Posts Tagged craft

STEM Tuesday — Animal Superpowers — In the Classroom

By on October 12, 2021   /   Animal Superpowers, STEM Tuesday  

Kids love learning about animals—especially ones with superpowers! Use these books from the STEM Tuesday list along with their classroom ideas to let students explore how animals use their amazing skills to survive in nature and help humans too.  

Stronger Than Steel: Spider Silk DNA and the Quest for Better Bulletproof Vests, Sutures, and Parachute Rope by Bridget Heos, photographs by Andy Comins

Can you believe that delicate little spiders can create something with such amazing strength that might someday be used to repair or replace human ligaments? Read all-about it in Heos’ Scientists in the Field title.  

 

Activity

Experiment with different kinds of materials to see which makes the strongest web!

Materials:

  • thread, yarn, or thin stretchy cord
  • bowl
  • objects to put on top of your web (rocks, sticks, fake bugs)

Steps:

  1. Have groups of students choose a type of string to use. Then ask them to wrap the string around the bowl to make a web over the open side. They should think about the pattern of their web as they wrap.
  2. Next tell students to test the strength of their web. Put objects all over their web. Are certain areas stringer than others? How many objects can it hold?
  3. Then ask students to test out a different kinds of string to make a new web. After testing its strength with different objects, ask them: Which web was stronger? Why do you think it was stronger?

 

Check this out!

The author’s classroom discussion and activity guide: https://www.scribd.com/document/135393652/Stronger-than-Steel-Discussion-Guide.  

Super Sniffers: Dog Detectives on the Job by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent  

Explore how dogs use their super sniffing detection skills to help humans.      

 

 

 

Activity

Dogs can smell scents from much farther away than humans. See how close you have to be to detect a certain smell.

Materials:

  • jars with lids
  • cotton balls
  • strong scents (such as perfume, vinegar, coffee, onions, or vanilla extract)
  • measuring tape

Steps:

  1. Soak some cotton balls with strong smelling liquid or cut up onions or other foods that have a strong smell.
  2. Put the stinky cotton balls or food in a jar—one smelly item per jar—and close the lids.
  3. Ask a friend to stand 15 feet away and then open a jar. Can your friend identify what the smell is?
  4. If not, ask your friend to slowly step forward, still smelling, until they can tell you what the scent is. Measure how far away your friend was before identifying the smell.
  5. Repeat with the other jars. Were some smells easier to identify from far away? Were some smells especially difficult?

 

Check this out!

TedEd video about how dogs “see” with their noses: https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/02/17/alexandra-horowitz-dog-animation/.  

 

Superpower Field Guide: Moles and Superpower Field Guide: Eels by Rachel Poliquin, illustrated by Nicholas John Firth

Discover the extraordinary skills of moles and eels in these two guides. Then explore the rest of the series. Poliquin and Firth have two other titles about beavers and ostriches.      

 

 

Activity

Some superpowers are hard to believe–like the eel’s ability to store and discharge electricity! They store electricity like a battery, so try making this battery with a lemon.

Materials:

  • 4 lemons
  • 4 pieces of copper
  • 4 galvanized nails
  • 5 alligator clip wires
  • a light to power

Steps:

  1. Roll lemons on countertop with your hand  to release the juice inside.
  2. Stick one nail and one piece of copper into each lemon.
  3. Use the alligator wire clip next. Attach one wire from an alligator clip to a nail in a lemon and the other wire to a copper piece in another lemon. Continue until all the lemons are connected.
  4. You should have one piece of copper and one nail that are not connected to wires. Connect the copper piece to the positive connection on the light. Connect the galvanized nail to the negative connection.
  5. Turn on the light and it should work with your lemon battery.

 

Check this out!

Superpowered Creature Creator post on the author’s website: http://www.rachelpoliquin.com/superpowered-creature.

 

Further Resources

Check out these sites for more fascinating and fun STEM animal superpower resources:

Hope these activities and resources get your students excited to learn more about animal superpowers!

 

     

 

Karen Latchana Kenney loves to write books about animals, and looks for them wherever she goes—from leafcutter ants trailing through the Amazon rain forest in Guyana, where she was born, to puffins in cliff-side burrows on the Irish island of Skellig Michael. She especially enjoys creating books about nature, biodiversity, conservation, and groundbreaking scientific discoveries—but also writes about civil rights, astronomy, historical moments, and many other topics. She lives in Minnesota with her husband and son, and bikes, hikes, and gazes at the night sky in northern Minnesota any moment she can. Visit her at https://latchanakenney.wordpress.com.

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STEM Tuesday — Reptiles — Writing Tips & Resources

By on September 21, 2021   /   Reptiles, STEM Tuesday  

GREAT REPTILES IN HISTORY

Opening movie scene.

Fade in.

Cue the David Attenborough or Morgan Freeman narrator voice:

GREAT REPTILES IN HISTORY… 

For some reason, the title was the first thing that popped into my head when I sat down to draft this post. I have no reason why. But, what the heck? I felt obligated to the STEM creative muse to run with it.

Great reptiles in history!

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Green_turtle_in_Kona_2008-1024x823.jpg

Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Man alive, there sure are a lot of reptiles. How do you even start to make a list of the greatest ones when they’re all pretty dang awesome?

You start by making a fully-loaded, everything-you-can-think-of list. Just as in writing the first draft of a manuscript, the thing you wish to make won’t be a real thing, a thing full of possibility, until you put it to paper first. 

Nothing can be finished until it is started.

So make your list. Write that first word. And follow it with another. And another. And another. Make it real by making it a real thing.

Make that !@#$% first draft. (That has to be in Morgan Freeman’s narrator voice because David Attenborough’s narrator voice doesn’t seem appropriate saying, “!@#$%”)

Writing and Great Reptile Lists. Great Reptile Lists and writing.

Gadow, Hans, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The important bit in creating something is to first make it happen. Once you make something happen, it exists. If it exists, you can make it better. You can eliminate all the really, really good reptiles from the list to make a better, more meaningful list for someone interested in discovering Great Reptiles in History. With writing, you can cut everything from the !@#$% first draft that doesn’t belong in the story thread to make a more meaningful narrative for the reader.

Once the work exists, it can also be shared with others to mine the expertise and skill of a trusted network. With my now pared-down list of great reptiles, I can share it with other herpetology fans/experts to get their revision ideas, criticism, and advice on which reptiles belong on the list and which don’t. The writer can benefit from critique partners, writing groups, and beta readers to identify what works and what doesn’t. By sharing your work, your work can improve your writing. 

Creating better work. Isn’t that our ultimate goal?

Whether it’s the ultimate list of great reptiles in history, your first manuscript, or your 20th manuscript, get the words down.

Make them real.

Make them better.

Make them available.

Make them shine.

Cue the David Attenborough or Morgan Freeman narrator voice:

GREAT REPTILES IN HISTORY!

APPRECIATE THEM.

TAKE CARE OF THEM.

GIVE THEM THEIR SPACE ON THIS PLANET.

Fade to black.

THE END

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/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 the Twitter-sphere under the guise of @coachhays64.

The O.O.L.F Files

This month’s Out Of Left Field (O.O.L.F.) Files slither into the glorious world of reptiles. By land, by sea, and by air, here are some links to make the herpetologist in all of us a tad bit happier.

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STEM Tuesday — Reptiles — In the Classroom

By on September 14, 2021   /   Reptiles, STEM Tuesday  

I learned quite a bit about reptiles this month by reading the following books from the book list.

World’s Biggest Reptiles by Tom Jackson, illustrated by Vladimir Jevtic Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org
Many different reptiles are represented in this book, representing the biggest of the species. It includes lots of information and fun facts, represented in fun, accessible ways. Each reptile featured has a graphic novel style page and a page with a large photograph and general information. Each also includes an infographic showing the animal’s size relative to an adult human. (One nitpick on the infographic is it’s not clear what size the human is.)

Sneed B Collard III’s Most Fun Book Ever About Lizards by Sneed B. Collard III Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org
This book focuses on (surprise!) lizards. It highlights a few specific species, but is written to give more general information about lizards. It has chapters with titles like “Eating Like a Lizard” and “Lizard Troubles.” The tone is very conversational and fun to read, although some of the references may be a little dated.

Sea Turtles are Awesome by Mirella S. Miller Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org
Since turtles are my favorite reptile, I had to read this book! Like all 12-Story Library books, this one has 12 chapters that can be read in any order. There are lots of great photos and fun facts about sea turtles throughout the book.

 

So what can you do with these books? Here are a few ideas I had…

Check Out the Locals

Research what reptiles you might see in your backyard or local park. Most states have websites with information about the reptiles (and other animals) that can be found there.

This can be a great exercise for entering search parameters into an internet search and evaluating the sources it recommends.

When I enter “New Jersey reptiles” into my search engine, the first four recommended sites are provided by the state of New Jersey, which includes the Division of Fish & Wildlife. Of these, one of my favorite sites is the “Online Field Guide for Reptiles and Amphibians.” Each NJ herp (reptile or amphibian) has a printable fact sheet.

To take this a step further, visit a local park where you might be able to view some of the local reptiles.

Bigger Than…

Each of the books I read talked about the size and speed of different reptiles. This could become a fun and informative activity.

Pick a reptile to do some comparisons on. How long is it? How heavy? How fast does it move? This could come from the books on this month’s list or from research done on local (or other) reptiles.

Once you have the information on your reptile, you need to find things for comparison. Here are some to try:

Bigger than a _____________________.

Smaller than a ____________________.

Faster than a _____________________.

Slower than a _____________________.

These will be based on a number that came from somewhere. That means it should include a source citation. Explore what makes a source credible and see if you can find multiple sources for each fact. You can also practice how to create a bibliography and/or source notes. 

Lots of zoos and aquariums have great resources for researching the animals they have there. Another great resource for animal information is the Animal Diversity Web, produced by the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.

To explore representing information, create infographics that show the relative size and speed of the all the things used in the comparisons.

Participate in the Tour de Turtles

Since 2008, the Sea Turtle Conservancy has been running the Tour de Turtles. Through it, they hope to educate people about sea turtles, how they migrate, and what dangers they face. There is a page dedicated to Teacher Resources, and another for Activities. I love exploring the different turtles and where their travels have been taking them.

In addition to exploring the resources on this web site, you could hold your own Tour de Turtles or Tour de Reptiles. Organize a charity walk/run to raise money for a sea turtle organization like the Sea Turtle Conservancy or other organization that supports turtles and/or reptiles. (This could include organizations that protect lots of different wildlife, like the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ.) To add more education into this exercise, have each participant pick a type of turtle or reptile to research and represent.

Explore Turtle Symbolism

Years ago, we met Native American artist Eli Thomas and bought a print about Turtle Island. It still hangs on our wall, and I still think about the symbolism embedded in it. (You can see the print and read about the symbolism here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/483429848/turtle-art-native-american-art-wolf-art) 

Explore how indigenous people view turtles. Here are a few interesting resources.

The Native American Box Turtle Connection – https://www.stlzoo.org/about/blog/2016/10/13/native-american-box-turtle-connection

From Voices of Indian Country: https://blog.nativehope.org/native-american-animals-turtle-keya

Read and explore Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back by Joseph Buchac and Jonathan London, illustrated by Thomas Locker Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

Then check out these additional resources:
https://teachingsofourelders.org/thirteen-moons-on-turtles-back
https://www.earthhaven.ca/blog/13-moons-on-turtles-back/208

 

 

I hope these ideas have inspired you to incorporate these books (and the subject of reptiles) into your plans.

Author Janet Slingerland on the London Eye.Janet Slingerland has written more than 20 nonfiction books for children. She even got to write about sea turtles in 12 Epic Animal Adventures. When she’s not writing, Janet can often be found exploring the world in her own backyard (which sometimes includes turtles!). For more information about Janet, check out her website at http://janetsbooks.com.

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