Posts Tagged STEM Tuesday

STEM Tuesday — Not-So-Scary STEM Books

By on October 30, 2018   /   Cross-Curricular, Curriculum Tie-in, STEM Tuesday  

STEM TUESDAY from the mixed up files

 

 

image from DavidArsenault

 

It was a dark and stormy night…which was just perfect for curling up with one of these Halloween-ish STEM books.

 

 

 

 

The Bat Scientists by Mary Kay Carson (HMH books for young readers, 2013)

There are so many creepy bat books, but this one talks about something even creepier: a killer fungus that threatens the bats’ very survival. Meet Dr. Merlin Tuttle and his team of researchers and learn about their work uncovering white-nose syndrome and searching for ways to protect the bats.

 

 

Mummies: Dried, Tanned, Sealed, Drained, Frozen, Embalmed, Stuffed, Wrapped, and Smoked...and We're Dead Serious CoverMummies: Dried, Tanned, Sealed, Drained, Frozen, Embalmed, Stuffed, Wrapped, and Smoked…and We’re Dead Serious by Chris Sloan (National Geographic Kids 2010)

 

Travel the world to check out thousands of years of mummified history. Learn the science of how these mummies were preserved in the past and the tools and technology used to search for their secrets in the present .

 

 

 

 

Oh, Rats!: The Incredible History of Rats and People, by Albert Marrin (Puffin, 2014)

Biology, ecology, epidemiology, and history–it’s a winning combination. Real rat history is as terrifying as a ghost story. Plus, there’s an ominous picture of a rat on the front cover.

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell (Albert Whitman, 2000)

No Halloween reading list would be complete without a pumpkin book. Unfortunately, while there are a lot of interesting pumpkin picture books for young readers, the pickings are slim for older readers. Therefore, I’ll suggest Pumpkin Jack for a read-aloud or a quick reading “snack.” It uses a fictional story frame, but follows the  life cycle of a jack-o-lantern as it rots, goes to seed, and regenerates for a new Halloween celebration.

 

Monster Science: Could monsters survive (and Thrive!) in the real world? By Helaine Becker (Kids Can Press, 2016)

This is a silly look at six  monsters and the serious scientific questions they raise. Can a jolt of electricity really bring a person (or Frankenstein) to life? Could two species blur to form a werewolf? When is a corpse like a vampire? Everything you ever wanted to know about the real-life possibilities for Frankenstein, vampires, Bigfoot, zombies, werewolves and sea monsters.

How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg and Kevin O’Malley (Bloomsbury)

This award-winning book for reluctant readers is a fascinating collection of remarkable deaths–and not for the faint of heart.

Over the course of history, men and women have lived and died. In fact, getting sick and dying can be a big, ugly mess–especially before the modern medical care that we all enjoy today. From King Tut’s ancient autopsy to Albert Einstein’s great brain escape, How They Croakedcontains all the gory details of the awful ends of nineteen awfully famous people

 

 

 

 

 

 

How They Choked  by Georgia Bragg and Kevin O’Malley (Bloomsbury)

The team behind the bestselling How They Croaked shines a light on the darker sides of history’s most famous failures, perfect for reluctant readers!

Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes, epic failures even lead to super successes . . . sometimes they become deep dark secrets. But remember–to fail is human, to laugh about our shortcomings divine. From Montezuma II’s mistaking a conqueror for a god to Isaac Newton turning from science to alchemy to J. Bruce Ismay’s jumping the lifeboat line on the Titanic, How They Choked knocks fourteen famous achievers off their pedestals to reveal the human side of history.

 

 

******* Have you entered our CoSTEM Contest?? There’s still time! Entries are due Midnight November 6th, 2018*************

See the details here  https://fromthemixedupfiles.com/2018/09/stem-tuesday-cos-stem-contest/

Enter NOW to win these prizes!

1st Place —  Receives 5 autographed STEM Books from our STEM Tuesday team + $25 Barnes & Noble Gift card

2nd Place — Receives 3 autographed STEM Books from our STEM Tuesday team + $15 Barnes & Noble Gift card

3rd Place—   Receives 2 autographed STEM Books from our STEM Tuesday team  +$10 Barnes & Noble Gift card

 

 

Jodi Wheeler-Toppen is a former science teacher and the author of the Once Upon A Science Book series (NSTA Press) on integrating science and reading instruction.  She also writes for children, with her most recent book being Dog Science Unleashed: Fun Activities to do with Your Canine Companion. For Halloween, she plans to dress like a harried mother of young children.

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STEM Tuesday Wild and Wacky Science — In the Classroom

By on February 13, 2018   /   Common Core & NGSS, Cross-Curricular, Curriculum Tie-in, For Teachers, Fun!, STEM Tuesday  

This month’s STEM Tuesday Theme: Wild and Wacky Science has the potential to lead readers in all directions! What a fun Book List the STEM Tuesday Team found for us this month.

Here are a few ways to use this month’s books in the classroom, extending learning beyond simply reading. Enjoy these suggestions, and as always, we welcome your additional suggestions in the comments below!

Follow a Friend on Facebook! 

After reading Unstoppable: True Stories of Amazing Bionic Animals by Nancy Furstinger, you’ll want to adopt one of these furry heroes! Since convincing parents to get new pets of any kind can be a monumental task, it might be easier for your class to befriend a furrrball on Facebook. Here are links to the Facebook pages of several of Furstinger’s friends.

Chris P Bacon, Pig on Wheels @CPBaconWheels

Brutus the Rottweiler @betterpawsforbrutus

Molly the Three-Legged Pony @mollythe3leggedpony

Vincent the Cat @walkingvincentcat

Albie, Felix, and Fawn, Woodstock Farm Sanctuary @woodstockfarm

 Chart Your Allergies! 

First, read Itch! Everything You Didn’t Want to Know About What Makes You Scratch by Anita Sanchez.

Then, practice data-collecting, chart-making, graphing, and data analysis skills by doing a classroom allergy assessment.  Start by asking students to create their own survey. What questions will you need to ask to find out who is allergic to what? Create the survey together, complete the surveys, and gather the data. Next, chart or graph (or both!) the results for a visual and numeric display of what gets under your skin. Who’s is inclined to itch when the cat comes in? Do menacing mosquitoes munch on many or just a few of the members of your class?

Dig Deeper!  Get the DNA 411!

In Forgotten Bones, Uncovering of a Slave Cemetery, Lois Miner Huey takes readers on a fascinating journey that begins with the discovery of and leads to an amazing amount of information about the thirteen slaves buried on what was once the Schuyler Family Farm near Albany, New York.

Much of what the scientists on the scene and in the lab near Albany were able to determine about the slaves was came the DNA samples from seven of the adult skeletons.  But what do you really know about DNA? Plan ahead for National DNA Day, April 25th, by checking out this website for several great DNA-related activities to do with kids. 

Make a Book Trailer.  Some of this month’s book picks have cool book trailers available on You Tube.  Watch these one-minute advertisements for wild and wacky nonfiction and make your own book trailer. There’s a lot to be said about getting the most out of just sixty seconds of screen time! Can you make a trailer that is certain to send readers running to the library to check out the book you’ve read? Here’s a link to a helpful tutorial to show How to Make a Book Trailer in iMovie.

   

This week’s STEM Tuesday post was prepared by

Michelle Houts delights in the wild and wacky side of finding fun facts for young readers. She writes both fiction and nonfiction and often finds the nonfiction harder to believe than the fiction. Find her on Instagram and Twitter @mhoutswrites and on the web at www.michellehouts.com.

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STEM Tuesday Exploration — Interview with Author Jennifer Swanson and Giveaway

By on January 30, 2018   /   Author Interviews, Common Core & NGSS, Exploration, STEM Tuesday  

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

Today we’re interviewing author Jennifer Swanson who wrote this month’s featured book, Astronaut-Aquanaut: How Space Science and Sea Science Interact.

The book invites readers along on a journey of exploration to two very different but similarly extreme environments—outer space and the deep ocean. Through fascinating text, interviews with experts, and hands-on activities, Astronaut-Aquanaut challenges young people to think about limitations on human explorers and how technology strives to overcome them.

Mary Kay Carson: Congratulations on Astronaut-Aquanaut being chosen as a Junior Library Guild selection! How did you come to write this fabulous book?

Jennifer Swanson: Well, it all started with a conversation I was having with my National Geographic Kids editor, Shelby Lees. We were discussing a different book on space that I was doing with her and talking about how astronauts train to go into space. I happened to mention that it was probably much different from how people trained to work under the ocean. That got me thinking. Was it different? I had to find out! Like any good nonfiction author, I  started researching. To my surprise, I found out that astronauts and aquanauts do a lot of things in common when training. As we say in the writing world, that fascinating tidbit of information was my HOOK! and one I was sure would make a great book!

Buy a copy of Astronaut-Aquanaut!

MKC: It looks like you got to interview some famous aquanauts and astronauts. Do you have a favorite moment or happening you’d like to share?

JS: There are so many with this book. Being a science geek and getting to talk to real astronauts and aquanauts made me feel like I was a groupie talking to a bunch of rock stars. Probably my two favorite moments were speaking with Dr. Kathy Sullivan on the phone for an hour (she was the FIRST woman to walk in space! And I remember her doing that)  and also meeting Fabien Cousteau in person. He is an amazing aquanaut in his own right, but also grandson of the famous Jacques Cousteau, who I grew up watching on television.  But really, talking to all of these experts was quite thrilling!

MKC: Why do you choose to write STEM books? 

STEM author Jennifer Swanson

JS: I LOVE STEM. I have since I was a kid. I was 7 when I started my own science club in my garage. My love of science has followed me my whole life. I have a B.S. in chemistry from the U.S. Naval Academy, and a M.S. Ed in K-8 science education. Aside from writing books for kids about science, I also teach middle school science online for Johns Hopkins University. I guess you could say that I am the epitome of a science geek. And proud of it!

MKC: For readers who loved Astronaut-Aquanaut, what other middle-grade books would you suggest?

Wow. There are so many!  Smash! Exploring the Mysteries of the Universe with the Large Hadron Collider by Sara Latta is really cool! Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly is one of my favorites. The movie was AWESOME, too! All of the Scientists in the Field series books by HMH.  As for fiction, there is The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm and Michelle Houts’ new Lucy’s Lab series. I really loved that– it reminds me of me as a kid. There are so many great books with STEM and STEAM in them these days. It’s such a great time for all of us who love it!

MKC: Could you give us a peek into your process by sharing where you are right now on a current project and how you’re tackling it?

JS: Well, that’s an interesting question. I typically juggle several projects at once, sometimes simultaneously. Right now I’m waiting for edits on a long-term young-adult nonfiction STEM book that I did. I also just turned in an outline for another middle-grade STEM book and am about to have a call with the expert to do my initial interview. I like to make sure that my books with experts highlight their passion about their research because that really brings depth to the story. Finally, I am knee-deep in researching another topic and plan to start writing that proposal soon. I seem to work better with a lot of things going at once. 🙂

More about this week’s author……

Jennifer Swanson dreams of one day running away to the Museum of Science and Industry–then maybe she could look at all the exhibits and try out all the gadgets without competing for them with her kids. An author of twenty nonfiction science books for grades 3-6, Jennifer’s goal is to show kids that Science Rocks! She lives in sunny Florida with her husband, three kids and two dogs. When not writing she’s on the hunt for fun science facts. Learn more about Jennifer and her books at www.JenniferSwansonBooks.com.

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Win a FREE copy of Astronaut-Aquanaut!

Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment below. The randomly-chosen winner will be contacted via email and asked to provide a mailing address (within the U.S. only) to receive the book.

Good luck!

Your host this week is Mary Kay Carson, fellow space geek, science nerd, and author of Mission to Pluto and other nonfiction books for kids.

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