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STEM Tuesday
  • Find Awesome STEM books, classroom activities, writing tips, and MORE
    Find Awesome STEM books, classroom activities, writing tips, and MORE
    April 29, 2025 by
    Looking for STEM books and activities to use in your classroom or homeschool? Our STEM Tuesday post has that all and MORE. STEM Tuesday shines the light on books about this amazing and critical topic. With all that is going on in the news lately, it is more important than ever to introduce young readers to the FUN and exciting STEM books that are out there. STEM books ENGAGE. EXCITE. and INSPIRE young and old readers alike. ] Image by Freepik.com   They encourage students to ask questions, have discussions, engage in problem-solving, and interact across boundaries of knowledge. They invite readers to notice the science all around them! If you’ve always wondered where to find out about the great new middle grade  titles in STEM , look no further.  You have FOUND your spot! It’s Searchable! With over 50 different topics, you’ll find just the right book, activity, or writing tip you need! https://fromthemixedupfiles.com/stem-tuesday/     How does STEM Tuesday work?  EVERY MONTH  we highlight...
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  • STEM Tuesday-- Naturalists-- Author Interview: Danna Staaf
    STEM Tuesday– Naturalists– Author Interview: Danna Staaf
    April 22, 2025 by
    Welcome to STEM Tuesday: Author Interview, a repeating feature for the last Tuesday of every month. Go Science-Tech-Engineering-Math! Today we’re featuring Danna Staaf, a marine biologist and author of several science books. Her book The Lady and the Octopus: How Jeanne Villepreux-Power Invented Aquariums and Revolutionized Marine Biology garnered these reviews: Notable Award Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year, 2023 Booklist Top 10 History for Youth, 2023 Booklist Top 10 Science and Technology Books for Youth, 2023 Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) Choices, 2023 Booklist Top 10 Biographies & Memoirs for Youth, 2023 School Library Journal Best Book of 2022   Andi Diehn: I love your sidebar in the first few pages about historic accuracy and doing our best with what we know until we can add to that knowledge. Why include this? Danna Staaf: Honesty really is the best policy, especially when talking to children....
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    STEM Tuesday– Naturalists– Writing Tips & Resources
    April 15, 2025 by
    Hello again, STEM Tuesday friends. Here in Utah the spring has been iffy, with bitter winds and snow as recently as two weeks ago. Now that the air is warm and filled with little white blossoms from the cherry trees, it seems like we’re finally close to summer. With the warming weather, and our monthly theme of naturalists, my first impulse is to recommend a nature walk. When I was young, I loved looking at different leaf shapes, and feeling their various textures. I remember washing out an Altoids tin and keeping an assortment of dried flowers, twigs, and rocks. These sorts of outings are timeless. It being poetry month, I have a wonderful resource for you: a book about writing nature poems, written for and featuring young poets called A Crow Doesn’t Need a Shadow: A Guide to Writing Poetry From Nature by Lorraine Ferra. Indeed, the first chapter...
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  • STEM Tuesday-- Naturalists-- In the Classroom
    STEM Tuesday– Naturalists– In the Classroom
    April 8, 2025 by
      Instead of just reading about ecosystems or food chains in a textbook, naturalists are out in the world seeing it happen —watching ants build a colony, seeing mushrooms grow after rain, or noticing how birds behave at different times of day. These books explore naturalists, what they do, and how you can be a naturalist too. They make a great starting point for nature explorations, classroom discussions, and activities!   I Begin with Spring: The Life and Seasons of Henry David Thoreau  by Julie Dunlap and Megan Elizabeth Baratta Henry Thoreau collected leaves and arrowheads from a young age. He could tell when skunk cabbage was blooming by smelling the air. As an adult, he kept copious notes about nature, sending samples and observations to scientists. Observant readers will enjoy the timeline that runs along the bottom of the pages. Back matter dives into phenology (botanical signs of the...
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Contributors

Photo of Lydia Lukidis

Lydia Lukidis

Website: http://www.lydialukidis.com/

Biography

Lydia Lukidis is the author of 48 trade and educational books, as well as 31 e-Books. Her latest STEM book, THE BROKEN BEES’ NEST (Kane Press, 2019), was nominated for a CYBILS Award, and her forthcoming STEM book, DEEP, DEEP, DOWN: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench will be published by Capstone in 2023. Lydia writes for children aged 3-12, and her artistic mandate is to inspire and enlighten. A science enthusiast from a young age, she now incorporates her studies in science and everlasting curiosity into her books. For more information, please visit http://www.lydialukidis.com.