Tag: STEM Friday

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STEM Friday #Kidlit Animal Allies

Chicago Review Press has done it again with their new middle grade/YA biography collection, Animal Allies: 15 Amazing Women in Wildlife Research by Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan .

What a fantastic idea to gather stories of women all with a common love for animals!

Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan has sorted the animals into five categories:  birds, arthropods, sea creatures, reptiles and amphibians, and mammals. Within each category, she has found three amazing female scientists who study those types of animals For example, Corina Newsome is saving seaside sparrows while Michelle LaRue uses satellites to study Antarctic birds. Lizzy Lowe takes on what many fear in researching spiders, and Erin Ashe lives out the dream of many studying dolphins and whales. Kristen Hecht chases the elusive hellbender amphibian while Enikö Kubinyi uses robots to get information on wolf pups.

As an entomologist, I went straight to the arthropod section. The first biography is of Dr. Corrie Moreau, who studies ants. She is currently working at Cornell University, where she is the curator of the insect collection. Corrie Moreau is passionate about ants, which comes across clearly in the text. We learn about her childhood, her education, about different aspects of the ants she studies (dracula ants!), and some of the pitfalls she encountered.

I love that Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan has included multi-sensory information, which pulls the reader right in. For example, we learn that Dr. Moreau can smell army ants and how Jasmin Graham feels standing out in the rain on a boat (headache and vertigo). Those are details you can’t get in an online search of a topic.

As for reading level, the suggested age is 12+, but mature middle graders will probably enjoy it as well.

Animal Allies is a must have collection for young readers who are interested in careers studying animals. It is also a wonderful choice for those interested in STEM, as well as nature lovers. Investigate a copy today!

Related:

Research more about the women who inspire you.

For example, the Bug Chicks –who are featured in Animal Allies — have a fun and educational series about insects on Vimeo.

You can get a feel for their somewhat offbeat approach in this video:

Then share what you find out with others!

Check our growing list of children’s books about women scientists at Science Books for Kids.

Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 years and up
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Chicago Review Press (May 17, 2022)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1641606223
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1641606226

 

Disclosure: This book was provided as an e-ARC by the publisher. Also, I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at no extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

Come visit the STEM Friday blog each week to find more great Science, Technology, Engineering and Math books.

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STEM Friday #Kidlit Waiting for a Warbler

Today we’re highlighting a new informational fiction picture book, Waiting for a Warbler by Sneed B. Collard III and illustrated by Thomas Brooks.

The story is told in two separate strands. The main text shows two children, Owen and his sister, as they watch for birds to return to their area. They particularly anticipate the arrival of the Cerulean warbler whom they had briefly spotted the year before.

The second strand follows a group of migrating birds as they take the harrowing journey north across the Gulf of Mexico. It is intense and fraught with danger.

The story switches back and forth between the two story lines before converging. Along the way, readers learn about the importance of providing habitat for birds.

Thomas Brooks has a background as a scientific illustrator, which is readily apparent. Although the illustrations have a soft focus rather than being photo real, the birds look like they can fly off the page. The baby birds are adorable.

The backmatter (we love backmatter) includes an “Author’s Note”, birding information for kids, and guidance for using native plants to transform yards into bird and wildlife habitats.

Waiting for a Warbler is perfect for young birdwatchers and nature lovers. They will likely want to return to it again and again. Enjoy a copy today!

Related:

Check out more books by Sneed B. Collard III (links to reviews here or at Growing With Science). Many of the posts have activity suggestions.

See the bird category at Growing with Science for many more hands-on activity suggestions based on children’s books.

And be sure to visit our growing list of children’s books about bird migrations at Science Books for Kids.

 

Reading age : 6 – 8 years
Publisher : Tilbury House Publishers (February 2, 2021)
ISBN-10 : 0884488527
ISBN-13 : 978-0884488521

 

Disclosure: This book was provided by the publisher. Also, I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at no extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

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STEM Friday #Kidlit Numbers in Motion

 

 

Today’s picture book biography puts the M in STEM:  Numbers in Motion: Sophie Kowalevski, Queen of Mathematics by Laurie Wallmark and illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg.

 

Laurie Wallmark specializes in biographies of women in STEM and for this book she has chosen a lesser-known subject for much-deserved recognition.

Sophie Kowalevski grew up observing the pages of calculus problems her father had used to paper her bedroom walls. The desire to understand the intriguing symbols propelled her to study advanced math. Later she became a prominent mathematician — the first to earn a doctorate at an European university — and professor in a time when women weren’t even allowed to enter many college campuses. Sophie broke down barriers for women who came after her.

Public domain image from Wikipedia.

Why Sophie?

In a recent interview, author Laurie Wallmark mentioned that she looks for two criteria when considering a subject for a picture book biography. First, she looks at how much material is available for research. In this case Laurie found a rich source of information because Sophie Kowalevski wrote extensively, including about her own life in her own words. Laurie found so many facts that there are four full pages of back matter,  which spills over into the end papers.

Next Laurie looks for hooks that will make the subject’s life interesting to young readers. She realized that Sophie’s work using mathematics to describe the motion of spinning tops would be fun and understandable to non-mathematicians. She was right!

Illustrations

Sophie grew up in Russia. Yevgenia Nayberg was a perfect choice to illustrate her life because she studied art in Russia. She uses a light touch with Sophie’s life, then makes Sophie’s math vibrant. In one scene the tops look like they are going to spin right out of the book. Her approach makes sense because those were the things Sophie cared the most about.

Numbers in Motion will inspire budding mathematicians and historians alike. Readers will likely end up wanting to learn more about this remarkable woman. Investigate a copy today.

Related:

For a STEM activity to accompany the book, make or find tops and play with them.

This video shows how to make a simple top with a CD and a marker. Hacks:  try to find markers with a rounded tip and the better you balance it, the better it will spin. If your marker is narrow, fill the gap by rolling tape around it as evenly as possible. No clay? Hot melt glue will also work to hold the marker in place, although it is a more permanent solution.

You can also decorate it (another video). Or if you have the DIY gene, try more methods to make spinning tops.

Visit our growing list of children’s books about women who count at Science Books for Kids.

 

Age Range: 8 – 12 years
Publisher: Creston Books (March 3, 2020)
ISBN-10: 1939547636
ISBN-13: 978-1939547637

Come visit the STEM Friday blog each week to find more great Science, Technology, Engineering and Math books.Opens in a new window Note: this is a new link as of 1/2019.

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#Kidlit Flash and Gleam: Light in Our World by Sue Fliess

Sue Fliess is one of our favorite authors and we have regularly featured her awesome picture books here at Wrapped in Foil. Her most recent,  Flash and Gleam: Light in Our World  illustrated by Khoa Le, is perfect for celebrating National Poetry Month and also as a jumping off point for STEM activities.

In what she describes as one long poem, young readers wake with the sunrise, then explore sources of light throughout the day and throughout the world. From candles to the stars, they discover where light is found and what it does.

Now we have a special treat. With permission from Millbrook Press, watch Sue Fliess read and discuss her book.

 

What more can we say? Check out a copy of Flash and Gleam: Light in Our World as soon as you can.

Related Information and Activities

1. Read all about how Flash and Gleam came to be.

2. Make a Light List

Light can be difficult to explain because although we can see it, we can’t touch it.  By making a list of all the places we see light or things that give off light, we can begin to discover what those all have in common and what the characteristics of light are. Use the examples Fliess lists in her book to get started, like rainbows, the sun, and fireflies. See if you can think of some that she missed.

3. Learn more about poetry for National Poetry Month (April), for example visit Kenn Nesbitt’s Poetry4Kids for lessons and activities. Then use your light list to create a list poem.

Learn more about list poems here (scroll to number 3).

Example:

Things that give off light:

Flashlights in a tent at night
Aurora australis – southern lights
Volcanoes erupting lava
Glowworms in a cave
Anglerfish deep under water
The sun, moon, and stars
Your smiling face

by Roberta Gibson

4. Check out some glowing light science activities at Growing with Science.

Did you find any sources of light not discussed in the book? What are they?

 

Age Range: 5 – 8 years
Grade Level: Kindergarten – 2
Library Binding: 32 pages
Publisher: Millbrook Press TM (March 3, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1541557700
ISBN-13: 978-1541557703

Come visit the STEM Friday blog each week to find more great Science, Technology, Engineering and Math books.