Posts Tagged science

STEM Tuesday– Award-Winning MG STEM Titles–Book List

By on December 7, 2021   /   Award-winning MG STEM Books, STEM Tuesday  

 

 

Hurrah, it is time to celebrate all the recent award winning middle grade STEM titles! These books are the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the cherry on top of the sundae. You’ll surely want to add them to your reading list. Drumroll…

NSTA 2020 Outstanding Trade Books

Beyond Words: What Elephants and Whales Think and Feel by Carl Safina

Readers will follow researcher Carl Safina as he tracks elephants and monitors whales. A wonderful young edition of the bestselling adult title. 

Dreaming in Code: Ada Byron Lovelace Computer Pioneer by Emily Arnold McCully

If you’ve enjoyed the many picture books on this STEM pioneer, it’s time to step into her deeper story in this middle grade book. 

The Electric War: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse and the Race to Light the World by Mike Winchell

Readers will find the competition to be the first to light the world inspiring.

Poison Eaters: Fighting Danger and Fraud in our Food and Drugs by Gail Jarrow

This many starred title introduces readers to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. 

The Woolly Monkey Mysteries: The Quest to Save a Rain Forest Species by Sandra Markle

Sandra Markle captures a conservation recovery team’s efforts to save a rainforest animal in her latest book. 

Undaunted: The Wild Life of Birute’ Mary Galdikas and Her Fearless Quest to Save Orangutans by Anita Silvey 

This book follows two previous award winning biographies by Anita Silvey. You’ll want to read all three! 

Best STEM Books, NSTA   

Save the Crash Test Dummies: An Action-Packed Journey Through the History of Car Safety Engineering by Jennifer Swanson

Readers will dive in to the history of car production and the science behind car safety measures. 

Saving the Tasmanian Devil: How Science is Helping the World’s Largest Marsupial Carnivore Survive by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent

Step out of the cartoons for this latest book in the popular Scientists in the Field series that explores the recovery of this iconic species. 

AAAS/Subaru Prize Winners   

Can You Hear the Trees Talking? Discovering the Hidden Life of the Forest by Peter Wohlleben

Based on the NY Times bestseller The Hidden Life of Trees, this young edition is filled with facts, simple activities, photos, and more to engage readers in forest ecosystems. 

Green Earth Book Award Winners 2021

One Earth: People of Color Protecting the Planet by Anuradha Rao

Discover extraordinary stories of environmental activists in this award winning title. 

Condor Comeback by Sy Montgomery, photographs by Tianne Strombeck

The story of the recovery of California condors is a great edition to the Scientists in the Field series.  

Kids vs. Plastics: Ditch the straw and find the pollution solution to bottles, bags, and other single-use plastics by Julie Beer

Plastic fills our lives. This title is filled with shocking stats and surprising facts. Find out how to reduce plastic use and create a more plastic-free future. 

Mathical Book Prize

How we got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure by John Rocco

Beautifully illustrated, this took serves as a guide to the people and technology behind the moon landing. 

Grasping Mysteries: Girls Who Loved Math by Jeannine Atkins

Jeannine Atkins works her magic on this collective biography, novel-in-verse of several STEM pioneers who began their life as girls who loved math. 

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Nancy Castaldo has written books about our planet for over 20 years. Her titles have earned numerous honors, including the Green Earth Book Award, Junior Library Guild Selection, NSTA Outstanding Trade Book, Eureka Nonfiction 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. She is a certified National Geographic Educator.

Watch for her upcoming books, including WHEN THE WORLD RUNS DRY and THE WOLVES AND MOOSE OF ISLE ROYALE, a Scientist in the Field title, in 2022. Visit her at www.nancycastaldo.com. 

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Sibert Honor author Patricia Newman shows young readers how their actions can ripple around the world. Using social and environmental injustice as inspiration, she empowers young readers to seek connections to the real world and to use their imaginations to act on behalf of their communities. One Texas librarian wrote, “Patricia is one of THE BEST nonfiction authors writing for our students in today’s market, and one of our MUST HAVE AUTHORS for every collection.”

Titles include: Planet Ocean (new); Sibert Honor book Sea Otter Heroes; Green Earth Book Award winner Plastic, Ahoy!; The NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book Eavesdropping on Elephants; California Reading Association’s Eureka! Gold winner Zoo Scientists to the Rescue. Visit Patricia online at her website, on Twitter, on Facebook, and on Pinterest.

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STEM Tuesday — Give the Gift of STEM/STEAM Books for the Holidays

By on November 30, 2021   /   Articles, STEM Tuesday  

 

Happy Holidays from the STEM Tuesday team! Can you believe it’s that time of year again when you have to go out and buy gifts?

Do you know what you’re getting? Why not consider the gift of a STEM/STEAM book? It’s a great way to introduce a love of science to kids (of ALL ages)  OR to expand upon and encourage a love of STEM to grow.

Not sure where to find awesome STEM/STEAM books? We can help!

Look at our site! Each month comes with a Book List for the topic we are covering that month. Just search by topic on our home page HERE

Then click on the search by topic part and you’ll get a drop down menu where you can select the topic you’re looking for. Most of the books on the list are already attached to Bookstop so you can just click on the title and ORDER and you’re done!

 

 

If you’re looking for more ideas of STEM/STEAM books for kids, check out STEAM Team Books! It’s a website that highlights the amazing fiction and nonfiction books that have come out that year.

​STEAM-related books bring the spirit of inquiry, discovery, and creative problem-solving to your learners

while engaging them in rich literacy experiences.

 

Here are some suggestions from the STEAM Team members for “Books for Kids Who Like…” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a reminder, TODAY IS #GIVINGTUESDAY 

So, if you don’t have a young reader to buy a book for, consider donating to a nonprofit charity that provides books to Kids!

There are MANY amazing charities out there. Pick one you love and support it. Here are a few to check out:

KidLiteracy, Inc. 

Lit World 

Room To Read

World Literacy Foundation

Books for Africa

Ferst Readers

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STEM Tuesday– Tectonics: Volcanoes, Ring of fire– Writing Tips & Resources

By on November 16, 2021   /   STEM Tuesday, Tectonics/Volcanoes  

How to Start a Story

What’s one of the hardest parts of writing? Writing very first paragraph (like this one)! The first paragraph of any piece of writing, also called the “lead,” has to accomplish a lot. It must give the reader an idea of what the piece is about. And it must pique the reader’s interest and encourage them to keep reading. How do writers do it?

To find out, I studied the openings in several books from this month’s book list.

Start with a Question

Did you notice I used this technique to begin this blog post? It’s the same technique Kathleen M. Reilly uses to open her book, FAULT LINES & TECTONIC PLATES:

“Did you know that the surface of the planet Earth is similar to one enormous puzzle? A puzzle is made up of anywhere from a few pieces to thousands of pieces. And each piece has a very specific shape that allows it to fit perfectly against another piece of the puzzle, right?

Take a close look at the shape of the continents on our planet. If you study them very carefully, you’ll see that they kind of look like puzzle pieces. …”

What else do you notice about Reilly’s beginning? She uses second-person point of view (you) to address the reader directly. That makes you feel like you’re part of the story. She also introduces the analogy of the puzzle, which she builds on subsequent paragraphs. It helps her explain plate tectonics in a reader-friendly way.

But are questions the only way to start a story? Nope. Read on.

Start with a Scene

In THE BIG ONE, Elizabeth Rusch starts her story this way: “At first you don’t notice the shaking. You think a bus or truck is rumbling by. But the trembling doesn’t start. A few seconds later, paintings and photos on the wall swing slightly. Glasses and dishes rattle. Thud. Bang! Objects all around you – cellphones, water bottles, books – slide off surfaces and clatter to the ground. …”

What do you notice about this opening?

Just like Reilly, Rusch has used second-person POV to put the reader in the story. But she’s gone even farther. She’s put the reader in the middle of the action – an earthquake! She’s used details from the five senses to help us see, feel, and hear what it would be like to experience an earthquake as it happens. And the action is unfolding minute-by-minute, like a television or movie. It’s a captivating opening for sure.

Make It Personal

Johanna Wagstaffe starts with a personal recollection in FAULT LINES: “When I was four years old, I lived with my family in Tokyo, Japan. I remember seeing the polite nods and warm smiles in the crowded subways, riding on the back of my mother’s bicycle through the alleys of the city, and wishing we could visit the five-story Sanrio store. I also remember the regular earthquake drills in our kindergarten class. We would scramble to get under the desks and then line up and march outside. It seemed like a fun game at the time, but there was a seriousness about it.

I first felt the ground move one day when I was playing at home after school. …”

Wagstaffe goes on to relate her first-hand experience of an earthquake.

What is your response to this opening?

Like Rusch, Wagstaffe paints a scene filled with vivid details, but instead of having us imagine ourselves in the middle of the action, four-year-old Wagstaffe is the main character. And she’s the main character and a character in real trouble – an earthquake. What will happen to her? We have to keep reading.

Your Turn

Grab several nonfiction books and study the first paragraph of each. How does the story start? Has the author used one of the techniques we’ve discussed or something different? Did the opening give you an idea of what the book is about and get you excited to read more? Why or why not?

Whenever you’re stuck, remember all these options for openings. Test some out and see what works.

More great posts about story beginnings:

Kirsten Williams Larson author

Kirsten W. Larson

Website: kirsten-w-larson.com

Biography

Kirsten used to work with rocket scientists at NASA. Now she writes books for curious kids. She is the author of  WOOD, WIRE, WINGS: EMMA LILIAN TODD INVENTS AN AIRPLANE, illustrated by Tracy Subisak (Calkins Creek), an NSTA Best STEM BOOK, A TRUE WONDER: The Comic Book Hero Who Changed Everything, illustrated by Katy Wu (Clarion), which earned two starred reviews, and the forthcoming, THE FIRE OF STARS: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars Are Made Of, illustrated by Katherine Roy (Chronicle, Spring 2022), as well as 25 nonfiction books for the school and library market. Find her at kirsten-w-larson.com or on Twitter and Instagram @KirstenWLarson.

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