Posts Tagged book clubs

Books to Inspire You to Explore the Outdoors (safely)

By Jennifer Swanson on June 22, 2020 / Articles, STEM

Hopefully this blog post finds you all well and safe. I’m imaging it also finds you perhaps a bit anxious to get outside. After all, it is summer, and while I don’t know what the weather is like where you live, here in Florida, it’s glorious! A perfect time to get out and about and explore.

But what if where you live it’s not the right time to get out much yet. What can you do to keep your kids — and yourselves — occupied for the next few weeks while things open up? What can you do? Why not bring the outdoors inside or at the very least get creative with your own little outdoor spot. I’m talking about getting creative with SCIENCE outside. (come on, if you know me, you knew this was going to be a science post) 😁

Are you ready to get your outdoor science on? GREAT! —> Head to your bookshelf!

That’s right, inspiration for how to imagine, invent and discover great outdoor science is right there among the books.

What are you interested in? Bugs? Moths? Birds? Cool!

Check out a few of these books.

Or perhaps you have more of a technology bent and want to understand how animals and technology go together.

For that check out my new book BEASTLY BIONICS

And who says that animals are the only bits of science you can see outside or around your house? What about cars? or buildings?

Finally, what if you are just inspired to invent something? Try out these fun new books

For MORE great ideas of how to use STEM/STEAM books to create fun at home,

check out our STEM Tuesday Blog, which has three years worth of activities for kids/parents/teachers —

and also STEAMTEAM2020 website which highlights new books coming out in 2020!

Now that your interest has been piqued, it’s time to DO something with your new knowledge.

Your challenge is to observe, design, draw, build and create something new.

Come up with a new type of animal– one that doesn’t exist but you think it should
Design a new type of bionic robot that mimics the way an animal moves or reacts that would be helpful to humans
Draw a picture of a car or building that would be awesome to drive or live in
Write a story about your creation and share it with your friends and family
Make a game or puzzle for others to try to guess what you drew
Turn your living room into a new type of ecosystem (be sure to ask your parent’s permission) and take everyone on a safari

Science really IS all around you. It starts with your imagination. Time to let that imagination and inspiration SOAR!

I’d love to see what you come up with. Leave a comment/picture below and you’ll be entered to win a copy of my new Beastly Bionics book!

Happy inventing!

STEM Tuesday– SHARKS! — Book List

By STEM Tuesday on June 9, 2020 / Sharks, STEM Tuesday

Sharks fascinate us and scare us at the same time. They can seem scary with their sleek primitive bodies and sharp teeth, but mostly they’re misunderstood. Dive into these books for an up-close look at the science of sharks and why we need to keep them in our oceans.

Smart About Sharks by Owen Davey

Davey’s detailed illustrations give this book teeth! He gives readers a deep dive in deadly and not-so-deadly shark species. This survey look at sharks provides readers with everything they want to know about sharks and more. Did you know that shark teeth aren’t all the same?

The Great White Shark Scientist by Sy Montgomery, photographys by Keith Ellengoben

Join Montgomery on another scientific adventure with great white shark scientist, Greg Skomal. He wonders if Cape Cod might be a breeding ground for great whites. This Scientists in the Field title demonstrates how humans sometimes have to embrace their fears to save the world’s valuable creatures.

The Great Shark Rescue: Saving the Whale Sharks by Sandra Markle

Whale sharks are the largest fish on the planet, but unfortunately face threats from commercial fishing and climate change. Markle follows scientists working to protect these gentle giants of our ocean. Readers will learn how these sharks differ from their perceptions of the dangerous creatures they are taught to fear.

We Need Sharks (The Animal Files) by Lisa Bullard

Every living thing has a place in the food web, sharks included. Bullard’s book explores the roles sharks play in ocean ecosystems and the various threats sharks face because of human habits. Hurrah for sharks!

Sharks Are Awesome by Patricia Hutchison

Loaded with cool shark facts and colorful photos, this book is sure to please a young shark enthusiast.

World’s Weirdest Sharks by Paul Mason

When you think SHARK, the great white or maybe even the hammerhead pop into your mind, but there are more than 500 species of sharks in our ocean. Mason highlights the weirdest and most bizarre. Cool photos throughout this title.

Amazing Sharks (Animals Are Wild!) by Steve Parker

Why are sharks such efficient predators? Parker examines their teeth, fins, body shape, hunting practices, and other adaptations that make sharks so successful in their ocean habitat.

Pocket Genius: Sharks: Facts at Your Fingertips by DK Publishing

A compact book for on-the-go young readers. Facts about more than 150 sharks and rays.

The Truth About Great White Sharks by Mary M. Cerullo and Jeffrey L. Rotman

Great white sharks are probably the most well-known, and most feared, species of shark. Their photos grace the cover of nearly every shark book on the market, but what’s fact and what’s fiction about these ancient predators? Find out in this colorful book with a huge gatefold image that will wow young readers.

The Ultimate Book of Sharks by Brian Skerry

For true shark lovers! This book by National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry features every species of shark on Earth. Young readers will line up for the real-life encounters, cutting edge science, and insider shark behavior information.

Mission Shark Rescue by Ruth Musgrave

We like this title because of the hands-on activities and the ideas young readers can implement to save endangered sharks. It doesn’t matter where you live – everyone can make a difference in helping our ocean creatures.

HISTORICAL FICTION

I Escaped The World’s Deadliest Shark Attack: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis, WWII by Scott Peters and Ellie Crowe

A riveting piece of historical fiction that explores the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. The ship sank in 12 minutes an the survivors spent four days fighting off the deadliest shark attack in history. The authors use a 16-year-old protagonist to tell the story of these brave men.

I Survived: The Shark Attacks of 1916 by Lauren Tarshis

In the summer of 1916, the Jersey shore was terrorized by a great white shark. Tarshis’ historical fiction title, uses the events of 1916 to frame her story.

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, a Green Earth Book Award for Plastic, Ahoy!, and a Eureka! Gold Medal from the California Reading Association for Zoo Scientists to the Rescue. 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. Stay tuned for her upcoming Planet Ocean – fall 2020.

STEM Tuesday– Symbiotic Relationships– Book List

By STEM Tuesday on May 5, 2020 / STEM Tuesday, Symbiotic Relationships

Symbiosis is a close and long-term biological relationship between two different species. Sometimes both benefit. Sometimes only one benefits. So you might want to study up before you develop that new “friendship” …

Natural Attraction: A Field Guide to Friends, Frenemies, and Other Symbiotic Animal, by Iris Gottlieb

Watercolor illustrations combine with a humorous, scientific text to examine thirty-five odd and unusual symbiotic animal, plant, and bacteria relationships. It includes statistics, graphs, takeaways, and fun additional facts about mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism.

Symbiosis, by Alvin Silverstein

Photographs and a sprinkling of fun fact sidebars enhance the examination of plants, animals and fungi partnerships (both beneficial and necessary), symbiosis of numerous parasites and microorganisms (including Ebola and SARS), and the possibility of symbionts from space. The engaging text is supplemented with scientific terms, a glossary, and further research suggestions.

Partners in the Sea, by Mary Jo Rhodes and David Hall

You’ve probably heard about cleaner fish, but there are so many more undersea partnerships. There are fish that hang out in anemones, tiny crabs and shrimps that live inside sponges, and a bunch of animals that partner up with algae.

There’s A Zoo on You! by Kathy Darling

You share your body with more than a thousand microscopic species of bacteria, fungi, and other too-small to see organisms. Some are beneficial, such as tooth amoebas that eat bacteria. Others, like some fungi, take advantage of the relationship by benefiting at our expense.

It’s a Fungus Among Us: The Good, the Bad & the Downright Scary, by Carla Billups and Dawn Cusick

Most land plants live in a symbiotic relationship with fungi, and use the fungal web to share information with their plant buddies in the garden, field, and woods. Some animals develop beneficial partnerships with fungi, too – but others are attacked by fungal parasites.

Things That Make You Go Yuck! Odd Couples, by Jenn Dlugos & Charlie Hatton

Everything on earth is involved in a symbiotic relationship, some good and some bad. Amazing close-up photographs coupled with trivia questions, humor, sidebars, and a dash of gross-out facts makes this book on animal, plant, and microorganism adaptation and survival an entertaining and educational read about some unusual and creepy relationships.

Forest Talk: How Trees Communicate, by Melissa Koch

Trees are talking all around us, using an underground network of fungi and roots to communicate with one another. They also share chemical messages from their leaves, sending defense signals to other plants when pests attack.

Plant Partnerships, by Joyce Pope

An examination of the dependence of numerous plants and lichen on other plants and animals for their habitat or survival. Covers instances of symbiosis, parasitism, gardening, and pollination by insects and mammals.

STEM Tuesday book list prepared by:

Sue Heavenrich writes about science for children and their families, from space to backyard ecology. A long line of ants marching across the kitchen counter inspired her first article for kids. When not writing, she’s committing acts of citizen science in the garden. She blogs about science for kids and families at archimedesnotebook.blogspot.com.

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.

Posts Tagged book clubs

Books to Inspire You to Explore the Outdoors (safely)

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