Posts Tagged nonfiction

STEM Tuesday — Human Body– Writing Tips & Resources

By on November 19, 2024   /   Human Body, STEM Tuesday  

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.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 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

 

 

 

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STEM Tuesday — Human Body– In the Classroom

By on November 12, 2024   /   Human Body, STEM Tuesday  

 

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/.

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STEM Tuesday — Bioluminesence– Author Interview

By on October 22, 2024   /   Bioluminescence, STEM Tuesday  

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

Why are author interviews such an important part of STEM Tuesday? For one, it’s fun for kids (and adults!) to read about doing research and writing from the person doing the work. Plus, getting a glimpse into what it’s like to be an author can get kids (again – and adults!) excited about doing their own writing!

Now, let’s meet Stephen Aitken, who’s written or illustrated dozens of nonfiction books for kids! His newest book is Living Light: Conserving Bioluminescent Plants and Animals (Orca Book Publishers 2024), which explores the amazing world of creatures that generate their own light.

Andi Diehn: I didn’t realize that bioluminescence had evolved independently in different species with different chemicals working to produce the light. This is fascinating – does this make it more complicated to study?

Stephen Aitken: Bioluminescence has evolved independently in many different species, insects, jellyfish, fungi, etc. And yes, it does make their study more complicated – but it also helps us understand more about evolution. Bioluminescence is an example of convergent evolution, the phenomenon whereby different organisms evolve similar traits independently of each other. Animals and plants that make their own light need two things: a chemical reaction between a light-emitting molecule known as luciferin and another substance that sparks it, luciferase. It’s kind of like a match stick that needs a match box to set it alight. There are at least five different types in different organisms: fireflies, insects, and marine animals use several different types, and fungi and bacteria have their own type of luciferin and luciferase. To study these animals in their wild habitats – oceans, forests and caves – can require specialized equipment such as deep-sea submersibles and other equipment.

AD: Living art – I love the idea of incorporating bioluminescence into the art world. What can young readers gain from this merging of science and art?

Stephen: The natural world is a very inspiring source of creativity. Architects use the principles of natural structures to build, fine artists are inspired by colors and designs found in plants and animals from around the world. Bioluminescence shows the stunning visual displays of the natural world. When artists incorporate this into their work, it can help young readers see science as more than just facts and figures, as a world of beauty and wonder. This broadens their understanding of how deeply connected humans are to the environment, foster a sense of awe, and make science feel more accessible and engaging. By observing how artists use bioluminescence in creative ways, young readers may begin to think about how scientific knowledge can help solve problems in innovative ways. For example, it might inspire solutions for sustainable lighting or the creative uses of light in design. It may also teach them about sustainability in both science and art and reinforce the importance of protecting the environment.

I encourage young readers to imagine new ways of combining many different disciplines, in this case blending scientific knowledge with their artistic talents. Merging science and art encourages STEAM learning (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math), combining technical knowledge with creative thinking. This integration can be particularly motivating for young readers who might be more drawn to one subject but find new interest in the other. The intersection of science and art through bioluminescence provides young readers with an engaging, multi-sensory way to explore both creativity and the natural world, ultimately deepening their appreciation for both.

AD: I love your sidebars – life-saving plankton, tiny trackers to see how infections spread, and so much more. Why did you include these stories of how bioluminescent organisms can help humans?

Stephen: I think we humans are always looking for applicability. Stories of how nature inspired amazing scientific breakthroughs is always uplifting. The sidebar examples spark curiosity, develop problem-solving skills, and demonstrate that even small discoveries can make a big impact on our world, encouraging kids to explore the natural world around them.

AD: I love learning about the different uses of bioluminescence – bomber worm, dragonfish hunting with light, attracting mates. And the ones we need to guess about! Is it good for young readers to learn how much we don’t know?

Stephen: Great question. Short answer: YES! Science moves forward through building on the discoveries of the curious minded scientists that came before us. I think it’s important to show young readers how investigating what we don’t know is how great discoveries are made. But also, it’s vitally important to show that there is so much we DON’T know. There is a big world of question marks out there just begging to be turned into exclamation marks by young readers with curious minds.

AD: Your story about local schoolchildren helping collect fireflies – I love this early example of Citizen Science and also love your note about conservation. Why is it important that we continue to adjust the way we do science as we learn more about the repercussions of our actions?

Stephen: In the 1950s there were only two and half billion people in the world. There were more trees, healthier ecosystems, larger populations of animals and insects. Times have changed. The limits of the Earth we live on are becoming more evident. It’s important to keep improving how we do science because as we learn more, we discover new ways our actions can impact the planet, people, and animals. By adjusting our methods, we can avoid harming the environment, make better inventions, and solve problems like pollution or disease. Science is about learning, and we get better at protecting the world when we change how we do things based on what we’ve learned. This helps us create a safer, healthier future for everyone. Our oceans and skies are not infinite and cannot handle everything that we throw into them. Science does not have all the answers and we have to keep questioning the repercussions of all our meddling in the natural world.

AD: A lot of the creatures in your book work together, either in a colony of the same species or in smaller symbiotic relationships. How might kids see this reflected in the human world they’re a part of?

Stephen: Yes, in nature, creatures work together to survive, like ants in colonies or microbes like bacteria helping animals through symbiotic relationships. We see this in the human world too—people working together as teams in school, sports, or communities. When we cooperate, we solve problems faster, share skills, solutions, and support each other. Teamwork can help everyone succeed and make life better for everyone!

AD: Your story about refusing to experiment on live dogs – why is it important to include that kind of anecdote in a science book for kids? What do they learn from it?

Stephen: All living creatures have feelings. We can only imagine what they are experiencing. When I was studying physiology, the paradigm was that animals only functioned through instinct and lived in a programmed way. Anyone who has spent time with animals knows in their heart that this is not true. Animals have feelings and can be incredibly intelligent and intuitive at times. We need to honor this and have respect for all life on Earth. Since those years in the physiology lab, society has changed, science has changed. Animal rights now have a voice. Concerned citizens have started to defend them. We have no right to torture or treat animals as inanimate objects, valuable only for our own purposes. This is an outdated way of looking at the natural world.

AD: The tension about science that can both harm the world and help it – why is it important to have these conversations with students?

Stephen: It’s important to talk with students about how science can both help and harm the world because it teaches them to think carefully about the choices we make. Science can lead to amazing things, cure diseases and protect the environment, but it can also cause problems like pollution or harming animals. By having these conversations, kids learn to ask important questions, make responsible decisions, and understand that using science wisely can lead to a better future for everyone. It helps them see that their actions matter in making the world a better place. It also teaches them that we can make discoveries while still being responsible and respectful to all life forms.

AD: Are there any questions I didn’t ask that you’d like to answer?

Stephen: “What’s my next book and how do you come up with your ideas?” Thanks for asking 😁.  Researching Living Light was really inspiring for me ­– bioluminescence is magical. I got the chance to interview scientists, biochemists, marine biologists and taxonomists, all of whom were doing incredible work in this field. The more I study the natural world, the more treasures I find. Also, I continue to find links between scientific disciplines and I love that! Discovering that bioluminsecent animals produced different colors of light, that florescence in some reptiles and insects is different from bioluminescence, and the principles of iridescence in bird feathers, chameleon skin and fish scales. All this made me stop and think about why animals use color and how does it help them to survive. That was the spark that lit the fire for my upcoming book, Nature’s Palette: Color and Survival in the Animal Kingdom scheduled for publication next year.

Writing books is my life. It’s my way of understanding the fascinating world around me. I love it and I’m pretty darn sure I will never ever run out of things to write about for young readers.

 

Stephen Aitken is a biologist, artist and author. Despite an early brush with nyctophobia (fear of the dark), he became fascinated with bioluminescence while researching a book he wrote on the dangers of light pollution. Stephen’s books fulfill (and sometimes feed) his longing to conserve the living creatures that share and enrich our planet. He has written and illustrated many picture books, chapter books and close to a dozen nonfiction books for middle-grade readers on topics including the climate crisis, the impact of artificial lighting on ecosystems (Saving the Night), the role of sound in conservation (Listen Up!) and other topics that encourage living in harmony with life on Earth. Stephen is the cofounder and executive secretary of Biodiversity Conservancy International, a registered Canadian charity, and is editorial director of the science journal Biodiversity, published in partnership with the Taylor & Francis Group. To see more of his books and art, please visit stephenaitken.com.

 

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