Posts Tagged writing

STEM Tuesday– The Impacts of Our Changing Climate– In the Classroom

By on February 8, 2022   /   Climate Change/Earth Science, STEM Tuesday  

 

What is climate change? And how does it affect you and me? There are a lot of great books to help students learn about climate change, how it impacts our lives, and what we can do about it, and they are an excellent starting point for activities and discussion in the classroom. Are you ready to explore our changing climate?

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgWhen the World Runs Dry: Earth’s Water Crisis by Nancy F. Castaldo
What would you do if you turned on the faucet and the water was toxic, or no water flowed at all? Readers will explore worldwide water issues and learn from those impacted and making a difference.

Classroom activity: Hold a classroom discussion about water and water shortages. Do you live in an area that has experienced water shortages? What happened? How did you deal with it? In small groups, have students investigate the water supply in their communities. Where does their water originate? How is this water source affected by climate change? What impact has that had on the local community? On families? Students can brainstorm ways to conserve water in their communities. Have each group present their conservation plan to the class.

 

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgEye of the Storm: NASA, Drones, and the Race to Crack the Hurricane Code by Amy Cherrix
Hurricanes and severe storms leave millions of people in danger. Explore how scientists are studying hurricanes in this Scientists in the Field title.

Classroom activity: Extreme weather can be one of the earliest signs of climate change that you will experience. Weather becomes “extreme” when it is far outside what is typical weather for a specific place at a particular time of year. Hurricanes are one type of extreme weather. Have students select a different kind of extreme weather to research. Have them answer the following questions: What areas of the world are most affected by this weather? How does climate change impact this type of extreme weather? What can we do to protect people and property from this type of extreme weather? Have students prepare a disaster plan for their chosen weather event. What should they do to prepare before the weather event? What should they do during and after to stay safe? Share and discuss the disaster plans with the class.

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgWhere Have All The Bees Gone? Pollinators in Crisis by Rebecca E. Hirsch
Hirsch explores bee population decline in her latest STEM title. Readers will explore bee natural history along with ways to slow their decline.

Classroom activity: Bees are just one species threatened by climate change and habitat loss. Every living thing on Earth feels the effects of climate change, including those in the backyard or local park. Have students take a walk outside in their backyard or nearby park. Have them identify the organisms that live there, their habitats, and the typical climate of the area. Research and discuss how climate change will affect the plant and animal habitats? Will the species that live there be able to survive? Have students predict what will happen to the backyard ecosystem in the next 20 years and explain their reasoning.

 

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgHow To Change Everything: The Young Human’s Guide to Protecting the Planet and Each Other by Naomi Klein with Rebecca Stefoff
Klein explores a trove of things we can all do to help the planet in this age of climate change. It also includes powerful stories of young readers making a difference.

Classroom activity: Have students choose one of the young people profiled in this book or another book to study. How has their chosen activist made a difference to protect the planet and everything that lives on it? Have students work together in small groups to create a short presentation of their chosen activist and their achievements.

 

 

Want some more climate activities? Here are a few resources to try:
• NASA Climate Kids, https://climatekids.nasa.gov/menu/make/
• UCAR Center for Science Education, https://scied.ucar.edu/activity
• National Ocean Service, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/discoverclimate/

Hopefully, these activities and resources will get your students excited to learn more about climate change!

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Carla Mooney loves to explore the world around us and discover the details about how it works. An award-winning author of numerous nonfiction science books for kids and teens, she hopes to spark a healthy curiosity and love of science in today’s young people. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, three kids, and dog. When not writing, she can often be spotted at a hockey rink for one of her kids’ games. Find her at http://www.carlamooney.com, on Facebook @carlamooneyauthor, or on Twitter @carlawrites.

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Don’t Forget to Have FUN!

By on January 14, 2022   /   For Writers, Writing  

Happy 2022!! I hope this year is off to an amazingly good start for you all. Mine is so much better than last year (mostly because I’m not recovering from emergency gallbladder surgery). 😊

But seriously, I wanted to take this time to talk about Goal Setting. I mean, it’s the new year. We are all supposed to set a goal for the new year. Yes?

Goal-setting is a THING for the New Year. Whether you call them goals, resolutions, or intentions or  pick a word for the year, or just make a list of things you want to accomplish, it all boils down to one thing…  some action that you are supposed to be doing that makes you feel better.

That sounds wonderful. Okay. I’m in! In past new years’, I have had many different resolutions.

One year it was, to work less (If you know me, you know how ridiculous that resolution was. It didn’t last a week).

Then I moved onto choosing a saying for my year.  I chose “be less stressed”.  (also ridiculous).

The next year, I moved to a single word that was more positive, like “balance”.  (That was a good thing. It didn’t last, but it was a good idea.)

And let’s face it, the last two years have simply been taking a deep breath and racing to the finish  the year before you dropped. Am I right?

So, this year, I decided to try something completely different. Instead of picking something that I knew I could never live up to, thereby actually increasing my own stress (ironic, right?).

I’m not doing a resolution.

I’m not using a saying,

I’m DOING something.

Every Friday I am now calling “FUN Friday”.

(That’s just my name. You can choose your own.)

 

On FUN Friday, I am giving myself permission to do whatever I want– work on a new idea, write a new proposal, have an entire brainstorming day, write fiction (!), or just sit around and watch Star Trek the Next Generation all day. (Yes, I’m a Trekkie, but you can pick your own binge show).

Mostly, I’m making it a day to relax my brain and put deadlines aside. I’m hoping that will reduce the stress and frustration I feel at not being able to do all of the different things I want to explore. (Yes! That fiction book will be finished this year!)

How’s it going so far?

Well for one thing, it’s the second Friday of the year, and I’m STILL doing this! That right there tells me that the FUN Friday thing is a much better idea than any resolution or word for the year I ever picked.

And secondly, on the first FUN Friday that I ever did, I managed to relax enough and clear my brain so that a book idea that I had been trying to figure out for almost two years FINALLY broke through. (It was at 11 o’clock at night, right after I laid down to go to sleep, but hey, whenever it happens, is fine with us writers, right?)

SO, today is another FUN Friday!

What will I be doing today?

I don’t know.

The best part about a FUN Friday  is that I don’t plan for them. I wake up in the morning, and well, just do whatever I feel like. It’s very free-ing, especially for a person who normally goes through life at Mach 10 with her hair on fire!

 

What I say to all of you writers and really, anyone who reads this blog is: Don’t forget to HAVE FUN in your life!

I know it might make you roll your eyes with the amount of work, stress, and everything else you have to do. But if you take a day, an hour, a few minutes to just have fun, you won’t regret it. In fact, doing that, may even help you reduce your stress.

TGIF Everyone!

What will you do with your FUN Friday?

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STEM Tuesday — Invasive Species– In the Classroom

By on January 11, 2022   /   Invasive Species, STEM Tuesday  

Nature can fall out of balance when invasive species enter a new ecosystem. What happens to that ecosystem and its native species when that happens? This month’s STEM Tuesday theme focuses on this important issue and how scientists are studying the effects of invasive species. Here are a few books from our STEM Tuesday list and ways to explore more in the classroom.

Tracking Pythons : The Quest to Catch an Invasive Predator and Save An Ecosystem by Kate Messner

This book takes readers out on a python patrol where we meet a team of scientist studying the invasive snake. Readers also meet other invaders of the Florida Everglades. There’s technology (radiotracking), python CSI, snake autopsies (called necropsies) and a wonderful series of sidebars highlighting “How to Catch a Python.” Great photos and a Most Wanted invasive species list add interest.

Classroom activity: The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is trying to save the Everglade ecosystem by removing invasive species and encouraging people to report sightings of invasive species. Have students visit the website page about making a report: https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/nonnatives/report/. Ask students to research the invasive species of Florida and then create a report using the elements necessary to make it a credible one. Students can share their reports, adding some information about why that species is causing harm to the Everglades ecosystem.

 

Science Warriors: The Battle Against Invasive Species by Sneed B. Collard

Each of the four chapters focus on scientists studying invasive species. We meet brown tree snakes and zebra mussels, red fire ants taking over Texas, and the Melaleuca (paperbark) tree that was brought to the US and planted to stabilize soil. We see scientists doing field research and working on biological controls for invasive species. Includes a “Guide to Stopping Invasive Species.”

Classroom activity: Have students choose an invasive species from the book to study more. Then ask them to create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the species’ native habitat to its invaded habitat. How are the two habitats different? How are the two habitats similar? Ask students to consider why that invasive species found the invaded habitat so hospitable and discuss with the class.

 

Alien Invaders: Species That Threaten Our World by Jane Drake & Ann Love

Each examination and image of an invader and their devastating effects worldwide is accompanied by a sidebar listing their alias, size, homeland, method of invasion, and line of attack. Besides the commonly known invaders, such as the starling, rat, and Kudzu, the book examines humans, walking catfish, yellow crazy ants, water hyacinth, mosquitos, and avian flu. Detailed sections on “Who Cares?,” “Volunteers,” and “Lessons Learned” expand the information into actions everyone can take to prevent, control, or help eliminate invaders.

Classroom activity: Ask students to research an invasive species not found in the book. Then have them create a profile of the species, just like what is in the book. The profile should include an image, alias, size, homeland, method of invasion, and line of attack.

 

Plants Out of Place (Let’s Explore Science) by Courtney Farrell

First, we learn what native plants are and their role in the food chain. Following chapters discuss introduced plants and how invasive species threaten the balance of ecosystems. Sidebar “mini field guides” include descriptions and range maps for some species of interest. In addition to discussing control methods, the author shows alternative uses, such as using kudzu vines to weave baskets.

Classroom activity: See if students can find an invasive plant species right in their own backyard or neighborhood. They should research invasive species of their area and then go on an invasive plant species hunt. Students can take a photo of the plant or sketch it in a journal. Then they can document the place where it was found and the number of plants found at the location. After a few finds, students can share their invasive species journal with the class.

 

 

Here are a few more general invasive species activities to try:

Hope these activities and resources get your students excited to learn more about invasive species!

 

Karen Latchana Kenney loves to write books about animals, and looks for them wherever she goes—from leafcutter ants trailing through the Amazon rain forest in Guyana, where she was born, to puffins in cliff-side burrows on the Irish island of Skellig Michael. She especially enjoys creating books about nature, biodiversity, conservation, and groundbreaking scientific discoveries—but also writes about civil rights, astronomy, historical moments, and many other topics. She lives in Minnesota with her husband and son, and bikes, hikes, and gazes at the night sky in northern Minnesota any moment she can. Visit her at https://latchanakenney.wordpress.com.

 

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