Posts Tagged nonfiction

STEM Tuesday– National Parks– Author Interview- Nancy Castaldo

By on September 23, 2025   /   National Parks, STEM Tuesday  

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

Today we’re interviewing Nancy Castaldo, author of The Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale. The book discusses how restoring the balance between the primary predator and prey was instrumental in restoring a U.S. park’s ecosystem.

This book is a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection and was nominated for a number of awards.

“Castaldo leaves it for reflective readers to decide whether that is responsible conservation or unscientific meddling with natural patterns…Stimulating reading for young naturalists and eco-activists.” – Kirkus (Nonfiction. 10-13).

Christine Taylor-Butler: Hi Nancy. Thanks for letting STEM Tuesday feature you. You are a prolific author on topics related to conservation and nature. Did you always want to be a writer?

Nancy Castaldo: Not professionally. I’ve always loved writing—I was even published in Seventeen Magazine as a teen and entered writing contests—but I never considered it a career path. I actually wanted to work with animals. It wasn’t until my college internship at Audubon Magazine that I realized I could combine my passions—writing, photography, and science—into something meaningful.

wolve sand moose cover

CTB: What inspired you to write The Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale: Restoring an Island Ecosystem?

Nancy Castaldo: I first learned about the predator-prey studies on Isle Royale in an undergraduate ecology class, and I was fascinated. I’ve followed the research ever since. When I heard about the recent wolf reintroductions, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to dive deeper and share the story in a book for middle grade readers.

CTB: With the wolf population dropping due to illness and other factors, scientists attempted to relocate twenty to thirty wolves from the mainland.

Nancy Castaldo: Yes. The island is isolated. It’s about fifteen miles from Minnesota and fifty miles from Michigan. In 1980 there were 50 wolves and 664 Moose. By 2018, only 2 wolves remained but the moose population grew to 1,500. So bringing wolves to the island was an attempt to restore the balance.

map of isle royal

CTB: How did you gather the information to write about the interactions between wolves and moose?

wolf waiting in crateNancy Castaldo: I was fortunate to conduct on-site research on Isle Royale alongside wildlife photographer Morgan Heim. It was an incredible experience to spend time with the scientists I’d admired since college. The predator-prey study there is the longest-running of its kind in the world. We met with researchers and park scientists, often traveling by boat and then hiking into the island’s interior to observe their work firsthand. From water chemistry to tracking wolves and moose, we saw just how much goes into understanding this complex ecosystem. Isle Royale is more than just a beautiful place to visit—it’s a living laboratory, and the work done there has implications for ecosystems everywhere.

CTB: Many readers may not realize how important animals are to healthy park ecosystems.

bull moose on Isle RoyaleNancy Castaldo: That’s true. For people like me, wildlife is a big part of why we love national parks. Animals bring the landscape to life—without them, so much of the magic would be missing. On Isle Royale, the wolf and moose populations are a major draw. Visitors are captivated by its wildness and the hauntingly beautiful calls of loons and wolves. The presence of these animals is essential to the health—and appeal—of the park.

CTB: Were there any interesting facts or stories that didn’t make it into the book?

Nancy Castaldo: Always! There are so many stories and facts that just don’t fit into the final manuscript, whether due to space or because they don’t quite align with the narrative. I love sharing those “bonus” details during school visits. It’s fun to give readers a behind-the-scenes look at the research and writing process.

CTB: Do you have any upcoming books we should keep an eye out for?

Nancy Castaldo: Yes! I’m excited to be releasing two new books for young readers this year, both focused on conservation and river recovery. RIVERKEEPER: Protecting an American River and WHALES IN THE CITY highlight real-world successes and show how much we can accomplish when we work together. I’m also thrilled about my first book for adult readers—and curious young adults—coming out next month:

I can’t wait to share all of these new stories with readers!

three upcoming book covers

Nancy bio photoNancy Castaldo has written award-winning books about our planet for over 25 years from New York’s Hudson Valley. Her love of reading and writing outdoors began in her childhood. Her curiosity led her to study science. As an environmental educator and photographer, Nancy combined all of her interests. She still enjoys spending her time exploring in the wild as she did while researching over two dozen books and many articles.

Nancy is a certified National Geographic educator and served on the boards of her local Audubon Society and Girl Scout Council. In addition, Nancy serves on the Council of the International Wildlife Coexistence Network and the Writer’s Council of the National Writing Project

Nancy writes to inform, inspire, and empower her readers about the world around them.

 

author christine Taylor-butler

Photo by Kecia Stovall

Your host is Christine Taylor-Butler, a graduate of MIT and author of The Oasis, Save the… Tigers, Save the . . . Blue Whales, 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 X and or @ChristineTaylorButler on Instagram. She lives in Missouri with a tank of fish and cats that think they are dogs.
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STEM Tuesday– National Parks– Writing Tips & Resources

By on September 16, 2025   /   National Parks, STEM Tuesday  

 

I was delighted to see this month’s topic is National Parks. I was fortunate to have taught drawing workshops at two national parks in the early 2000s. Both were offered by the Park Service free to everyone and I had received a grant to cover expenses for supplies from the university where I taught. The park rangers were helpful and interesting and both times, I was able to take advantage of the natural environment as the centerpiece of curriculum.

One was in the southwest. Since it was July, it was too hot to work outside but we had the natural history museum at our disposal. After instruction and strategies, the participants spread out and were treated to an array of plants and animals as models. The other was in the Appalachians, and we had vistas of mountains and fields. Everyone went away with drawings of their National Park experience.

The National Park Service website currently has an extensive section on Education & Training. It has topics such as Teaching with Historic Places, Museum Collections, Archeology, Land Preservation, and Youth Training Programs. Some books are available through the website as of the date of this article. You may find some that would be valuable resources to supplement the great list of books recommended for September’s STE(A)M Tuesday.

Asian Reflection on The American Landscape
Book

Under the Archeology section you can find it divided into headings for Teachers, which includes links to lesson plans, activities and professional development. The KIDS heading includes activities for use within the parks and online activities. Some of the materials have been translated into Spanish.

If you don’t have the option of traveling to a National Park, many of the activities can be adapted to local sites. Many towns and smaller communities (as well as large, of course) have historical centers or societies, state and local parks and historic sites, interesting geological features – even urban areas provide environmental and historical opportunities. The NPS webpage also has a list of about a hundred related sites of interest. Making a journal is always a good way for students (and adults!) to document discoveries and experiences.

There is a special section that provides information on “Telling All Americans’ Stories.”

Books, pamphlets, and links are available to previously completed stories and activities.

In the past, I planned student activities where they could explore their own culture. But be sensitive. Some students have painful histories or don’t even know. I always gave the option – use your own history, someone you know and can interview, or pick a culture you admire and would like to find out about. That erases any stigma that may come with tricky family situations but allows a dive into personal history.

This website is a treasure. As of this writing, the materials were still available, and I hope that continues.

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Margo Lemieux is a retired university professor and is currently amusing herself by writing, doing art, and playing bluegrass music. Oh, and reading!

 

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STEM Tuesday– STEM in Sports– Writing Tips and Resources

By on August 19, 2025   /   STEM in Sports, STEM Tuesday  

Get Your Gestalt Going!

Perception psychology is not one of the first things that pops into the mind when thinking about STEM. Perception is one of those things too often taken for granted. It runs in the background 24/7/365, helping the brain make sense of the world.

Gestalt psychology emerged in the early 1900s as a discipline devoted to explaining how the brain perceives experiences by establishing a structure as a whole instead of by its parts approach through automatic grouping and associations of the individual parts. Gestalt psychology, as its own discipline, disappeared after World War II, as most of the leaders of the field were German psychologists who fled Nazi Germany and had to reestablish a new career in new countries.

The principles and ideas, however, did not disappear but seeped into other disciplines, especially those involved with visual processing and visual design. Gestalt principles are key elements in graphic design and visual marketing.

Gestalt & Sports

Around 2004, when I was still coaching high school football and tasked with our training and conditioning program and methodologies, I ran across a 1999 New Yorker article by Malcolm Gladwell called, The Physical Genius.

After reading about NHL hockey great Wayne Gretzky, and his unique ability to “see” scoring opportunities on the ice in real time, it got me thinking about the possibilities and the potential of developing this type of gestaltian perception in high school athletes. Small tweaks is our existing drills and the creation of new drills with the mindset of developing the pattern recognition of our players in football situations.

See the patterns, drill the response. Repeat the patterns, repeat the response. Again and again until the response is second nature.

Chunking

Psychologists use the term “chunking” to describe how we store familiar sequences, like phone numbers and passwords, in long-term memory as a single unit, or chunk. These particular sequences are stored as a unit instead of as individual parts. Think about chess masters, top-shelf neurosurgeons, and great athletes like Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, and Tony Gwynn.

These masters of their craft developed their skills through hours and hours of practice combined with visualization of their actions. They used Gestalt principles in both practice and in visualization to be prepared for any situation that might arise. That’s the physical genius.

Gestalt principles in writing? Is it even possible? Beyond the gestalt-leaning recognition of concepts formed from letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, etc., what can gestalt principles do as part of a writer’s toolbox?

Well, a breakdown of the basic Gestalt Laws might help the writer create stories where the whole shines because of the individual parts. We can also be aware of how perception works, so the good story ideas don’t get lost in the individual parts, and we don’t lose our readers.

Gestalt Laws

  • Figure-Ground Perception – How the brain visually distinguishes an object from its background.
  • Proximity – When objects are placed close to each other, they are perceived as a group.
  • Common Fate – Objects moving in the same direction are looked at as a group.
  • Similarity – When objects look similar to one another, they are perceived as a group or pattern.
  • Continuity –The objects are arranged such that the eye moves from one object to another.
  • Closure Principle – The eye fills in when an object is not completely enclosed or is incomplete.
  • Good Gestalt – The mind looks for order and simplicity in groups of objects or images.
  • Past Experience – Based on what was seen previously or repeated, the perception of the whole is saved. Chunking.

 As writers, we can train ourselves through our practice and by applying the Gestalt Laws to create satisfying stories, but that is not the only thing we can do. Reading can help develop these skills too. Look at reading as practice, like running through cones at football practice, as a way to hone our ability to see the patterns in the parts.

In writing, just as with football drills, see the patterns, drill the response. Repeat the patterns, repeat the response. Again and again until the response is second nature.

Incorporating a Gestalt mindset may not get one into the NHL Hall of Fame or become the greatest middle-grade author on Planet Earth, but it can help middle-grade authors create better and more satisfying stories.

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, we take a deep dive into visual perception through Gestalt Principles, and a highlight reel from The Great One himself.  

What is Gestalt Psychology? Theory, Principles, & Examples via Simple Psychology

The Physical Genius. Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker, 1999

7 Gestalt Principles (Definition + Examples) via Practical Psychology

The Basics of Gestalt Theory – Lesson 1 – Graphic Design Theory

Top 10 Wayne Gretzky Moments

 

 

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