Survival Science

STEM Tuesday– Survival Science — Christine Taylor-Butler

Welcome to STEM Tuesday: Author Interview, a repeating feature for the last Tuesday of every month. Go Science-Tech-Engineering-Math!

Today I’m doing something different. I’m not interviewing a different author. I’m going to use the time to talk about writing nonfiction and in particular, the books I wrote as part the “Save The . . .” series developed by Chelsea Clinton and Penguin Random House. The reality is, that in studying and understanding these animals, we may in fact, be learning how to save ourselves.

How I got started: I grew up in an inner city environment surrounded by overachieving nerds at a time when the Civil Rights Act was still being debated. Back then I didn’t think much about what it took to survive. All the basic necessities were available. By the eighth grade I had a math teacher, Walter Havenhill. According to him, I was the only student who took his extra credit problems seriously. So he recommended I look into a school called MIT when I was ready for college. Years later, that’s where I received two degrees. It was during that time I realized my life was about problem solving. Back then there were no computers or cell phones. There was paper, pencil and libraries. There was no topic called STEM/STEAM. Everyone tinkered and experimented and created.

As I grew older I saw a shift in the way students were learning. I had been a college interviewer in the evenings. Over time I found quite a few students focused on how to get into a good college by being the “best” numerically. Most read only what was required to pass a test. But there were others, a small minority, who were exploring the world outside of the classroom. They had inquisitive minds and were sometimes looking around their homes for resources to use. Or going out and knocking on doors to find out how they could help on a project. Those are the students I left engineering to write for. Most of my published work is now nonfiction.

Animal survival:  A few years ago, Penguin Random House asked if I wanted to join a group of authors writing books about endangered animals with Chelsea Clinton. The project looked not only at explaining the animals and their survival instincts, but why they became endangered and how their disappearance created unexpected consequences for the human race. Even better, there was a section on how young readers could get involved.  I was all in.

The books are broken into several parts:

  1. Who the animals are and where to find them
  2. What do we know about these animals? What do they eat, where do they live, and how do they raise their young? What are methods they use to survive their environments?
  3. What happened to make them endangered?
  4. The race to save the animals. Who is helping and what can YOU do to participate.
  5. Resources so you can look up some of the information yourself.

Tiger coverIn Save The . . . Tigers. I learned that once upon a time there were enough tigers living in the wild to fill the Roman Colosseum — twice. Think about that. That was about 100,000 tigers. But now there are less than 4,000 among the six remaining species living outside of a zoo or sanctuary. All survive in various parts of Asia, that range from moist hot rainforests, to cold Russian climates.

Tigers are apex predators. That means they are at the top of the food chain and can briefly run faster than a car drives on a street or highway. They are heavy, so they don’t run for long periods of time. Just short bursts. And they sleep a lot to conserve energy for hunts. Mostly during the day. Hunting is hard work. Tigers are only successful in one out of every twenty attempts to catch prey. And yet, tigers don’t tend to eat humans. They’d rather ambush other animals.

But their bodies and furs became valuable to humans. Hunting them for sport reduced their numbers. Humans moving into their habitats to build farms and homes made things worse. It reduced the prey available for tigers to eat as well. Even so, there are now people studying the animals and helping to increase their numbers. And they’re learning a lot in the process. For instance, did you know that tigers (as well as all cat species) have structures in their eyes that we don’t have? That’s why the eyes glow in light at night. Tigers hunt in dark, so their night vision is better than ours. So watch out!

Orange and black tiger

Photo by Kartik Iyer on Unsplash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue Whales coverSave the . . . Blue Whales was harder because blue whales are rarely photographed. They are the largest mammal living in the ocean. Some grow as long as 110 feet. That is as long as a 737 airplane. But water covers about 70 percent of the planet. And our oceans are very deep. So the whales weren’t easy to find or catch. A lot of what scientists knew initially was from examining dead bodies and guessing. As humans created steam powered ships it became easier to hunt them. Whale blubber was used for fuel and explosives. Other parts of the whale bodies were used for clothing and umbrellas.

Scientists discovered that by reducing the numbers of whales, we hurt the planet. Before they were hunted, whales removed as much carbon from the atmosphere as all the forests on the planet – millions of tons. They ate krill and stored the krill’s carbon in their bodies. You would have to eat 1,000 cheeseburgers to consume the calories a whale eats in a single gulp of krill. And those whales take a lot of gulps per meal. When blue whales dive and poop those actions mix and distribute nutrients throughout the ocean. Now whale numbers are fewer and carbon dioxide on Earth is increasing. Eighty-eight countries have stopped whaling. Three continue to hunt: Japan, Norway and Iceland. There is pressure for them to decrease the amount.

blue whale

Blue Whale sculpture at the Smithsonian

Click here for an interesting video on Blue Whales

Polar Bears coverLast was Save the . . . Polar Bears. With warming climates these bears are at risk, not because of hunting but because of lack of food and sea ice in the Arctic regions. Most bears can eat a variety of foods. Polar bears are different. They eat mostly seals. One seal can last a polar bear for eleven days. The polar bear body can make fresh water from the seals as well. Also, did you know that a pregnant polar bear can go without food for the last months of her pregnancy? She’s pretty hungry when the cubs are born, so hunting seals becomes a priority. She will teach the cubs to hunt when they are older. When they’re old enough, they’ll move away and start living on their own. But seals live and hide their young on sea ice. With global warming, there’s less of that ice to find. When food is scarce polar bears have been known to enter villages. But that’s very rare.

When I first started researching this book that there were 19 populations of polar bears being studied. But NASA had been secretly tracking a 20th population for several years. Those polar bears were found with the help of indigenous tribes. They didn’t rely on sea ice for survival. Could studying the new population give us clues on how to save all the other groups of polar bears too?

polar bears

Photo by Hans-Jurgen Mager on Unsplash

Who is tracking?

There are many organizations, sanctuaries and museums listed in the books. Here are a few to get started.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) keeps track of efforts around the world. They’ve studied 138,000 species so far and rates them based on level of endangerment. There is a significant amount of information on animals you might be interested in studying. The link takes you to their “red list” for endangered animals.

Polar Bears International. They have scientists, Zoom sessions, web cams and tons of information kids might find useful (teachers and librarians too). Too much to describe here.

The Global Tiger Forum is an international group working to conserve tigers in the wild.

International Whaling Commission – has 88 member countries and is responsible for whale management and conservation.

Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s global efforts help save wildlife species from extinction. They train future generations of conservationists at research facilities around the world.

What can you do? There are many ways but here are a few tips to get started:

Recycling is a good easy way to start. A lot of animals are harmed by plastics which make their way into the environment and into the oceans. Better yet, can you reduce the amount of plastic you buy? How about filling a water bottle that can be washed and reused?

Don’t buy clothes or jewelry made from animal parts. That decreases the reasons to hunt animals.

Donate to organizations that help save animals. Even a small amount will help increase animal chances of survival. And the money will help create or sustain habitats that provide a safe environment for animals to raise their young.

Look at ingredient labels on foods and other household items. Avoid ones made with palm oil. Healthy forest habitats are torn down and replaced with palm oil farms. That not only hurts the animals but hurts our environment as well. Forest are like lungs for the planet.

Know that a single individual can make a huge difference in healing our planet. Learning about animals is great way to start. The bonus is that many of their survival skills can prove useful if you’re ever in danger. Where to find shelter, food and warmth. How to avoid predators. Don’t forget, humans are animals too.

 

author christine Taylor-butler

Photo by Kecia Stovall

Your host is Christine Taylor-Butler, MIT nerd and author of Bathroom Science, Sacred Mountain: Everest, Genetics, and many other nonfiction books for kids. She is also the author of the middle grade sci-fi series The Lost Tribes. Follow @ChristineTB on Twitter and/or @ChristineTaylorButler on Instagram

STEM Tuesday– Survival Science — Writing Tips & Resources

One often forgets that “Species Survival” can apply to one’s very own environment. My own home is in a thickly populated area – highways, houses and apartments, stores – but nature is still here. Species Survival is more than tigers and whales. It also applies to the species we take for granted because we see them every day, including insects, small animals, native plants, and – the focus of this post – trees.

I find many of my friends have no idea what kind of trees they see and encounter. A project for classroom or life is learning to identify trees. There are lots of resources. I found this fabulous, friendly book, published in 1963, and still available. Tree Finder: A Manual for Identification of Trees by Their Leaves (Eastern US) is currently available at Indiebound. The illustrations are charming and would be very helpful to anyone wanting to learn about trees. It’s a good size to carry around with you.

Tree Finder Book

Another resource is The Sibley Guide to Trees, by David Allen Sibley. There’s a lot of reading but you can find other tree identifiers besides leaves, useful if you are looking in winter.

Sibley Guide to Trees book

The US Forest Service provides lots of technical information about the state of trees and forests. I was able to find a whole section of tree material at https://www.fs.usda.gov/learn/trees. In addition, they have many publications for different localities. I was able to find Southern New England Forests to research trees in my own area.

Southern New England Forest Report

A fun and useful project with leaves is leaf printing. You can make paintings, wall hangings, journal pages, even tee shirts, depending on the ink you use. The basic method is to roll the ink onto a leaf and then with a brayer, spoon, press, or baren transfer the leaf pattern to the surface where you want the image.

There is plenty of information about leaf printing online, and here are some books are linked below.

An activity for both adults and kids is a tree journal or a nature journal. No particular artistic ability is needed because it can be filled with casual sketches, notes, materials pasted in. In the interest of species survival, I suggest a notebook or sketchbook made from recycled materials. Some places are listed below.

A nature notebook would follow in a long line of past documenters of nature. Beatrix Potter, the creator of Peter Rabbit, was a dedicated nature journalist. Her exceptional artwork, along with a dedication to preserving England’s rural history, has contributed to preserving the beautiful countryside in the Lake District.

The Art of Beatrix Potter book

Claire Walker Leslie has many books out on journalling. I attended a workshop with her many years ago and was greatly influenced. I have kept visual journals ever since. I highly recommend Keeping a Nature Journal, 3rd Edition: Deepen Your Connection with the Natural World All Around You. The value of keeping a journal goes beyond documenting your world, it provides a creative outlet that often helps almost as a form of meditation and contributes to mental and emotional well-being.

Keeping a Nature Journal book

Here are links to the resources above.

*Books

Tree Finder: A Manual for Identification of Trees by Their Leaves (Eastern US)

https://bookshop.org/p/books/tree-finder-a-manual-for-identification-of-trees-by-their-leaves-eastern-us-may-theilgaard-watts/9383958?ean=9780912550015

Sibley Guide to Trees

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-sibley-guide-to-trees-david-allen-sibley/8494373?ean=9780375415197

Sibley Flash Cards

https://bookshop.org/p/books/sibley-tree-identification-flashcards-100-trees-of-north-america-david-allen-sibley/18815381?ean=9780593578551

*Leaf printing.

Nature print paper

https://www.dickblick.com/products/nature-print-paper/

Leaf print set

https://www.dickblick.com/products/leaf-print-set/

*Nature journalling.

The Art of Beatrix Potter: Sketches, Paintings, and Illustrations

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-art-of-beatrix-potter-sketches-paintings-and-illustrations-emily-zach/7573157?ean=9781452151274

Keeping a Nature Journal, 3rd Edition: Deepen Your Connection with the Natural World All Around You.

https://bookshop.org/p/books/keeping-a-nature-journal-3rd-edition-deepen-your-connection-with-the-natural-world-all-around-you-clare-walker-leslie/14822440?ean=9781635862287

Earth-friendly notebooks.

Best of luck with getting to know your own locality.

Margo Lemieux is retired from teaching art at Lasell University and has been journalling most of her life.

STEM Tuesday– Survival Science — In the Classroom

 

When we talk about animals, we are usually talking about their biological make-up: How they look, what they eat, where they live, and how they interact with other animals. But this month we are focusing on a different topic. It’s more about how animals survive in the wild. This is an important idea and one that is a good to explore with your students. Especially because as climates change and humans move into their habitats, animals are needing to work harder to survive.

There are many great books to use in the classroom on our Species Survival  list this month. Here are a few activities that you can use in your classroom:

 

Hopping Ahead of Climate Change book

Hopping Ahead of Climate Change: Snowshoe Hares, Science, and Survival

by Sneed Collard

This book takes a look at whether animals are able to adapt to climate change to survive. The snowshoe hare is white because normally it is found in areas with a lot of snow. But if those areas have shorter snow periods, its white coat, which normally allows it to hide in plain sight, becomes a very big hindrance. So much so, that it makes itself stand out amongst the greens and browns of the trees, grass, and dirt. This is makes it easy prey for a predator!

 

 

Classroom Activity

What traits do animals have that allow them to blend in with their surroundings. Have the students do some research to discover three animals that use their colors as camoflauge  They can start with the snowshoe hare, but come up with two more. There are many of them to choose from. If they can’t think of any, prompt them with: Snake, shark, giraffe, tigers, etc.  Using these animals, have students answer the following questions:

  1. How does the color of the animal help them to blend in with their surroundings?
  2. Does this animal have a pattern that also helps? and if so, how?
  3. Do you think these colors and patterns help them during specific times of the year?
  4. Would their colors and patterns help more in particular seasons of the year or not?
  5. How would that change if the seasons were lengthened or shortened due to climate change?

Have a discussion with the class. Maybe even have the students draw their animals in their original habitat before and after climate change effects to see the difference.

 

History Comics: The American Bison: The Buffalo’s Survival TaleThe American Bison book

Written and illustrated by Andy Hirsch

While some may be familiar with the history of how great herds of bison roamed across the plains, it might come as a surprise that these creatures not only benefited Native Americans, but also the land on which they lived. This book explores the fascinating ecologicial “triangle” relationship between bison, the prairie grasses of the West, and the Native Americans that lived there. The graphic novel form makes this book easily accessible and fun for kids to read and offers great imagery for teachers to use in their classroom.

Classroom Activity

How can animals actually benefit the environment in which they live? Bison used their own mucus (or snot) to reseed grasses across the prairie. Read the book to learn more about this fascinating trait that allowed bison to also digest the grasses and eat them. Without the bison, the prairie grass had a difficult time growing and expanding across the land. How did the Native Americans help? They provided places with lots of grass for the bison to graze. Discuss how this worked for that environment.

  1. How exactly did the bison use their mucus to eat food?
  2. How were the microbes in the soil beneficial to the bison?
  3. What is cellulose and why is it so hard to digest?
  4. How did the Native Americans use the grasses to bring bison to their area?

Have a discussion with the class about what they have discovered. Can you think of other animals that might have a similar relationship to their own environment?

 

The Nocturnals Explore Unique Adaptations of Nighttime AnimalsUnique Adaptations of Nighttime Animals

Written by Tracey Hecht

This book takes a look at species survival from the point of view of nocturnal animals. But it presents lesser known animals like the pangolin, woylie, tuatara, aya-aye, and jerboa. It not only features facts but also includes narrative stories about each animal so children can learn about the animals’ nocturnal habits and special adaptations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classroom Activity

Have a discussion about nocturnal animals and how they interact with their environments. The cool thing about this book is that it allows for a discussion about nocturnal animals that students may not be familiar with.

  1. What traits make an animal nocturnal?
  2. How are nocturnal animals different from diurnal or crepucular?
  3. Why do you think it might be more difficult for an animal that comes out at night to survive?
  4. Learn about two or three unusual nocturnal animals that you may not have known

Have students pick one nocturnal animal, unknown to them, and draw it, give 3 clues about its habitat, and discuss how it might survive. Have them present their animals to the class. You could even do this as a “Name that animal” type of game and have the student give clues while the other members of the class guess what it is.

 

The other books in this list all lend themselves to wonderful discussions in the classroom about how animals survive in the wild. Many of these authors also have more information on their websites. So be sure to check them out! This is a great topic for getting your students excited about animals, and getting them to explore unusual environments as they consider how they have a impact on the world.

 

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Jennifer Swanson author

Jennifer Swanson is the award-winning author of 50 books for kids. She is passionate about STEM/STEAM and is the creator of  STEM Tuesday, STEAMTeam Books, and the Solve It! for Kids Podcast. Her views on writing are “For me, writing STEM/STEAM books is about having a conversation with a young reader. It’s about getting them excited about the topic so that they get curious, ask questions, and want to explore more on their own.” www.jenniferswansonbooks.com