Posts Tagged teachers.

STEM Author Spotlight: Alison Pearce Stevens

By on March 8, 2024   /   Author Interviews, STEM  

I’m delighted to be highlighting some awesome middle grade STEM/STEAM authors on the blog!

The first up is Alison Pearce Stevens. Her new book, Animal Climate Heroes released March 5th. I’ve read the book and it is PERFECT for curious kids.

Here’s a bit more info:

Animal Climate Heroes book

 

Animal Climate Heroes by Alison Pearce Stevens (Author), Jason Ford (Illustrator)

           Godwin Books, March 5, 2024.   BUY it HERE 

 

Summary: In our left corner we have the meanest villain that’s ever existed. Responsible for rising seas and loss of biodiversity, it’s climate change ready to wreak havoc on the Earth. But in our right corner? We have four superheroes ready to save the day!
Forest elephants protect our forests by trampling trees.
Whales boost ocean health with their massive poo-nados.
Sea otters defend kelp forests from purple invaders.
And echidnas bury tons of soil to stop climate change.

But we can’t leave them in this fight alone. We need to protect our heroes who, in return, defend our planet. Get ready to learn all about these four legged, and two-flippered, creatures and how YOU can be a climate hero too!

 

Reviews:

“Along with explaining sometimes complex ecological cycles and patterns in easy-to-understand terms, the author highlights the role of microbes in decomposition, extolling the benefits of composting and leaving autumn leaves on the ground; she even describes the eco-devastation wrought by artificial lawn fertilizers and free-roaming cats. Ford’s engagingly informal ink-and-wash portraits and diagrams generally come with helpful captions and labels.”―Booklist

“Animal Climate Heroes is a captivating exploration of the Earth’s unsung champions in the battle against climate change. In this riveting narrative, author Alison Pearce Stevens introduces readers to four remarkable creatures who stand as mighty defenders of our planet’s delicate ecosystems. Each chapter is masterfully woven together through scientific insight with engaging storytelling, making complex ecological concepts accessible and intriguing for young readers. Not only will readers walk away informed, but they will also be inspired to take action to help safeguard our planet! Animal Climate Heroes truly promises to be an indispensable resource for curious minds eager to make a difference in the world outside their doorstep.”― Melissa Cristina Marquez, author of Mother of Sharks and Wild Survival

“Fun and fascinating! Animal Climate Heroes gives readers an inspiring look at what earth’s creatures are doing to help fight climate change, but also gives us a compelling reminder of just how amazing our planet really is―and why we ought to protect it. This book belongs on every animal lover’s shelf!”―Jess Keating, bestselling author, scientist, & nature artist

 

Alison, thanks for answering a few questions about your book and your writing.

JAS: This is such an intriguing way to approach climate change, how did you come up with it?

APS: During the Covid shutdown, I watched a lot of webinars, and during one of them, the presenter said that her favorite fact was that sea otters help fight climate change. I had also seen an article about the role of great whales in climate, and I knew it was a great angle for a book.

JAS: Can you give us a short explanation of how you relate climate change to animals?

APS: The key is to remove the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Animals don’t do this! But many animals, including the four featured in the book, help boost photosynthesis in trees, plants, and algae. (For anyone who hasn’t thought about photosynthesis in years, plants use the process to combine carbon dioxide and water to make food.) Exactly how the animals boost photosynthesis in their local plants or algae varies by animal and ecosystem, and the book goes into more detail about each one. The gist of it is that these animals are helping photosynthesizers get what they need to grow, whether that’s nutrients, space, or water, and that helps remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.


JAS: Can you give us a sneak peek of one or two of the animals that you highlight?

APS: Absolutely. Sea otters are helping to protect kelp forests. Kelp can literally grow up to two feet a day, and it sucks lots of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to make that happen. Forest elephants tend their forest like gardeners, planting seeds, dropping plenty of fertilizer, and pulling weedy trees. This reduces competition for the massive tree species, so they get enough water and nutrients to flourish. The bigger the tree, the more carbon it stores. Elephants are absolutely essential to maintaining tropical forests in Africa.

JAS: What do you want young readers to get out of your book?

APS: Two things: I want every reader to understand how incredibly important nature is to us. It’s not just about climate (even though that’s all we hear about in the news), it’s about protecting all kinds of natural systems. We need them as much as they need us. And I want everyone to feel empowered to take steps to reduce their impact on the planet. Yes, industries play a huge role in this, but each and every one of us can reduce our personal impact, as well. By taking some of the steps I recommend in the book, people can tread more lightly on Earth and help sway industries to make more sustainable decisions.

JAS: Can you list a few actions that everyone can take to reduce climate change?

APS: Ride a bike instead of driving—or at least turn off the engine instead of idling. Rethink your lawn care practices if you own a home or talk to your landlord about how the property is maintained if you rent and there are green spaces. Most fertilizers are products of the oil industry and applied excessively; they wash downstream along with herbicides and other pesticides. When they reach the ocean, they harm marine life (and there’s good evidence they’re harming us, too). Lawnmowers and leaf blowers release huge amounts of carbon dioxide and other pollutants, so making changes to lawn care practices can go a long way. Even replacing a showerhead with one that’s EPA Water Sense certified can cut your carbon footprint and reduce the amount of water you use. All of those changes save you money, to boot.

JAS: Do you have any tips for writers who want to break into nonfiction children’s books?

APS: Be persistent and work on your craft—attend conferences, workshops and webinars to really learn how successful authors create their stories. And get to know other people in the kidlit community. It’s incredibly supportive, and many of my writing opportunities arose from events I attended and the connections I made while I was there.

JAS: What are you working on now?

APS: I am planning a second research trip for THE WILD MILE. This MG NF will be part of Holiday House’s Books for a Better Earth collection. It features efforts to rewild cities—to re-create lost habitat in an effort to bring wildlife back into the concrete jungle. THE WILD MILE will look at these efforts in general and specifically highlight the Wild Mile project in downtown Chicago.

 

Thanks so much for joining us, Alison. You can learn more about Alison below. 

Alison Pearce Stevens Headshot

Bio: Alison Pearce Stevens has been chased by a trumpeter swan, bitten by a bronze-winged duck, and served as a climbing wall for geckos and baby bats. She used to be a beekeeper and still thinks pollinators are some of the coolest things on the planet. Once upon a time, she was Dr. Stevens, science professor, until life took her overseas, at which point she started writing about science and nature for kids, because she’s an educator at heart and had to find new ways to share cool things with the world’s most curious people.

Alison writes lots of fun nonfiction: articles, picture books, and middle grade books. All of her work is inspired by a love of science and nature. She a regular contributor to Science News Explores, Highlights for Children, ASK, and other kids’ magazines, and has co-authored four books for National Geographic Kids. Rhinos in Nebraska: The Amazing Discovery of the Ashfall Fossil Beds (2021) and Animal Climate Heroes! (2024) were both Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selections. Rhinos also won three Nebraska Book Awards. Detective Dogs are on the Case will release in September 2024.

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STEM Tuesday — Pests that Bug Us — Book List

By on January 9, 2024   /   Pests and Bugs, STEM Tuesday  

Leeches, bedbugs, and plagues! These books focus on some of the plants, pests, and parasites that share our home and, in some cases, our body.

Bugged: How Insects Changed History by Sarah Albee, illustrated by Robert Leighton

This book is filled with “death, disease, and disgusting details…” There are bugs that swarm, bugs that devour crops, and bugs that transmit plagues. There are also stories about insects that have built entire industries (think: silkworms, honeybees). The author even provides a “TMI” warning for some sidebars, so squeamish readers can avoid the grossest (and coolest) stuff.

Itch!: Everything You Didn’t Want to Know About What Makes You Scratch by Anita Sanchez

To understand why things itch, we need to understand how skin reacts to stings and bites. This book includes the usual buggy suspects as well as plants with spines, needles, and poisons. Readers will learn how to identify poison ivy, how fleas leap, and how bedbugs talk to each other and they’ll find non-toxic alternatives for treatment.

Infestation! : Roaches, Bedbugs, Ants and Other Insect Invaders by Sharon L. Reith

Ants! Cockroaches! Bedbugs! To get to know these pesky invaders you’ll have to become an insect detective. This book shows how to follow the clues and fight back without reaching for the poison first. Text boxes include Invader Facts and cool extras.

Bizarro Bloodsuckers by Ron Knapp

Mosquitoes, lice, leeches … just thinking about these little bloodsuckers gives some folks the shivers. But these tiny vampires aren’t trying to be disgusting – like any other creature, they just want to live. Each chapter focuses on one kind of organism, including a couple that don’t bother people at all.

What’s Eating You? Parasites – The Inside Story by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Neal Layton

You are a habitat to (potentially) more than 430 kinds of parasites! Text, accompanied by graphic panels, explores the lives of ticks, fleas, and other parasites that live on your body surface, the tapeworms, hookworms, and roundworms that live inside you, and some of the defenses your body uses against them.

Plagues and Pandemics (History Smashers) by Kate Messner

A mix of conversational text and graphic panels takes readers on a world-wide tour of the best-known plagues and pandemics from ancient times to our current era. Highlights include the black death, smallpox, cholera, polio, Ebola, SARS, and Covid 19. The final chapter explores how to prevent the next pandemic.

Micro Mania: A Really Close-Up Look at Bacteria, Bedbugs & The Zillions of Other Gross Little Creatures That Live In, On & All Around You! by Jordan D. Brown

The mantra of this book is: you’re never alone. It introduces the microbes that live on your arms and legs, and some of the pests that live with us. Chapters have light-hearted titles, such as “You and Trillions of Your Close Personal Friends” and topics include foot fungus, farts, and the five-second rule.

Inside the World of Microbes by Howard Phillips

After exploring the basics of genetics and a brief survey of microbiology and scientists from 1665 to 1970, the book explores the beneficial, detrimental, fascinating, and extreme characteristics of bacteria, archaea, protists, and viruses. Full of stunning photos, many microscopic, and diagrams, as well as further reading and a list of U.S. and Canadian organizations.

The Case of the Flesh-Eating Bacteria by Michelle Faulk, PhD

Using an investigator’s voice and side cameos of crime detective Annie Biotica, this engaging book establishes the symptoms (“crime”), the microbes involved (suspect), and the tests and treatments for flesh-eating bacteria, pinkeye, ringworm, chicken pox, and measles. It includes microscopic photos, diagrams, and three additional cases for the reader to solve.

Little Monsters: The Creatures That Live on Us and in Us by Albert Marrin

Detailed photographs of these “creatures” and their effect on our bodies, accompany a conversational discussion of mosquitoes, mites, fleas, lice, worms, and the parasites or hyperparasites (parasites of parasites) that inhabit them. And highlights many scientists whose dogged tenacity and experimentation enabled the discovery (and in some case treatment) of these parasites. A final chapter offers ways to avoid parasites.

Sick! The Twists and Turns Behind Animal Germs by Heather L. Montgomery, illustrated by Lindsey Leigh

Humorous comic illustrations pair with a light-hearted, engaging narrative to take a deep dive into bacteria, fungi, and viruses and the scientists who’ve discovered amazing things about them. In learning how chimpanzees battle worms and stomach distress, frogs and ants fight against fungi, and a gator’s blood cell’s kill bacteria, they are finding possible applications and startling examples of symbiosis. Throughout, a bespectacled brain in a baseball cap, the “word nerd,” offers definitions and explanations and tons of “fun facts” and “not so fun facts” sidebars add to the fun.

And don’t forget American Murderer: The Parasite that Haunted the South by Gail Jarrow, a scary tale about hookworms that we featured back in October.

This month’s STEM Tuesday book list was prepared by:

Sue Heavenrich, author

Sue Heavenrich, who writes about science for children and their families on topics ranging from space to backyard ecology. Bees, flies, squirrel behavior—things she observes in her neighborhood and around her home—inspire her writing. Visit her at www.sueheavenrich.com.

Maria Marshall, a children’s author, blogger, and poet who is passionate about making nature and reading fun for children. When not writing, critiquing, or reading, she watches birds, travels the world, bakes, and hikes. Visit her at www.mariacmarshall.com.

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STEM Tuesday — Spooky and Scary Science– Book List

By on October 3, 2023   /   Spooky and Scary Science, STEM Tuesday  

Who needs a shivery, shuddery story about werewolves and zombies when there are truly scary things living all around us?

American Murderer: The Parasite that Haunted the South by Gail Jarrow

This book is about microscopic worms living in the soil… invisible vampires that enter your body through your bare feet, travel to your intestines, and stay there for years sucking your blood and draining you of energy. The focus is on Charles Wardell Stile, the scientist who discovered the worm and played an important role in educating the public on treatments and eradication. There are gross diagrams and photos of the vampiric worms and a not so subtle reminder to wear your shoes when you head out on Halloween night – or any time.

Something Rotten, A Fresh Look at Roadkill by Heather L. Montgomery

This book is not for squeamish souls; it is full of parasites, intestines, and bloody bodies. At the same time, it remains an entertaining and informative read. We meet David Laurencio, the archivist of the DOR (Dead on Road) collection at the Auburn University Museum of Natural History. Every specimen bears a toe tag with an identification number that references a file. A file filled with notes about where the animal was found, when, how it was killed, its gender, and DNA information. By mapping where animals are killed, scientists can learn more about where they live, what they eat, and whether they are migrating because of environmental changes.

Animal Zombies by Chana Steifel

Welcome to the Zombie Zone, where you’ll meet harmless ladybugs turned into monsters by parasitic wasps, zombie cockroaches and crickets and ants. You’ll meet plenty of other scary monsters, and the scientists who study these real-life bloodsuckers and body snatchers. But don’t worry – there’s a list of items you can stow in your very own Zombie Emergency Kit.

Zombie makers: True Stories Of Nature’s Undead by Rebecca L. Johnson

Zombies are real, and they’re closer than you think! Fortunately, the zombie-makers don’t (yet) attack humans. But they do take over the bodies of insects, spiders, snails, and rats. In this book you’ll meet the fungi, worms, wasps, and viruses that take over animal brains – and learn the science behind the story. And you might be inspired to do some zombie hunting in your own backyard!

Spi-ku: A Clutter of Short Verse on Eight Legs by Leslie Bulion

No matter where you are, there’s probably a spider lurking nearby. Some are busy weaving webs, others riding silk balloons through the air, and yet others on the prowl. In this book you’ll meet diving spiders, dancing spiders, and social spiders. You’ll learn how they kill and digest their prey, engage in foolery – and even how they become prey themselves. There are great tips on how to hunt for spiders at night plus a poetry guide for folks who want links to literature.

Yuck, You Suck!: Poems About Animals That Sip, Slurp, Suck by Jane Yolen & Heidi E. Y. Stemple

These poems highlight thirteen real-life suckers that live on our planet. You may even have been a victim of a vampire! Think about those mosquito bites and the yucky leeches that stuck to your toes when you went wading in a stream. Not every featured creature sucks blood; there are bees and butterflies (they suck nectar) and pigeons who can use their beak as a straw. Back matter includes a fun list of anatomical terms for parts that suck.

Monster Science: Could Monsters Survive (and Thrive!) in the Real World? by Helaine Becker

Despite all the stories, monsters aren’t real. But if they were … what science would guide the lives of vampire and bigfoot, zombies and werewolves and sea monsters? Beginning with Frankenstein, we look at what makes a monster, and explore whether you could bring the dead to life using electricity. [note: Using a defibrillator to restart a heart that’s been stopped for a few seconds is a far cry from bringing a corpse to life!]

Scary Animals (Gross and Frightening Animal Facts) by Stella Tarakson

Combining detailed photographs with speech bubbles and comic asides, this creepy book from Australia (where a fair portion of the animals can kill a human) examines common phobias – freaky spiders, giant snakes, and swooping birds – looks at spiky creatures, skulls and super strong jaws, mysterious murders (who knew sugar gliders were so violent), myths and missing species, and a host of spooky spaces where animals live. It includes a bit on genetics and a glossary.

Toxic: The World’s Deadliest Creatures by Ico Romero

After grounding the reader in the difference between poisons, toxins, and venoms, this boldly illustrated book explores poison dart frogs, unique venomous mammals, ocean stingers, snakes, fantastical fish and jellyfish, insects, spiders, and more. An excellent discussion on the career of a toxicologist, a fascinating guessing game (“Healthy, Sick or Dead?”), and a glossary round oud out this engaging book on deadly creatures.

Gory Details: Adventures From the Dark Side of Science by Erika Engelhaupt

Though slightly older, the humorous, manageable chapters (5 to 7 pages), examine “gross, taboo, or morbid topics…up close, through the lens of science.” Including, whether dead owners would be eaten by their dog, maggot farming, head transplants, face mites, and the worst places to be stung. A few chapters like roach invasions and eye worms are not for the squeamish or to be read before bed. With interviews of scientists in each field, an index, and a detailed list of sources this is a great book to spark curiosity or jump start research into some scary, gory science.

Frightlopedia: An encyclopedia of Everything Scary, Creepy, and Spine-Chilling, from Arachnids to Zombies by Julie Winterbottom

Tucked among ghost stories, witches, vampires, and haunted houses are lots of short chapters about creepy crawly critters: slithery snakes, killer bees, Komodo dragons, rats, sharks, stonefish, and vampire bats. It’s a complete A-to-Z guide for everything spooky, beginning with Arachnids. What makes spiders so creepy? Maybe it’s their eyes, or the fact that they make sticky webs that cling to your arms. Not only does the author introduce a few arachnids, but she even provides instructions for a Halloween prank. There’s a “fright meter” at the beginning of each chapter (to let you know just how scary the stuff on the pages will be), lots of hands-on activities, and a chapter on how to be an “evil scientist.”

EXPERIMENTS:

Scary Science: 24 Creepy Experiments: 24 Creepy Experiments by Shar Levine & Leslie Johnstone

If you want to make a shrunken head, some festering ooze, or alien barf, this book is for you! Each experiment lists materials you’ll need, what to do, and explains the science behind what happens. There are so many ways to make slimy, gooey polymers! As with any lab work, young scientists need to wear eye protectors, maybe a lab coat, and definitely pay attention to the warnings to not eat the experiments!

Gross Science Experiments: 60 Smelly, Scary, Silly Tests to Disgust Your Friends and Family by Emma Vanstone

The name says it all. With a conversational, and at times conspiratorial, voice, this book weaves history, science, jokes, and the scientific process throughout these easy and gross experiments. While some are even edible, others are guaranteed to induce cringes. It’s a great book for exploring scary, creepy science in a classroom or at home.

Oh, ick! : 114 science experiments guaranteed to gross you out! by Joy Masoff

From bacteria hotels to zits, this book is filled with ick-tivities, ick-speriments, and ick-splorations. They may not be scary, but they are guaranteed to be gross. Explore earwax and old eggs, garbage and farts, eyeballs, bad breath, and odious odors. Plus a guide on how to think like a Nobel Prize winner (hint: it’s all about experimental design).

This month’s STEM Tuesday book list was prepared by:

Sue Heavenrich, author

Sue Heavenrich, who writes about science for children and their families on topics ranging from space to backyard ecology. Bees, flies, squirrel behavior—things she observes in her neighborhood and around her home—inspire her writing. Her most recent book is The Pie That Molly Made. Visit her at www.sueheavenrich.com.

Maria Marshall, a children’s author, blogger, and poet who is passionate about making nature and reading fun for children. When not writing, critiquing, or reading, she watches birds, travels the world, bakes, and hikes. Visit her at www.mariacmarshall.com.

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