Posts Tagged book lists

STEM Tuesday– The Science of Art– Book List

 

 

 

Scientists follow a variety of paths as they engage in their work;  some of them may surprise you. Explore the intersection of art and science by looking at the titles below. You won’t be disappointed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Folding Tech: Using Origami and Nature to Revolutionize Technology by Karen Kenney

Origami, the ancient art of paper-folding is increasingly being used to stunning effects to solve some of the most pressing problems in the world today. This book takes a look at all those technologies that use folding – proteins, space probes, self-assembling robots, and many more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Science and Technology of Leonardo da Vinci by Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan and Micah Rauch

With a mix of invention, experimentation, and art, Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest thinkers of all time, gave the world a number of new insights into science, engineering, and much more. With STEM activities and questions to think about, this book encourages children to look at our world in a deeper and more connected way.

 

 

 

 

 

The Science of Fashion (Inquire & Investigate) by Julie Danneberg and  Michelle Simpson

Discover the science behind clothes! Be it sneakers or shirts, clothes and accessories need to be created and arrive on shelves for you to wear. Taking a look at the fashion industry and the science behind it is what this book is all about. Fun and interactive with hands-on projects for readers, you’ll think twice about your clothes after reading this book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Biesty’s Incredible Cross-Sections of Everything by Richard Platt and Stephen Biesty

Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to have x-ray vision? Wonder no more! Explore what your favorite things look like, and how they are made, by looking inside them. From a doughnut to a spacesuit, you’ll get a view that might surprise you. With the help of Chester the Tester, and his sidekick the Inspector, you’ll learn about how things are made and enjoy every minute.

 

 

 

 

Science Art and Drawing Games for Kids: 35+ Fun Art Projects to Build Amazing Science Skills by Karyn Tripp

If you want to discover how science and art intersect, this is the book for you! With more than 35 hands-on activities, there are plenty of projects to choose from that will give readers engaging insight into the world of science. From paintballs to mazes, this book proves that science can be fun – and artistic too!

 

 

 

 

Mimic Makers: Biomimicry Inventors Inspired by Nature by Kristen Nordstrom and Paul Boston

Nature is the inspiration for many inventors; from engineers to designers. In this engaging book, you’ll meet ten scientists who use plants and animals as the starting point for creating new technology. It’s called biomimicry. What they’ve designed will inspire you to take a closer look at mother nature and perhaps invent something of your own.

 

 

My Crazy Inventions Sketchbook: 50 Awesome Drawing Activities for Young Inventors by Lisa Regan and Andrew Rae. 

If you like to invent, this is the book for you! With inspiration from actual inventions too crazy to be real, this book is designed to get your creativity in gear. There’s a lot to explore in this book, with page after page of ideas and innovations – once you read it you’ll be ready to invent something yourself! 

 

 

 

 

 

From Here to There: Inventions That Changes the Way the World Moves by Vivian Kirkfield and Gilbert Ford

Have you ever wondered where cars and rockets came from? Someone had to invent them. This book takes you back in time to when these everyday objects weren’t invented yet. You’ll meet the men and women who invented new ways to travel, discover what made them curious, and learn how what they created changed the world. 

 

 

 

 

Inside in: X-Rays of Nature's Hidden World - Schutten, Jan Paul

 

Inside In: X-Rays of Nature’s Hidden World by Jan Paul Schutten and Arie Van ‘t Riet

Who knew X-rays could be so jaw-droppingly beautiful! Using amazing X-ray photographs, this book shows us creatures and their natural habitats in unique ways. This book is a perfect blend of science and art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science

 

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman

A nonfiction biography of Maria Sibylla Merian, one of the first people to observe and document live insects, and one of the first to observe the life cycle of a butterfly, something we all know and take for granted now. The book has original illustrations by Maria Merian herself! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Susan Summers can be found exploring and trying to identify any plants and animals she comes across. Visit her at her website: https://susan-inez-summers.weebly.com/

 

 

Shruthi Rao is at home among the trees. Her home on the web is https://shruthi-rao.com 

 

STEM Tuesday– Extinction– Author Interview with Anita Sanchez

Interview with Author Anita Sanchez

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

Today we’re interviewing the amazing Anita Sanchez, environmental scientist and the author of Save The . . . Whale Sharks. The book is part of a series created by Chelsea Clinton about animals at risk of extinction. Anita’s book is a fascinating look at the one of the world’s most mysterious animals – one that may be at risk of extinction. Kirkus Review calls her book, “Eloquent and informative.

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Christine Taylor-Butler: Anita, you are the award winning author of a number of books centered around our natural environment. You write with such passion for young readers and it shows in your body of work. What do you want readers to know about you?

Anita Sanchez: From the time I was a little kid I’ve been interested in nature. I grew up in a suburban apartment, but behind it was a belt of woods and I could wander off. So many children don’t have access to experiences like that. They walk out of their homes and they’re on a mowed lawn or a paved street instead of climbing a tree or swimming in a pond. I was lucky to be surrounded by natural things I could explore.

CTB: So you grew up surrounded by nature. Did you follow that passion towards a career in the field?

Anita: I did. I graduated from Vassar with a degree in Ecology and Conservation. Afterwards I worked for many years for the New York State Department for Conservation. I worked in the field taking people of all ages on nature walks and showing them how incredible the world around them can be. Over the course of my career I learned how to get kids excited about nature. I discovered that some kids are fearful about being out in nature. It’s interesting to read about far away rain forests, for example, but I try to get kids interested in the nature that surrounds them, in their school grounds and backyards.

CTB: Of course a natural extension of that became writing books to reach a broader audience?

Anita: Most of my books are an attempt to get people to appreciate the beauty of nature. To make people look at things in a different light. One of the things that happened during  the quarantine was nature center memberships began skyrocketing. People discovered the healing power of nature. When I was teaching I would take children across the field and into the woods. It was a new experience for many of them. I’m very determined to make learning a hands-on experience.

CTB: You wanted to encourage children to stop and look closer at the living things that make up their environment.

Anita: Exactly! I wrote a nonfiction book about mud puddles. “Hello Puddle” is set in a tiny suburban backyard. It shows all the animals that come to visit the puddle: worms, slugs, bugs, and birds. We don’t look closely at them or see them as a habitat for other species.

I also wrote a book about dandelions. Many people loathe them and treat them like weeds to eliminate. But they are rich in nectar and can spell life or death for honey bees. So while people see them in a negative light, I try to explain they have tremendous value to nature and the ecosystem.

CTB: You even wrote two books about poison ivy. Leaflets three, let it be! and In Praise of Poison Ivy. It’s hard to believe there is a redeeming value to the poison ivy I’m trying to rid my yard of.

Dermatologists have estimated that one ounce of urushiol would be enough to give a rash to thirty million people.”

Anita. Even poison ivy has value. Did you know that humans are the only species that get itchy from exposure to the oil? Yes, it affects only us. But out in the woods it’s a wonderful plant for wildlife. So in my books I teach readers “Here’s how you identify it and avoid it.” But I also explain about the animals that survive on it. Animals, birds and butterflies snack on the leaves and nectar without harm. It’s fascinating.

 

CTB: More recently you were both asked to write three books for Chelsea Clinton’s new Save The . . . (Animals) series. The first is whale sharks, followed by giraffes and gorillas. How did that come about?

Anita: Philomel reached out through my agent and asked me to write for the series. The books all needed to follow a specific format. I liked that the first two chapters were focused on learning about the animals instead of starting with their risk of extinction. I read a quote once, “In the end, we only conserve what we love.” I thought, “children have to fall in love with the animals first.” I wanted them to think “Wow, whale sharks are so cool.” I introduce their amazing habitats and how mysterious they are. The third chapter then talks about how and why they are at risk of disappearing. But we end with the fourth chapter that explains all the amazing things people are doing to try to save them and what kids can do.

CTB: Most people are surprised at how much research we have to put into books like these, even when they are aimed at younger readers. What was your process like?

Anita: Writing about animals was different because I usually write about subjects closer to home. With whale sharks I found there weren’t a lot of current books on the topic. In the old days I’d go to the library and read everything I could find. But now things are changing so much that scientists are discovering things every month. The internet is a wonderful tool for scientists to update quickly. There are many scientific papers that you can decipher to get the data you need.

CTB: Agreed. I found even with tigers pandemic shutdowns made sourcing books from libraries harder. And what I found often wasn’t current. But there was a lot of scientific research from organizations, museums and universities available. What was one of your takeaways from the process that teachers and students can learn from?

Anita: I discovered scientists don’t always agree. When researching giraffes, for example, I communicated with four different groups of scientists who were passionate about their information, But their information didn’t always agree with what other scientists were saying (how many species, etc.) If you ask ten different scientists you’ll get eleven different answers!

CTB: Even with scientific research the data was not always in agreement. At school visits I always tell students to use more than one source when writing classroom assignments and if they don’t agree, find out why.

Anita: Young readers think scientists know everything. But there’s so much changing about what we know in the moment and so much left to learn. Here’s a good example. Whale sharks are fascinating and mysterious. I tried to make that the theme of the book. Scientists haven’t even scratched the surface on their research. We don’t know why whale sharks go where they go. Or how deep they swim. No one has observed whale sharks giving birth. And here’s another mystery: whale sharks have thousands of teeth but they don’t chew anything.

Photo by Jennifer McKinney. Source NOAA Fisheries

CTB: You and I have the same philosophy about why we write STEM for young people. That books are a jumping off point. It’s not about reading to get answers for the test, but to use the information to better observe the world around you.

Anita: Yes. I want to tell young readers, “This is what you can do when you become a wildlife biologist. This is the mystery you can solve.” For instance whale sharks are so elusive. They will dive a mile deep in the ocean and then turn up a thousand miles away. So it’s not about reading to answer questions on a test, it’s about thinking, “I can do that when I’m older. Search for answers to mysteries we haven’t solved yet and ask questions we haven’t thought to ask. That’s what I hope for when readers dive in to my books. That’s what I love about this current series. We present the animal, show where the problems are that are putting them at risk, then showing readers ways to be part of the solution even at a young age.”

CTB: You’ve been a great asset to the field of conservation and to children’s STEM literature. Are there other books on the horizon that we should be watching out for?

Anita: I’m excited to have several books coming out that were delayed due to Covid-19 and supply chain issues:

Melt Down (Workman publishing) is my book about glaciers and how they’re impacted by climate change. There are more than 100,000 glaciers and they hold 75 percent of Earth’s fresh water. But they’re at risk now. This was a hard book for me to write because there is a lot of bad news about what is happening to them. But I do suggest action kids can take. I want them to feel like they have the power to be activists. I suggest career possibilities they can pursue if they’re interested in saving the planet. It debuts on November 1 Workman.

 

The Monkey Trial is a book about the Scopes Trial in 1925. With all the book banning this will be timely. A teacher was arrested for the crime of teaching about Darwin’s theory of evolution. Two years from now will be the centennial of that trial. We risk repeating that era now: teachers and librarians being turned into the bad guys and dragged into the court for teaching. John Scopes read aloud from an authorized textbook. It was a single paragraph. But that violated Tennessee law and he was put on trial.

 

The Forest in the Sea comes out February 2023 from Holiday House. I write about about seaweed and how it can provide solutions to planetary problems. Not only is it a habitat for aquatic life, but it can remove toxins so it has possibilities for water filtration. Seaweed also creates half the air we breathe. It can be feed to livestock to reduce the methane gas. So the book is about seaweed and how to think about it creatively for solving problems. I show readers how to find types of seaweed where they live. I want them to put down the book and go out and explore nature.

 

CTB: Note to readers. Anita’s books are well worth exploring and acquiring for young readers. She’s a STEM trained conservationist who practices what she talks about in her books. Looking beyond the obvious to explore the mysteries in our living world. But also, showing how each of us can find solutions to keep the planet healthy for future generations.

I would like to especially recommend her blog: The Unmowed Corner. with years of essays and articles inviting you to take a closer look at the often unloved plants and animals in nature that surrounds us.

 

Win a FREE copy of Save The . . . Whale Sharks.

Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment below. The randomly-chosen winner will be contacted via email and asked to provide a mailing address (within the U.S. only) to receive the book.

Good luck!

 

Anita Sanchez has written about everything from animals and insects to plants and mud puddles. A graduate of Vassar she started on a life-long career after a summer job leading nature walks. Now she’s an educator who develops curriculum for schools, librarians, museums and arboretums. Her awards have included the Cook Prize Honor book, The American Horticultural Society “Growing Good Kids” award, finalist for AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books, and Bank Street Center for Children’s Literature Best Children’s Books of the year. She has traveled all over the world in search of knowledge about the environment, including diving at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and more recently exploring Egypt. And here’s a fun fact: she’s explored 48 of the 50 states.

To learn more about Anita and her books, please visit www.anitasanchez.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @asanchezauthor

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Christine Taylor-Butler

Your host is Christine Taylor-Butler, MIT engineering nerd, retired college interviewer and author of 95 books for children including Save The . . . Tigers, and many other nonfiction books for kids. She is also the author of the STEM-based middle grade sci-fi series The Lost Tribes. Follow @ChristineTB on Twitter and/or @ChristineTaylorButler on Instagram

All the Fall Feels

As a society, haven’t we all fallen hard for fall in recent years? Perhaps our interest in autumn emanates not just from sweater weather, football games, and fall food favorites, but from the amazing array of emotions that comes with fall. It’s a strangely paradoxical season when you think about it: summer ending, school beginning; energetic colors that burn fiercely before a quick fade; the beginning of the end of another year.

No matter the weather, temperatures, or number of pumpkins in fields near to you, fall in our hemisphere signifies the passage of time; so all those autumn connotations can hold plenty of meaning. No wonder we all want to stroll through leaves and reflect with our you-know-what-spice latte in hand. Thankfully, autumn gives us the ways and means to mindfully reflect on seasons and transitions. For example, we might have a little more home-time with longer stretches of dark. Families settle more deeply into the routine of the school year. And a chill in the air helps along a more meditative feel as we cozy up in hoodies and fleece.

Middle graders are at an excellent age developmentally to take on some of that mindful reflection. They still have a festive appreciation for changing leaves and upcoming holidays, but they are also developing daily their sense of how time passes (as evidenced in their connection to school planners and bell schedules).

For all those reasons, the atmosphere associated with autumn can be inspirational, and you might use that vibe to incorporate some middle grade fall-themed celebratory reflection, writing, and reading in your ELA or homeschool classroom or in your library.

Fall Reflection

  • If permitted to so in your educational setting, students might benefit from experiencing a guided walk outside looking for evidence of the change of seasons.
  • If not, consider video and audio that encapsulates images of seasonal change pertinent to your region—or explore what fall means in other places.
  • If your setting permits independent reading or research into themed topics, consider investigation into the historical importance of the harvest to community and society, the cultural history of Halloween, the notion of “playing” with time in the interest of more daylight, and why pumpkins hold the cultural significance the do. Here are some reads for student interest:

An article with explanations and examples of hygge ; ideas and images for fall based on hygge

Cool facts about and images of pumpkins

A discussion on why we “fall” back and reset clocks in November

An article on the origins and history of Halloween

Fall Writing

Sensory imagery writing is a natural choice for fall; weather, clothing, meals, the look of the light and landscape all set the senses astir. Take students through some imagination activities or pose leading questions about the feel of cold air in the nose, the sound of geese flying south, the surprising heaviness of a jacket after warm days turn chilly. Put imagination generation to work with prompts, discussion, story starters or setting descriptions.

Some autumn-themed quotes for prompts or reflection:

  • “Of all the seasons, autumn offers the most to man and requires the least of him.” – Hal Borland (American writer, journalist, and naturalist)
  • “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” – L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
  • “No spring nor summer hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face.” – John Donne, English poet and scholar
  • “Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.” – Emily Bronte, English novelist
  • “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
  • “Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.” – Stanley Horowitz

 

Fall Reading

Cozy up with some sustained silent reading (or individual listening via audio device) afternoons over the next several weeks in your classroom or library. If permitted in your setting, consider allowing students to bring blankets, warm cocoa, apples or other autumn snacks, or other small comfort factors to enhance the hibernation vibe (without the actual hibernating, of course!) Relaxing with a great book might benefit MG readers ready to experience all the fall feels.

Here’s a varied mix to make the most of fall—some set in autumn, some that feature the passing of symbolic seasons of life, some with reflection and gratitude themes:

The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z by Kate Messner – Gianna’s chances of attending a cross-country tournament depend on her successful completion of a science project requiring the collection of 25 fall leaves.

Turtle Boy by M. Evan Wolkenstein – Introverted 7th grader Will Levine is inspired by RJ, a boy with a terminal disease whom Will meets during his bar mitzvah service project, and takes up RJ’s “bucket list” of adventures.

  Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper – In the autumn season of her 11th year, Stella Mills confronts racism while navigating the challenges of school, family life, and friendship.

Hurricane Season by Nicole Melleby – Sixth grader Fig contends with her father’s mental health challenges during hurricane season in their beach town. (Scholastic notes this book as having mature content.)

October October by Katya Balen – Autumn imagery abounds in this novel featuring 11-year-old October, a girl raised in the woods by her father but compelled to join her mother in busy London after a fateful accident.

The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor – Mason Buttle lost his mom, his grandfather, and his family orchard–along with his best friend Benny. When his current best bud Calvin goes missing, Mason faces loss, harassment from local bullies, and other challenges with pluck and gumption.

Alone by Megan E. Freeman – Twelve-year-old Maddie wakes to discover that her Colorado town is inexplicably abandoned. She must keep her wits and find the courage to survive as the months pass.

Enjoy, and please share your cozy, contemplative MG reads in the comments!