Tag: STEM Friday

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Great New Leveled Readers for Spring

Just in time for spring, Kingfisher has some great leveled readers coming out (scheduled for release March 27, 2012). Take a look at these fun titles: Kingfisher Readers L1: Butterflies by Thea Feldman, Kingfisher Readers L1: Baby Animals by Thea Feldman, Kingfisher Readers L2: What Animals Eat by Brenda Stones and a delightful board book, Baby Animals: In the Sea by Editors of Kingfisher.

Each of these books have high quality color photographs. The butterfly book is particularly vibrant and colorful. It has has some wonderful close-ups of the butterfly life stages, and would be a fabulous accompaniment to a unit on life cycles or insects.

Baby Animals is perfect for spring when many baby animals are being born. Along with adorable photographs, the text introduces vocabulary for the names of various baby animals. I also like that Thea Feldman ended the book with human babies, which helps children relate to the ideas presented.

What Animals Eat is Level 2 and contains more challenging concepts and vocabulary, such as the terms herbivore and carnivore. Note: It also contains photographs of lions and tigers with meat, although it isn’t too bloody. You might want to preview the book to see if it appropriate if you are working with sensitive children.

Baby Animals: In the Sea would be a fabulous accompaniment to a trip to the beach or an aquarium, or as a keepsake to remember the trip by.

If you are participating in Read Across America today, be sure to include some STEM nonfiction like these Kingfisher titles.

Kingfisher Readers L1: Butterflies by Thea Feldman

Reading level: Ages 5 and up (level 1)
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Kingfisher (March 27, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0753467496
ISBN-13: 978-0753467497

Kingfisher Readers L1: Baby Animals by Thea Feldman

Reading level: Ages 5 and up (level 1)
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Kingfisher (March 27, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0753467550
ISBN-13: 978-0753467558

Baby Animals: In the Sea by Editors of Kingfisher

Board book: 14 pages
Publisher: Kingfisher; Boardbook edition (March 27, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0753466899
ISBN-13: 978-0753466896

Kingfisher Readers L2: What Animals Eat by Brenda Stones

Reading level: Ages 5 and up (Level 2)
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Kingfisher (March 27, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0753467593
ISBN-13: 978-0753467596

Butterflies, Baby Animals, and What Animals Eat were provided by the publisher for review purposes.

This week’s STEM Friday round up is at NC Teacher Stuff.

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50 Poisonous Questions: A Book With Bite

50 Poisonous Questions: A Book With Bite by Tanya Lloyd Kyi and illustrated by Ross Kinnaird explores the world of toxins, poisons, and venoms in a well-balanced and humorous way. It was nominated for a 2011 Cybils award in the MG/YA nonfiction category.

Starting with, “Stop! Do not, under any circumstances, eat this book,” 50 Poisonous Questions is sure to capture the attention of young readers. Written in a question and answer format, and filled with lively creepy crawlies and dangerous chemicals, it is also sure to hold their attention. Add the humorous illustrations to make readers laugh (and sometimes groan), and you have a real winner.

Kyi has done her homework and provides a even-handed look at some of the problems that result from toxic chemicals. Sometimes there aren’t easy answers. For example, she points out that although DDT causes environmental issues, such as interfering with eagle reproduction, it also can save the lives of many people when used to control the mosquitoes that cause malaria. Other times what seems like an awful toxin or venom may have potential to be a powerful medicine in the future.

50 Poisonous Questions is one of those rare books that is interesting, fun and educational all in the same package. Budding scientists and forensics experts will find it a compelling read.

(I recently reviewed another fascinating book from Annick Press.)

Reading level: Ages 9 and up
Hardcover: 110 pages
Publisher: Annick Press (January 20, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1554512816
ISBN-13: 978-1554512812

This book was provided by the publisher for review purposes.

This week’s STEM Friday round up is at Twillwoven Blog, part of Red Phoenix Books.

If you would like to participate in STEM Friday in the future, go to Booktalking blog and click on STEM Friday for more information.

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STEM Friday Roundup For January 27, 2012

Welcome to the January 27, 2012 edition of STEM Friday.

Are you looking for Science, Technology, Engineering or Math children’s books? Then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve gathered some of our recent  favorites to share.

For my contribution, I am featuring a book that would be an excellent tool for a discussion on the pros and cons of advancements in technology. Becoming Invisible: From Camouflage to Cloaks by Carla Mooney is a detailed look at what is happening in the high tech world of cloaking.

Camouflage and invisibility are fascinating topics. Everyone who has read the Harry Potter books probably wished they could have an invisibility cloak, too. Can you imagine how much fun it would be to be able to hide in plain sight?

Mooney explains the differences between camouflage and invisibility. With camouflage, the colors and patterns help the wearer blend in with the environment, but you can still see them if you know where to look. The idea of camouflage was proposed by an artist who studied the markings of animals in the late 1800’s. During World War I, the armies and navies of many countries tested camouflage patterns to hide both equipment and people, leading to the camouflage uniforms used by military personnel today.

“Optical camouflage” is another form of camouflage which uses projectors to display scenes of the moving background onto special reflective cloaks. From the right angle, it is impossible to tell where the cloaked person (or object) is standing because he or she seems to be part of the background images. If the viewer isn’t in line with the projectors, however, the illusion doesn’t work.

On the other hand, when something is truly invisible, our eyes can not see it. To attempt to produce true invisibility, scientists have trying to bend light to go around objects. Researchers have been able to bend types electromagnetic waves that are near relatives of visible light with special man-made materials called metamaterials. Using metamaterials made of metal and fiberglass, scientists have been able to develop “cloaks” that bend either microwaves or infrared light around an object, hiding it from detection. Both microwaves and infrared radiation have longer wavelengths than visible light, so the metamaterials will have to get smaller to be able to bend visible light. The possibility, however, seems more likely than ever before.

In Chapter 4, Mooney gives some ideas how invisibility cloaks could change the world if engineers and scientists succeed. She suggests several positive uses for the technology, but points out that it could be dangerous, as well. Can you imagine if criminals could become invisible? What about if enemy armies could cloak themselves and then suddenly appear well inside our borders? Other worry that invisible agents could spy on our every move without our knowledge or consent.

Becoming Invisible: From Camouflage to Cloaks gives the reader a lot to think about. I definitely recommend it to students who are considering physics or engineering as careers.

Be sure to check out the Camouflage and invisibility activities at Growing With Science that were inspired by the book.

Today’s STEM Friday recommended books:

(Links take you to the review of each title.)

Jeff at NC Teacher Stuff has Open Wide! by Catherine Ham
Shirley at Simply Science has the lovely A Leaf Can Be… by Laura Purdie Salas
Precious at Rourke Publishing Blog highlights Fossils, Uncovering the Past by Tom Greve
Anastasia has Freaky-Strange Buildings by Michael Sandler at Booktalking.

If you would like to participate in STEM Friday in the future, go to Booktalking blog and click on STEM Friday for more information.