Gateway STEM
Ocean Fever is alive and well in Northcentral Kansas! You read that correctly. Ocean Fever has hit my home in the heartland. The wave of all things ocean-related has swept up the reading life of a family about as far removed from the ocean as one can be in the continental United States.
It all started with a non-fiction picture book.
The book was SHARKS, a title in the World of Animals Series. It was a book that showed up one day in our home library. I imagine it came from an elementary classroom cull pile from either my wife’s or my daughter’s classroom or a classroom in the schools where they teach. By whatever means, it arrived in our home and quickly became a staple of my two grandkids’ read-aloud pile when they visited.
SHARKS has been read at all times of the day to one or both of them. It is a particular favorite as part of the bedtime reading regimen when they spend the night. The two of them, ages 5 and 3, can recite vital information about the sharks presented in the book and often correctly predict which shark is coming with the page-turn. Their favorite shark, by far, is the hammerhead shark.
This interest in sharks led to my wife ordering another browsable nonfiction book, DK’s Smithsonian book, OCEANS! Our Watery World As You’ve Never Seen It Before. What a monumental hit! We read it at almost every visit. The youngest retrieves the book from the basket as his first choice even back when he could barely carry the book across the room. He knows about every page and can tell me about undersea volcanos and how their lava can form islands. We not only know about sharks, but also about deep-sea vessels, coral reefs, currents, tides, and sea birds. All from the comfort of our Kansas home.
I consider this tangible evidence of the magic of books and the power of STEM nonfiction. The spark ignited in a picture book of sharks, grew into a fire of curiosity about all things ocean-related.
Last December, our family visited the recently opened Sobela Ocean Aquarium at the Kansas City Zoo. It is an excellent facility! Both grandkids were in heaven from the first step inside the building. Their excitement hit a fever pitch at one of the first exhibits. While watching sea turtles, fish, and several species of sharks swim by in the huge tank, a hammerhead shark swam across the glass viewing area mere feet in front of them! Eureka!
We moved through the facility and they correctly identified jellyfish, sea horses, and manta rays. I could see the light in their eyes flash with recognition of creatures from the OCEANS! book. Thank you, DK!
What lesson did this crusty, old STEM Tuesday contributor learn? From his grandkids, he learned we can share and consume all the writing craft and resource information we want but we should never forget or discount the value of our end user…the readers!
STEM not only provides a well of knowledge to readers but STEM can light a fire in them to learn more and experience more in their lives.
Even if that experience is to love sharks and the ocean from their landlocked homes in the middle of the country.
It’s a powerful magic, people!
Mike Hays has worked hard from a young age to be a well-rounded individual. A well-rounded, equal-opportunity sports enthusiast, that is. If they keep a score, he’ll either watch it, play it, or coach it. A molecular microbiologist by day, middle-grade author, sports coach, and general good citizen by night, he blogs about sports/life/training-related topics at www.coachhays.com and writer stuff at www.mikehaysbooks.com. Two of his science essays, The Science of Jurassic Park and Zombie Microbiology 101, are included in the Putting the Science in Fiction collection from Writer’s Digest Books. He can be found roaming around X under the guise of @coachhays64 and @MikeHays64 on Instagram.
The O.O.L.F Files
This month on the Out Of Left Field (O.O.L.F.) Files is all about Oceans. Dive into the links below to explore the depths and maybe even discover something new about life under the sea!
Sobela Ocean Aquarium at the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium
Scholastic Shop link for OCEANS! Our Watery World As You’ve Never Seen It Before
Science and Nature Books from DK Publishing
National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Monterey Bay Aquarium – One of my favorite STEM social media sites to follow!
Artificial Reefs (A nice article explaining artificial reefs with a discussion of the positives and negatives associated with them.)
My 2020 STEM Tuesday Writing Craft & Resources post on Sharks
Why should reading aloud end after early childhood? We don’t suddenly stop finding pleasure in being read to or in 
