STEM Tuesday — Epic Achievements and Fantastic Failures– Book List

 

Great things can happen even if there are blunders and mishaps along the way. The pathway to great discoveries is always fascinating. This month we are delving into some epic achievements and fantastic failures with some terrific STEM titles that will challenge your thinking.

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org The Wright Brothers: Nose-Diving into History by Erik Slader and Ben Thompson; illustrated by Tim Foley

How could countless crashes lead to such an important success? Erik Slader and Ben Thompson explore the Wright brother’s hard-earned path to an engineering breakthrough that gave humans wings.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org The Wright Brothers for Kids: How They Invented the Airplane, 21 Activities Exploring the Science and History of Flight by Mary Kay Carson

Pair this title with the Wright Brothers Epic Fails title above to compare how the same story can be told in different ways. Carson’s activities give young readers a great introduction to the science of flight with some hands-on investigation.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org The Book of Massively Epic Engineering Disasters: 33 Thrilling Experiments Based on History’s Greatest Blunders by Sean Connolly

This title focuses on the E in STEM. Why did the Titanic sink? Why does the Leaning Tower of Pisa lean? What is the fatal design flaw in the Sherman tank? Connolly explains each disaster, and then includes an experiment using household items to reinforce the science and hands-on inquiry.

 

 

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

This book explores how two Stanford college students developed the most influential and innovative ideas for organizing information on the world wide web. Want to know more about it — Google it!

 

 

Space is a popular topic for young readers. We’ve included four very different titles that describe the challenges of outer space travel.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Countdown: 2979 Days to the Moon by Suzanne Slade and Thomas Gonzales

Countdown tells the true story of the American effort to land the first man on the moon. Told in free verse, it is a great addition to a classroom library poetry/verse STEM collection. It is also an NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Rocket to the Moon  by Don Brown

In this first book of the new graphic novel series, Big Ideas that Changed the World, Don Brown brings his signature award-winning style to a big subject, discussing the people and decisions that went into creating the moon landing in 1969. You’ll be sure to want to check out the upcoming titles in this new series.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

The Race to Space: Countdown to Liftoff by Erik Slader and Ben Thompson; illustrated by Tim Foley 

In book two of Slader and Thompson’s noteworthy Epic Fails series, we read about the failures that made up the race to be the first to explore outer space. Readers might enjoy pairing this with the above title.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org Moon Mission: The Epic 400-Year Journey to Apollo 11 by Sigmund Brouwer

Readers relive every step of the nearly-disastrous Apollo 11 moon landing through the astronauts’ point of view. Told in 11 different episodes, each episode includes the technological advances that made the mission possible.

 

 


STEM Tuesday book lists prepared by:

Nancy Castaldo has written books about our planet for over 20 years including, THE STORY OF SEEDS: From Mendel’s Garden to Your Plate, and How There’s More of Less To Eat Around The World, 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 inspires kids to seek connections between science, literacy, and the environment. The recipient of a Sibert Honor for Sea Otter Heroes, an NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book for Eavesdropping on Elephants, and the 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 be the voice of change. Visit her at www.patriciamnewman.com.

 

 

 

STEM Tuesday
STEM books ENGAGE. EXCITE. and INSPIRE! Join us each week as a group of dedicated STEM authors highlight FUN topics, interesting resources, and make real-life connections to STEM in ways that may surprise you. #STEMRocks!
1 Comment
  1. What a fabulous list! Thanks for including Google It! I’m excited to read all the others!