Posts Tagged resources

STEM Tuesday — Community Science – Book List

By on June 7, 2022   /   Community Science, STEM Tuesday  

More and more individuals today are assisting in the collection of scientific data all over the world. Every person, regardless of age or degree, can make a difference by joining together with other community members or making their own observations. Together our world can be healthier and stronger with community science involvement. Here are our book choices to help you and your students get involved wherever you live! 

The Field Guide to Citizen Science : How You Can Contribute to Scientific Research and Make a Difference by Darlene Cavalier, Caren Cooper,, and Catherine Hoffman

This book from the expert team at SciStarter provides lots of ways for readers to get involved with citizen science projects in their community and discover where their data might lead.

Citizen Scientists: Be A Part of Scientific Discovery From Your Own Backyard by Loree Griffin Burns and Ellen Harasimowicz

This Scientists in the Field title from the notable team of Burns and Harasimowicz describes ways to get involved in the Audubon Bird Count, FrogWatch USA, and other community science projects in your own backyard or neighborhood park. 

The Outdoor Scientist: The Wonder of Observing the Natural World by Temple Grandin

Professor of animal science and inventor, Temple Grandin, introduces readers to many scientific disciplines and how these disciplines can play a role in everyday observations. A perfect read for curios readers. 

Citizen Science Guide for Families: Taking Part in Real Science by Greg Landgraf

Readers will discover what citizen science is and how they can get involved in Landgraf’s book. This is an accessible read for the entire family. 

Get Into Citizen Science (Get-Into-It Guides) by Vic Kovacs

Track butterfly migration or watch the sky for comets. This book gives examples of how readers can use their skills to make an impact as citizen scientists. 

Bat Citizens: Defending the Ninjas of the Night by Rob Laidlaw

Here is an example of how citizen scientists can get involved with one specific species – bats. 

12 Epic Animal Adventures by Janet Slingerland

These animal adventures will connect with curious readers who want to get involved in community science, especially the chapter on sea turtle nest counts.

Be The Change: Rob Greenfield’s Call to Kids – Making A Difference in a Messed-Up World by Rob Greenfield and Antonia Banyard

There are so many ways to make a difference in our world. This book provides young readers with many simple ways to get started. 

Chasing Bats and Tracking Rats: Urban Ecology, Community Science, and How We Share Our Cities by Cylita Guy PhD, Cornelia Li

Community science initiatives happen everywhere, including urban environments. This book delves into the ways city residents can make a difference by observing urban wildlife. 

Photo of DESERTS author Nancy Castaldo

Nancy Castaldo , a founding STEM Tuesday team member, has written books about our planet for over 20 years including, THE STORY OF SEEDS, which earned the Green Earth Book Award, Junior Library Guild Selection, and other honors. Nancy’s research has taken her all over the world from the Galapagos to Russia.  She strives to inform, inspire, and empower her readers. Nancy also served as Regional Advisor Emeritus of the Eastern NY SCBWI region. Her 2022 titles are When the World Runs Dry (Jr Library Guild Selection), The Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale (Scientists in the Field) and Buildings That Breathe. Visit her at www.nancycastaldo.com. 

Patricia Newman , a founding STEM Tuesday team member, writes middle-grade nonfiction that empowers young readers to act on behalf of the environment and their communities. Academy Award winner and environmentalist Jeff Bridges calls Planet Ocean a “must read.” Newman, a Sibert Honor author of Sea Otter Heroes, has also received an NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book Award for Eavesdropping on Elephants, a Green Earth Book Award for Plastic, Ahoy!, and a Eureka! Gold Medal from the California Reading Association for Zoo Scientists to the Rescue. Her books have received starred reviews, been honored as Junior Library Guild Selections, and included on Bank Street College’s Best Books lists. During author visits, she demonstrates how young readers can use writing to be the voice of change. Visit her at www.patriciamnewman.com.

Back to Top

STEM Tuesday– Welcome to our new STEM Tuesday Team Members

By on May 31, 2022   /   STEM Tuesday  

We are so excited to welcome new members to the STEM Tuesday team!!  Please take a look at these amazing authors/writers and check out their websites. They are going to be providing us some amazing posts!

Week 1  

Shruthi Rao authorShruthi Rao

Shruthi was that kid who actually enjoyed writing essays in school! She wrote her first novel when she was eleven. It was an Enid Blyton rip-off. It was terrible (so she says). She didn’t write stories for a long time after that. Instead, Shruthi got a Master’s degree in Energy Engineering from one of the top schools of India, and worked in the IT industry for four years.

And then, in the 2000s, she rediscovered my love for writing. Shruthi blogged at Hallucinations! and wrote short stories, and essays for a number of publications. She now writes books for children of all ages, both fiction and non-fiction. www.shruthi-rao.com

20 Indians who changed the world book

India to the Rescue book

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Susan SummersSusan Summers

Susan started her career as a zookeeper and enjoyed working with polar bears, wolves, and owls – to name just a few of her favorite animals. Interest in science and nature firmly took hold and she followed that career by becoming a wildlife biologist. In this engaging field, she was able to participate in research on a variety of wildlife, including bears, bats, and fabulous birds! She wanted to share her interest in nature with children, so she got a Master’s in Education, and went on to teach ecology as a museum educator. She had this rewarding career for over 20 years. Currently, she is focused on becoming an author, writing about science and nature among other things. In the meantime, she lives happily with her husband of 30 years and with two fur children that she’d love to tell you about. She’s thrilled to be part of STEM Tuesday [and looks forward to sharing her enjoyment of this topic with you].

Science magazine

Science Scope

 

 

 

 

 

Callie DeanCallie Dean

Callie Dean is a musician, writer, educator, and program evaluator. She teaches applied research at Eastern University and is passionate about the role of the arts in effecting community transformation. She lives in Shreveport, La., with her husband and two sons.  She is the director of CYBER.ORG, a STEM education organization with a national network of more than 25,000 K-12 teachers. Callie has written a wide variety of K-12 STEM curriculum materials, including nine cybersecurity badges for the Girl Scouts of the USA. She’s an aspiring PB/MG author, a member of SCBWI, and a 2022 PBParty finalist. Her  areas of interest include technology, cybersecurity, citizen science, and the intersection of science with art.  www.sojo.net/biography/callie-dean

 

 

Author Lydia LukidisLydia Lukidis

Lydia Lukidis is the author of 48 trade and educational books, as well as 31 e-Books. Her latest STEM book, THE BROKEN BEES’ NEST (Kane Press, 2019), was nominated for a CYBILS Award, and her forthcoming STEM book, DEEP, DEEP, DOWN: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench will be published by Capstone in 2023. Lydia writes for children aged 3-12, and her artistic mandate is to inspire and enlighten. A science enthusiast from a young age, she now incorporates her studies in science and everlasting curiosity into her books. For more information, please visit www.lydialukidis.com.

broken Bees nest bookThe Space Rock Mystery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 2 

Jenna GrodzikiJenna Grodinski

Jenna Grodzicki is the author of more than twenty fiction and nonfiction children’s books. Her books include Wild Style: Amazing Animal Adornments (Millbrook Press 2020) and I See Sea Food: Sea Creatures That Look Like Food (Millbrook Press 2019), the winner of the 2020 Connecticut Book Award in the Young Readers Nonfiction Category. Jenna lives near the beach with her husband and two children. In addition to being a writer, she is also a library media specialist at a K-4 school. To learn more, visit her website at www.jennagrodzicki.com.

I See Seafood book

Wild Style book

 

Week 3 
Margo LemieuxMargo Lemieux

A recently retired professor of art, Margo is devoted to seeing that the A stays in STEAM. Science & technology need the heart that comes with art. It was lack of heart that led to the ecological crisis we have today. The process of creativity is closely related to that of scientific inquiry.

She is a  published picture book writer and illustrator, editor, poet, and amateur ukulele player. In her art projects, she often included science concepts as a way of connecting learning.

 

Week 4

Andi DiehnAndi Diehn

Andi Diehn grew up near the ocean chatting with horseshoe crabs and now lives in the mountains surrounded by dogs, cats, lizards, chickens, ducks, moose, deer, and bobcats, some of which help themselves to whatever she manages to grow in the garden. You are most likely to find her reading a book, talking about books, writing a book, or discussing politics with her sons. She has 18 children’s nonfiction books published or forthcoming. www.andidiehn.com

 

Space Adventurer Book Cool Women in Technology

 

We know you are looking forward to their amazing posts as much as we are! #STEMTuesday #sciencerocks

Back to Top

STEM Tuesday — Women Who Changed Science — Writing Tips & Resources

By on May 17, 2022   /   STEM Tuesday, Women's History Month  

 

I’ve always been fascinated by the way the minds of scientists and engineers work. Maybe that’s why I write about them so often, especially women in these fields. One thing that always amazes me is that artists’ minds often work in the same ways, which is our topic for this month.

Arts and Sciences: Not Mutually Exclusive

Of course, many scientists and engineers are artists in their own right. For example, Einstein was an accomplished musician As his second wife said, “Music helps him when he is thinking about his theories. …He goes to his study, comes back, strikes a few chords on the piano, jots something down, returns to his study.” Einstein also was know to carry his violin, Lina, with him practically everywhere.

Book cover for Temple Grandin

Inventor Temple Grandin also felt an early connection to the arts. As she writes in the preface to Sy Montgomery’s TEMPLE GRANDIN: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World (from this month’s book list), “Before I started my career with animals, I was one of those kids who did not fit in with the rest of the crowd. … What saved me and enabled me to succeed were my love of making things and creating art.”

Common Characteristics

NO BOUNDARIES coverSo what are some common traits that make scientists and artists, including writers, successful? Another book on this month’s list, NO BOUNDARIES: 25 Women Explorers and Scientists Share Adventures, Inspiration, and Advice by Clare Fieseler and Gabby Salazar, is rich with examples. Here are a few.

  • Curiosity – For most scientists and writers, it all starts with curiosity. As Dr. Danielle N. Lee, an American mammologist and outreach scientist writes, “The questions I asked as a child were kind of the same questions I’m asking now. … I was always very curious.”

 

  • Training – Wasfia Nazreen, a mountaineer and activist from Bangladesh, would never attempt to summit a mountain without training physically. Likewise, writers must train too. They study the craft of writing in workshops, ready and study books by authors they admire, and most of all, practice writing as much as possible.
  • Courage to take risks– Ecologist Dominique Goncalves of Mozambique emailed a brand-new science lab out of the blue to ask if they offered internships. She was told no. But eventually the director emailed her back to find out why she was so interested. That email changed her life and led to her career. Goncalves’ advice? “If you see an opportunity, take it. But even if there is no opportunity – make one.” Authors take risks every day, trying new formats and approaches, for example. A fiction writer may try out nonfiction writing. Or an author who normally writes with a lyrical (poetic) voice, may try out a humorous voice. Such risks can lead to new writing opportunities. Don’t be afraid to try something new.
  • Perseverance – Egyptian archaeologist Nora Shawki notes the importance of perseverance when working toward a career in science. She says, “Even if you get rejected, be persistent, become resilient, and stay focused. Rejection will mold you and push you and make you grow.” Guess what? Authors experience different types of rejection all the time. Perhaps they get unfavorable feedback on a manuscript. Or an editor decided not to publish their next book. Yet that rejection could lead to a better book or opportunities with a new publishers.

Challenge

What other traits to you think successful writers and artists need and why? Do scientists share that trait? Why or why not?

—

headshot of Kirsten W. LarsonKirsten W. Larson used to work with rocket scientists at NASA and now writes about women in science and much more. Her books include the WOOD, WIRE, WINGS: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane, illus. Tracy Subisak and A TRUE WONDER: The Comic Book Hero Who Changed Everything, illus. Katy Wu. Learn more at kirsten-w-larson.com.

Back to Top