Posts Tagged NASA

Cover Reveal: Space Care

By on February 23, 2023   /   Articles, STEM  
cover art shows an astronaut in full gear against a dark background with title in neon lettering

 

MUF cover reveal logo with critter and text saying "cover reveal"I am so excited to share the newest cover reveal for an awesome new space book by our own Mixed-Up Files Jennifer Swanson’s SPACE CARE: A Kid’s Guide to Surviving Space

Drum roll……….. here it is!

Cover Reveal

cover art shows an astronaut in full gear against a dark background with title in neon lettering

Publisher: Mayo Clinic Press Kids
Publish Date: July 18, 2023
PREORDER HERE:  https://bookshop.org/p/books/spacecare-medicine-in-microgravity-jennifer-swanson/18984952?ean=9798887700076

About Space Care:

Have you ever wondered how astronauts stay healthy in space? What if an astronaut gets sick on the space station? Does snot run in space? This fascinating photo-illustrated look at space and medicine explores how scientists and physicians study astronauts in space, how they help keep them safe, and what we’ve learned about the human body through space exploration. Questions from real kids and answers form from astronauts, along with photos from NASA, combine for an out-of-this-world exploration of health.

I’m so excited we got a chance to talk to Jen about her newest fabulous middle grade non fiction book.

Interview with Jen Swanson

HMC: Congratulations, Jennifer! Your book is one of a new group of  kid’s books being released by Mayo Clinic Press this year. How did you feel about writing this topic for them? 

JS: Space medicine? YES, please. At one time in my life, I wanted more than anything to be an
organ-transplant surgeon and an astronaut. Not that those two careers necessarily go together, but
maybe someday. 😊
In any case, I was thrilled to be asked to write this book for Mayo Clinic Press Kids. Not only do
I love space but I also live very close to the Mayo Clinic here in Jacksonville and often ride my
bike past it. It was the perfect book for me to do.

HMC: Can you share some cool details about what’s inside?

JS: This book is chock full of details about what humans go through while living in microgravity. There are facts about how astronauts sleep, what they eat, and yes, even a picture of the bathroom on the ISS. There is information about the garden where fruit and vegetables are grown in space and even a section about some of the cool medical research being done in microgravity. (Did you know that astronauts have to draw their own blood sometimes?)
The awesome photos give readers an up-close view of life on the ISS and even make them feel a little bit like they are their themselves.

HMC: What was the most exciting thing about writing this book?

JS: I got to zoom with Astronaut Megan McArthur! That was just so fun. Megan is fantastic and really smart. She wrote the foreward for the book, and gives the reader a great inside story of what it’s like to live in space. And yes, all of those answers in the book are from her. She and I chatted about them during our zoom session.

HMC: Will there be more books about space from you?

JS: Definitely! I’m working on a book right now called WHO OWNS THE MOON, that I’m co-writing with Cynthia Levinson for Margaret Quinlan Books. It is takes a much broader look at NASA’s Artemis missions and asks the question we are all wondering—how will different countries (and commercial companies) live and work together on the Moon? Packed with cool technology, discussions on space debris, governance, and more, this book will be a great resource for kids who want to learn as much as they can about space. It will publish in early 2025.

HMC: Where can everyone learn more about you and your other books about STEM?

JS: You can find information about me, my books, and tons of STEM resources including free teacher guides, videos for students, and learn about my podcast, Solve It! for Kids at my website: https://jenniferswansonbooks.com/

 

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Be a Citizen Scientist and help NASA GLOBE Measure Trees!!

By on October 10, 2022   /   Articles, STEM  
NASA GLOBE Tree Challenge logo

Calling all teachers, parents, homeschoolers– here is a way to help the environment!

 

Have you ever looked up at a tree and wondered just exactly how tall it really is?  How did it grow that high? And does the height of the tree really affect the environment? YES!

 

Tree height can help scientists determine not how healthy the environment is but also let them know how much carbon is being pulled out of the atmosphere.

 

Sounds, cool, doesn’t it?

 

NASA GLOBE  (Global Learning and Observations to benefit the Environment)
is a program that encompasses many different parts of the environment. , NASA looks for help from the public
to gather data across the Earth and then compares it with data that it gathers from satellites in space.

 

There is a GLOBE Clouds program where you can identify clouds  Clouds

 

    and a podcast for that
Cloud Watching podcast image

 

and also a GLOBE TREES program  

 

NASA GLOBE Trees needs  YOU! 

 

Join the NASA GLOBE Trees Challenge 2022: “Trees in a Changing Climate” from 11 October through 11 November

NASA GLOBE Trees Challenge 2022

 

From the NASA GLOBE website:

Help us estimate the number of trees that make up your area and contribute to tree and climate science by sharing your observations of trees.

 

How to participate:

  1. Download the GLOBE Observer app and register an account.
  2. Estimate heights of trees around you using the Trees tool.* (Remember to always be safe and follow local guidelines when observing.)
  3. Optionally, use a tape measure to add data about tree circumference to your observations.
  4. Comment in the field notes about any changes you know have occurred in the area you took the tree heights, and if the trees appear healthy, unhealthy, or dead.

 

 

To learn more about the program and hear from Brian Campbell, NASA Senior Earth Science Outreach Specialist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight  Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia, USA, take a listen to the podcast below. Brian is also the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign Lead and the Trees Science Lead for the NASA GLOBE Observer citizen science program. Brian works with local to international students, educators, citizen scientists, and researchers in over 100 countries.

 

To hear the podcast, just click on the image:

 

Once you upload your tree data you can see if NASA has captured a picture of your tree from their satellite in space! You can compare the information from both sources and see how accurate the satellite data is.

The challenge runs from October 11th to November 11th, 2022. So get your apps ready and go out and MEASURE SOME TREES!!

 

This is a great challenge for teachers, classrooms, kids, families, parents, and grandparents. Let’s get TONS of data for NASA GLOBE. Then we can help figure out how healthy our planet really is.

Trees

 

 

 

 

 

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Middle-Grade Meets the Moon

By on January 21, 2019   /   Book Lists, Curriculum Tie-in, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, STEM, Teacher Tips  

By the time this post goes live on Monday, January 21st,  we will have all experienced (or slept through) the Blood Supermoon Lunar Eclipse of 2019.  The eclipse is, of course, the passing of the moon through Earth’s shadow. The “blood” comes from the crimson and oranges colors that can be seen, and “supermoon” refers to the how large the moon appears due to its relative proximity to Earth.

NASA has prepared some very useful tools for parents and teachers, and even though the event has passed, everyone will be talking about it. What better time to investigate further? Look for NASA’s Teachable Moments for the 2019 total lunar eclipse here  and lunar eclipse moon lessons guide for teachers is available here.

And, what better time to bring the moon into our to-be-read lists?

Let’s make a list of middle-grade books that capture our imaginations using the mystery of the moon – at least in their titles. I’ll start. Please comment below with additions to this list!

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin is a Newbery Honor winner and it received the 2010 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature.

From Indiebound:  In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life’s questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her family’s fortune.

 

 

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool is the 2011 Newbery Medal winning middle-grade tale of Abilene Tucker and a Kansas town called Manifest. Abilene navigates Manifest’s present and past mysteries in order to find the answers she’s been looking for.

This is one of my favorite middle-grade novels.

 

 

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle, proud of her country roots and the “Indian-ness in her blood,” travels from Ohio to Idaho with her eccentric grandparents. Along the way, she tells them of the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, who received mysterious messages, who met a “potential lunatic,” and whose mother disappeared.

As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe’s outrageous story, her own story begins to unfold—the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to be reunited with her missing mother.

 

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill is the winner of the 2017 Newbery Medal.  Wait. I’m seeing a pattern here. Are you? Wow! There are a lot of Newbery books with “moon” in the title!  Anyway, this book didn’t stop at the Newbery. It has racked up Best Book of 2016 Awards from School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Chicago Public Library, Entertainment Weekly and New York Public Library. Filled with mystery and wonder, magic and suspense, this is a book comes along once in blue moon. (I had to. I’m sorry.)

 

I haven’t read The Moon Within yet, but only because it isn’t out yet! The pub date for the Aida Salazar’s The Moon Within is February 26, 2019.  But, what a cover! WOW!

From Indiebound:Celi Rivera’s life swirls with questions. About her changing body. Her first attraction to a boy. And her best friend’s exploration of what it means to be genderfluid.

But most of all, her mother’s insistence she have a moon ceremony when her first period arrives. It’s an ancestral Mexica ritual that Mima and her community have reclaimed, but Celi promises she will NOT be participating. Can she find the power within herself to take a stand for who she wants to be? 

 

 

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a firm believer that picture books belong in middle-grade readers’ hands. So, although this is a picture book, I’m featuring Margaret and the Moon.   Written by Dean Robbins and Illustrated by Lucy Knisley, it is the true story of Margaret Hamilton, whose code writing for NASA helped put a man on the moon.

 

 

 

The Far-Out Guide to the Moon was written by Mary Kay Carson, who is one the Mixed-Up Files STEM Tuesday contributors.  A wealth of information and facts, the book makes an excellent addition to middle-grade reading lists.  Strike now while the lunar interest is hot and everyone is talking about the eclipse we had last night!

 

 

 

 

What titles would you add to our Middle-Grade Meets the Moon list? Drop them in the comments below!

 

 

 

 

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