-cos-stem-contest/

Enter NOW to win these prizes!

1st Place —  Receives 5 autographed STEM Books from our STEM Tuesday team + $25 Barnes & Noble Gift card

2nd Place — Receives 3 autographed STEM Books from our STEM Tuesday team + $15 Barnes & Noble Gift card

3rd Place—   Receives 2 autographed STEM Books from our STEM Tuesday team  +$10 Barnes & Noble Gift card

 

 


Jodi Wheeler-Toppen is a former science teacher and the author of the Once Upon A Science Book series (NSTA Press) on integrating science and reading instruction.  She also writes for children, with her most recent book being Dog Science Unleashed: Fun Activities to do with Your Canine Companion. For Halloween, she plans to dress like a harried mother of young children.