Posts Tagged human body

STEM Tuesday — Human Body– Author Interview

I’m delighted to welcome Rachel Poliquin to the STEM Tuesday blog today. She has written a fabulous book about the body, but there’s a really cool twist. You’ll see…

Rachel Poliquin author

The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers book

“Kids and adult alike will love poring over the different sections of this book and will delight in informing their friends and family members of the facts they’ve learned.”—School Library Journal 

A perfect book for engaging kids in STEM: This illustrated tour of our “leftover” body parts (like the appendix, or even goosebumps) introduces readers age 7-11 to the bizarre and fascinating science of evolution.

Welcome to the weirdest museum you’ll ever explore—the one inside your body.

Did you know your amazing, incredible body is a walking, talking museum of evolution? In The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers, tour guides Wisdom Tooth and Disappearing Kidney lead readers through a wacky museum dedicated to vestigial structures: body parts that were essential to our ancestors but are no longer useful to us—even though they’re still hanging around.

Engaging, hilarious, and a visual treat, The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers is a place you’ll want to visit again and again.

 

Welcome to STEM Tuesday, Rachel. We are delighted to chat with you! 

JS: How did you get the idea to write this awesome book?

RQ: An editor at Greystone actually pitched me the idea. Vestigial organs for kids? It sounded perfectly quirky, and of course I said yes.

JS: Did you have fun researching this?  

RQ: When I began writing the book, I knew nothing about evolution beyond the basics. I had no idea where to begin! But there is nothing I like more than knowing absolutely nothing about a subject. Once I decided to write the book as a museum of human evolution, I had to do a very deep dive to figure out which creatures were the first or last to have a particular trait so they could be part of the exhibits. I became a little obsessed with an evolution podcast called Common Descent. I’d listen to it for hours while I walked around my neighbourhood.

But this book will always have a special place in my heart.  I was finishing writing in March and April of 2020, just at the beginning of Covid when the world had shut up tight and no one knew what was happening.  I was reaching out to academics and researchers around the world—Belgium, New York, Japan, Mexico—to help me understand the science, and of course we talked about the situation in their countries and how they were coping. It helped me feel very connected in a time of isolation.

 

JS: What is your favorite “Odd Body Part”?

RQ: That a hard one!  I’m not sure.  Of course I love Disappearing Kidney, but I also really love all the theories about why humans lost their fur. Fur isn’t preserved in the same way bones are, so no one really knows. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE how Clayton illustrated the Survivor Hair theories as movie posters. These still crack me up everything time.

JS: What would you like readers to get out of this book?

RQ: Obviously, I’d love them to have a better understand of evolution and how all living creatures are connected. But I also tried to highlight that science and our understanding of the world is not all set and done. Scientific theories are constantly in motion and scientists are constantly discovering new things and thinking about the world in new ways—in other words, there is plenty of room for young scientists to make their mark.

JS: How would you like teachers/librarians to use this book?

RQ: The details of the science aren’t as important for kids to remember as the big picture, and I would love teachers to get really creative and maybe even incorporate the book into an art project.  Clayton has so many different sorts of museum displays in the book, which could be the basis of all sorts of kooky projects. All the bits and pieces in Museum Storage are all vestigial organs that didn’t make it into the book. I would love to see how kids would turn those into exhibits!

JS: Can you give any tips to writers who want to break into nonfiction children’s books?

RQ: I think I’ve been successful as a non-fiction writer because I write about things no one else has written about or things people assume are uninteresting or boring. I truly believe everything is fascinating, if only you look at it the right way.  I also think the best non-fiction books create worlds that are just as compelling and magical as fictional worlds. I really struggle with the “non-fiction” title, actually.  We all know what fiction is: imagination, fantastic worlds, cool characters, illustrations, fun.  So what that does make “non-fiction”?  I try to blur that divide in my books and build worlds for my readers to step into, which I really hope will ignite their curiosity and imagination about the world around them. Also, never underestimate kids!  They are so much smarter than we were!

JS: What are you working on now? 

RQ: We are just finishing up a follow-up to Museum of Odd Body Leftovers. It’s called The Gland Factory: A Tour of Your Body’s Goops, Juices, and Hormones. I was lucky enough work with Clayton Hanmer again and the same amazing team at Greystone Books. Clayton did such a knock-out job on this one. I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy.

That sounds AMAZING! Congrats on the new book and I can’t wait to see it! 

Be sure to check out Rachel’s other works at her website https://www.rachelpoliquin.com/

And see her latest books below!

The Strangest Thing in the Sea book I am Wind book

STEM Tuesday — Human Body– Writing Tips & Resources

I am in constant awe of the human body. The sheer magnificence of what our bodies do every second of every minute of every day is remarkable.

Recently, neuroscientists at Princeton released a complete neural map of the fruit fly’s miniscule brain. This connectome showed all the connections and cell types in the brain giving insight into processing that can help understand the nuts and bolts of a neurological system. Since the fruit fly brain resembles the basic functionality of a human brain, but on a larger magnitude and complexity, knowing how the system works fundamentally will lead to discoveries toward treating human neurological diseases. 

(Side Note: The one fact that caught my attention in the Princeton research was their measurement of the total length of neuron wiring in the fruit fly brain. Although the size of a grain of sand, the fruit fly brain contains about 300 feet of wiring. That’s the size of an American football field! Mind blown!)

When you think of the human body, Newtonian physics is usually not the first thing that pops into your head. Or second. Or third. It’s probably somewhere in the hundreds or thousands on that list. Despite the tendency to dissociate physics from biology, we will wander down that path today to incorporate Sir Issac’s three laws of motion into this STEM Tuesday Writing Tips and Resources post. Please pardon my creative liberty in interchanging Newton’s physics body with the human body. 

Newton’s Three Laws of Motion

  • A body at rest remains at rest, and a body in motion remains in motion at constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force.

A classic example of the first law of motion is to place a heavy steel ball on a flat surface or table. The ball remains static until it is pushed or the surface is titled. It then moves in a straight line until it falls off the table and lands on your big toe. Then it stops.

The first law also applies to the creative life. For the ideas bouncing around our brain’s connectome to exist, we have to make them exist. Just like the way our bodies feel and work better when we move them, i.e. exercise, the creative object needs to be in action. A creator has to apply a force instead of waiting for the heavy steel ball of an idea to move on its own. 

  • One has to write to write. 
  • One has to draw to draw. 

Simple creative physics I believe Newton would approve of.

  • The acceleration of a body depends on the mass of the object and the amount of force applied. 

As creators, we understand the power of creative momentum. When we are in that zone, we are cooking on our projects. The amount of force moves the mass of the object forward. However, when the words come hard and the mass overcomes the level of force we can generate 

The struggle is real. 

What can we do? I often fall back on my training as an athlete/strength coach and throughout my 35+ year research microbiology career and look to the Fail Cycle for guidance. 

  • Try something new or hard and fail. 
  • Step back and do the work to improve. 
  • Attempt the challenge again. 
  • Repeat until the challenge is overcome. 
  • Set a new goal.

The Fail Cycle philosophy provides a plan of attack. It allows for hope when it seems our creative path is blocked. Trying, failing, improving, and trying again is the tilt for our creativity table to get the heavy, steel ball of creativity rolling.

  • Whenever one body exerts a force on another body, the second body exerts an equal and opposite on the first.

Creative people have lives. Lives can, and often do, get in the way of creative work. If we have our heavy, steel ball rolling comfortably along, that second object exerts its opposing force. Life gets in the way. Sometimes we even get in our own way. No matter what the source, something inevitably affects the flow.

What can we do? Go with the flow!

Accept the fact these opposing forces are part of the game. Instead of coming to a halt, look at them as a redirect and redirect your energies accordingly. It’s not the easiest thing to do. 

I fall back on a 1980-ish interview with the great Ray Bradbury that showed him in his office surrounded by desks on three sides, each with a typewriter. He told the interviewer he always has multiple writing projects on each typewriter station. When he ran into a dead end on one project, he rolled his office chair to another typewriter and worked on the next project. He said his mind had been working on the other projects as they sat there, so his creative mind was ready to roll when he rolled to the previously abandoned project.

He redirected his creative energy to adjust to the opposing force. 

When that heavy steel ball falls off the table directly over your big toe, move your foot out of the way and follow where it rolls. 

I think Ray Bradbury and Issac Newton would have hit it off fairly well, don’t you?

Good luck! Keep creating and doing what you do. Now, more than ever, the world needs you and your work!

Thank you for reading!

 

Bokkyu Kim at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

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.comTwo 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 Bluesky under the guise of @mikehays64.bsky.social and @MikeHays64 on Instagram.

 


The O.O.L.F Files

This month on the Out Of Left Field (O.O.L.F.) Files focus on the human body from the perspective of Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. 

What Are Newton’s Laws of Motion? Newton’s First, Second and Third Laws of Motion? (via ThoughtCo.com)

Mapping an entire (fly) brain: A step toward understanding diseases of the human brain (Princeton News)

Physiopedia: Introduction to Human Biomechanics – External Forces

     The basics of how the human body moves with a correlation to Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion.

Innerbody Anatomy Explorer

It’s a pretty cool site to explore twelve major anatomy systems.

Skeletal System

 


 

 

STEM Tuesday — Human Body– In the Classroom

 

Many of the books in this month’s theme—the fascinating, sometimes gross human body—have fun activities you can try in the classroom. But here are a few more to get students involved and learning about human biology, how it works, and some if its quirkiest parts.

 

The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers: A Tour of Your Useless Parts, Flaws, and other Weird Bits

written by Rachel Poliquin, illustrated by Clayton Hanmer

A funny, wacky book, led by tour guides Wisdom Tooth and Disappearing Kidney, about our vestigial organs: our body parts that were essential to our ancestors but are no longer useful to us.

Activity

This book seems like the perfect start to some great fiction stories. Encourage students to find their favorite odd body part, use some of the facts they discovered, and then develop a fiction story from there. Imagine there’s a scientist who discovers what that body part if meant to do. Or imagine that the body part is its own character on a mission to find out why it is in the body. Tell students to weave in facts from the book, but to be as creative as they can be. And encourage them to experiment with format: maybe a graphic novel format would work best, maybe lots of dialogue is needed, or maybe a diagram would help. When students are finished, invite them to share with the class what their body part discovered in their fiction story.

 

 

It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, Gender and Sexual Health

by Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley

A book for young people who want answers to questions about their bodies, about growing up, and about new, unfamiliar feelings in their tween years.

 

Activity

Questions about our bodies can be hard to ask, a little scary even until you know the answers. So encourage students to do their research. Before reading this book, have them jot down any questions they might have about their changing bodies. As they read, tell them to look for answers in the book. And if those answers aren’t in the book, encourage them to research more at the library or on safe online sites. When they are done, have them write an interesting piece of information they discovered on an index card. Post a collection of body facts somewhere in the classroom for students to check out.

 

 

The Ultimate Kids’ Guide to Being Super Healthy: What You Need To Know About Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep, Hygiene, Stress, Screen Time, and More 

by Dr. Nina L. Shapiro

Embark on a fact-filled journey through the human body. What happens when it gets fed? Exercised? Cleaned? Rested? Read it and find out. This in-depth book gives answers to those pressing questions between kids and parents about how to take care of yourself and why it is important.

Activity

Now students can be their own health experiment! How does reducing screen time affect how they feel? How does it feel to exercise every day? Tell them to choose a theory they want to test and make a journal to use for a week. They need to complete the activity, gather data, note how they feel each day, and then compile results at the end of the week. Encourage students to make graphs or charts to creatively show their data. Then they can present their findings to the class.

 


Karen Latchana Kenney is a children’s author and editor who loves creating all kinds of STEM books and classroom content. Find her at https://www.karenlatchanakenney.com/.