Due to the dominance of the classroom textbook, fiction in science is often rare (Plummer & Kuhlman, 2008, p. 100). However, due to both the school-wide privileging of fiction that makes "expository genres...less familiar than fictional genres" (Parkinson, 2000, p. 380) and the fact that human thought occurs in a narrative format starting from a young age (Suckes, Trundle, Flevares, 2009, p. 416), introducing students to science concepts in a language they are familiar with holds an obvious benefit (Suckes, Trundle, & Flevares, 2009, p. 416). According to Plummer and Kuhlman (2008), "trade books do increase the opportunities for students to be involved with science concepts" (p. 97). However, the construction of a science classroom library must be a slow and deliberate process, or else didactic and inauthentic texts will dominate the shelves. Science teachers often lack knowledge of the science books and materials available (Bull & Dupuis, 2014, p. 76; Plummer & Kuhlman, 2008, p. 100; Fang & Wei, 2010, p. 265), so independent research is necessary. Additionally, teachers should assess the scientific credibility of all books by not just checking the scientific credentials/background of the author, but also by determining the scientific accuracy of illustrations which are especially prone to the oversimplification of science content (Suckes, Trundle, Flevares, 2009, p. 416). Library organization is also not without its challenges. Kesler (2012) disagrees with the replacement of "nonfiction" with the label, "informational texts, that is being pushed and endorsed by the Common Core State Standards: "When this term [information] is presented as a dictonomy with fiction books, it misleads children into believing that, therefore, we do not read fiction books for information, when in fact many fiction books are filled with carefully researched and accurate information (p. 341). Despite the difficulty in accumulating high-quality resources with which to stock the shelves, a science classroom library is worthwhile for both students and teachers. It provides students constant access to materials that enable them to pursue their own science-related interests and it "makes it easier for the science teacher to build in an effective reading component into the curriculum" (Grant, 2004, p. 75).
References
Bull, K. B., & Dupuis, J. B. (2014). Nonfiction and interdisciplinary inquiry: Multimodal learning in English and biology. English Journal, 103(3), 73-79.
Fang, Z., & Wei, V. (2010). Improving middle school students’ science literacy through reading infusion. The Journal of Educational Research, 103, 262-273. Grant, R. (2004). Science libraries in the classroom. Green Teacher, 74, 35-38. Kesler, T. (2012) Evoking the world of poetic nonfiction picture books. Children’s Literature in Education. 43, 338-354. Parkinson, J. (2000). Acquiring scientific literacy through content and genre: A Theme-based language course for science students. English for Specific Purposes, 19(4), 369-387. Plummer, D. M., & Kuhlman, W. (2008). Literacy and science connections in the classroom. Reading Horizons, 48(2), 95-110. Suckes, M., Trundle, K. C., & Flevares, L. M. (2009). Using children’s literature to teach standard-based science concepts in early years. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36, 415-422. |
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Similar Author Bookshelf Signs
Tape small signs to the bookshelves beneath a particular author or series that suggests similar authors or titles to the ones the student is looking at. See the example to the right. This could encourage students to explore new books they might not have necessarily discovered on their own and pick independent reading books more easily.
INTERDISCIPLINARY POTENTIAL: Use these recommendation signs to connect the science classroom library with the ELA classroom library! For example, include a sign below the science library's science fiction series, The Lunar Chronicles, that directs students to the ELA library's fantasy series, Fairy Tale Retelling, and vice versa. |
E-Book Markers
Give science-related eBooks a physical presence in your classroom library. With many students owning the latest in digital technology, there will probably be many with either a Kindle or Nook in their family, if not in their own individual possession. And the rise of eBooks has led to many books being published also - or exclusively - in electronic form. Therefore, alerting students to eBooks can expand their reading options.
INTERDISCIPLINARY POTENTIAL: Merging this idea with the former, an e-book marker could be placed in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (a novel that's a staple in English classrooms) raising student awareness about a contemporary science fiction eBook, Stupid Perfect World by Scott Westerfeld, that parallels the canonical work. |
Literary Takes on the Periodic Table of Elements offer Cross-Curricular Classroom Wall Decoration! Hang a literary periodic table over your classroom library bookshelf to parallel the standard Periodic Table of Elements that probably already adorns your students' science classroom walls. Amazon offers poster-sized versions for several designs.
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Provide Students with Online Resources through the Sci Fi Blockbuster, STAR WARS:
INTERDISCIPLINARY BONUS: Jocasta Nu - the Chief Librarian of the Jedi Archives from Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones - makes this possible. And thanks to James Hance's adaptation of Star Wars through the 1926 classic children's book, A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, English teachers could put up a parallel sign in their classroom! |
Adapted from:
Theseeleyg (2012). It's dangerous to Google Solo [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/seeleyg/8224535559/
Images:
Ramova (2012). Best friends [Image]. Retrieved from http://ramova.deviantart.com/art/Best-Friends-340845955
Hance, J. (2012). Wookie the chew [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.carddit.com/view/t30LTcJrz/wookie-the-chew
Frampton, O. (2010-2014). 7-7 Sundays week 44 [Image]. Retrieved from http://otisframpton.deviantart.com/art/7-7-Sundays-Week-44-157312403
Theseeleyg (2012). It's dangerous to Google Solo [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/seeleyg/8224535559/
Images:
Ramova (2012). Best friends [Image]. Retrieved from http://ramova.deviantart.com/art/Best-Friends-340845955
Hance, J. (2012). Wookie the chew [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.carddit.com/view/t30LTcJrz/wookie-the-chew
Frampton, O. (2010-2014). 7-7 Sundays week 44 [Image]. Retrieved from http://otisframpton.deviantart.com/art/7-7-Sundays-Week-44-157312403
Authors Prone to Science-Based Storytelling
While some of their specific titles may be included below, these authors have created a body of work that frequently capitalizes on scientific concepts, ideas, or plotlines.
THE HIGHEST TIDE Jim Lynch The thirteen year-old protagonist, Miles O'Malley lives on the mud flats of Skookumchuck Bay near Olympia, Washington. While on one his nighttime adventures to collect marine specimens - his licensed job - Miles doesn't stumble upon the typical collectibles and comes face-to-face with a living giant squid, an animal not native to the waters and usually found dead when discovered washed up on shore. When the invertebrate is confirmed by Professor Kramer, Miles is pushed into the spotlight and a greater mystery to unravel. Lynch, J. (2006). The highest tide. Bloomsbury, USA.
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"That's the nature of marine life and the inland bays I grew up on. You'd have to be a scientist, a poet and a comedian to hope to describe it all accurately, and even then you'd often fall short" (p. 1).
THE GARDENER S. A. Bodeen Volunteering at the nursing home where his mother works, Mason learns that the patients are part of a experiment intended to transform adolescents into autotrophs when one of the comatose girls awakens to the sound of a read-aloud on a DVD. They are not elderly patients, like he expected. Like plants, the autotrophic teens would be self-sustaining life-forms who don't need food or water to survive. The girl suffers from amnesia, but knows that she must escape from the nursing home and ropes Mason into her jail break. Mason and the girl flee, and together become the most wanted pair by the experiment's mastermind, known only as "The Gardener." Bodeen, S. A. (2011). The gardener. Square Fish.
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Pair with AsapSCIENCE's animated video, "Can Plants Think?" for the real-life reverse: plants possess human-like abilities, like problem solving, memory, smell, and group work. Janet Fang's IFLScience article, "Plants Can Hear Themselves Being Eaten" also illuminates the human-like abilities of flora!
AGE OF MIRACLES Karen Thompson Walker As a dystopian tale, The Age of Miracles presents the earth's decline not as an abrupt catastrophe, but as a drawn-out form of torture: the earth's rotation slows, affecting gravity and increasing the lengths of daytime and nighttime. The weather parallels the trials of ten year-old, Julia, whose suburban life crumbles with her parent's wavering marriage, her first heartbreak, and the death of a loved one. Combining Julia's ascent into adulthood with the earth's decline into oblivion, the book is a coming-of-age story that asks the ultimate question: is it "worth coming of age at all in world that might end at any minute?" Walker, K. T. (2013). Age of miracles. Random House Trade Paperbacks.
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“And who knows how fast a second-guess can travel? Who has ever measured the exact speed of a regret? But the new gravity was not enough to overcome the pull of certain other forces, more powerful, less known - no law of physics can account for desire."
THE WATER WARS Cameron Stracher In a futuristic water-deprived world, siblings Vera and Will struggle to help their father support their ill mother. Vera befriends Kai, the son of a wealthy man who drills water. However, one day, Kai is abducted, so Vera and Will trek through Midwestern United States, Minnesota, and Canada to search for their friend. Meeting pirates and terrorists along the way, the siblings finally discover that Kai and his father are kidnapped by Bluewater, the organization that has a monopoly on the water desalinization process. In a dystopian world ravaged by drought, The Water Wars paints a realistic portrait of earth and what could happen when its natural resources become non-replenishable. Stracher, C. (2011). The water wars. Sourcebooks Fire.
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Pair with a science unit on renewable and nonrenewable resources! With pirate leader Ulysses as a character that assumes the name of a Greek figure, pair with Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem, "Ulysses," to unpack the allusion.
CHASING THE MILKY WAY Erin E. Moulton Wishing to escape her trailer park and become a famous scientist, Lucy Peevy builds PingPing, a homemade RS-D2 lookalike made of "genuine junk," like a cheese ball barrel, a deflated football, and a miniature remote-control pick-up truck. She hopes to enter her robot creation into the BotBlock competition and save the first place award for college. However, her Mama suffers from manic-depressive disorder. In a cross-curricular scene, as quoted below, Moulton uses books to portray Mama's mental illness. When Mama sweeps Lucy, her baby sister Izzy, and her neighborhood friend, Cam into a road trip with an unknown destination, Lucy's plans are derailed. Lucy and Izzy must face the one thing they're scared of even more than Mama's moods: living without her at all. The middle school novel incorporates science content ranging from psychology to coding and space. Moulton, E. E. (2014). Chasing the milky way. New York, NY: Philomel Books.
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"It doesn't look like it did last night. When we went to bed it was all clean. Mama's desk had a few open books on it but otherwise everything was mostly in order. I scan the room. Now the books are...everywhere. Some lie open, some closed, some are hugging on to others like their covers are arms" (p. 12).
FLUSH Carl Hiaasen A passionate, but anger-prone father pursues a casino boat's illegal trash dumping in the ocean by sinking the Coral Queen. But the plan backfires, since it lands him in prison and only temporarily disables the casino's environmental negligence. Bequeathed his father's seemingly hopeless mission, Noah sets out to exposure the criminals with help from his litter sister, Abbey, Lice Peeking, Shelly, and a former employee of the Coral Queen whose testimony comes with a high price. Hiaasen delivers a witty and odd take on environmental activism - highlighting the difficulties, but also the importance. Hiassen, C. (2005). Flush. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.
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As a novel in the Common Core State Standards 6th Grade Module, Flush can scaffold students to more advanced environmental activism portrayals by the same author, like that found in Sick Puppy.
SKELLIG David Almond When Michael moves into a new, but dilapidated, house, he discovers a winged man, named Skellig, is his garage. Sharing his discovery with Mina, his neighbor and impending best friend, both children dedicate their time to relocating Skellig to a safer location and visiting him with his favorite Chinese food order. However, Skellig's growing strength alligns with the heart conditions of Michael's baby sister, who finds herself shuffled from home doctor visits to emergency hospital runs. Through the bright, homeschooled Mina, the novel uses myriad science concepts to further the characterization of the winged creature, Skellig: ossification, calcification, owl pellet dissection, dust, the archaeopteryx, the anatomy of shoulder blades, etc. Almond, D. (1999). Skellig. Delacorte Press.
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Pair Mina and Michael's dust-based connection with the deceased Ernie Myers with Pablo Picasso's fascination with the particles and Joe Hanson's video, "The Science of Dust," in which he also explains how "with every breath, we inhale a bit of the story of our universe..." Since Mina discusses the archaeopteryx and hopes that "we also have some rather beautiful ancestors," pair with Carl Zimmer's animated video, "How did Feathers Evolve?" in which he discusses the feather and flight progression of dinosaurs to birds to.....Skellig?
EINSTEIN'S DREAMS Alan Lightman Written in poetic vignettes and translated into thirty languages, Einstein's Dreams compiles fictional stories set when Einstein was creating his theory of relativity - a theory that would forever change man's perception of time - and dreaming up possible alternative worlds. In one dream, time is circular, so man is doomed to repeat his failures and triumphs. In another dream, time stands still, and in yet another, time takes on the qualities of a trapped bird. In both its form and content, this novel seeks to explore the creative process, the fragility of humanity, and the connection between art and science. Lightman, A. (2004). Einstein's dreams. New York, NY: Vintage.
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Pair with Paulo Coelho's 1/10/14 blog post, "30 Sec Reading: The World According to Einstein."
SICK PUPPY Carl Hiaasen In this novel, ecoterrorist Twilly Spree sets out to sabotage litterbug Palmer Sloat. However, Sloat has political ties through his friend, Dick Artemus, and other powerful, shady connections that will Spree difficulty. Although first just organizing strikes around a garbage truck and releasing dung beetles to scare off his enemy, Twilly adapts his tactics into more advanced forms: kidnapping. He takes Palmer's dog and wife, and by doing so, uncovers a conspiracy to develop Toad Island, a widlife preserve. In his usual comedic writing style, Hiaasen delivers a novel about environmental exploitation. Hiaasen, C. (2001). Sick puppy. Warner Vision Books.
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Consider using Alan Moore's V for Vendetta or Watchmen in the English classroom library
to direct students to this ecoterrorist!
to direct students to this ecoterrorist!
THE WET ENGINE Brian Doyle As a small, compact book, Doyle's work of creative non-fiction takes the reader on a journey in which he explores his son's life-threatening heart surgery as a child along with the biology of the human heart. Therefore, the book juxtaposes the science of cardiology with the author's own life narrative. Therefore, in its highly unique form, father-son conversations highlight scientific facts, and vice versa. With contemplations of the blue whale's colossal heart alongside his infant son's three-chamber heart, Doyle creates a book that is as heartrending as it is thought-provoking, defying any means of traditional classification. Doyle, B. (2005). The wet engine: Exploring the mad wild miracle of the heart. Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press.
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"The great American poet Pattiann Rogers, in a poem about hummingbirds, makes her lines swoop and slice, makes the poem whirrrrrrrrr through the wild world just like the wee bird itself" (p. 85).
THE EDGE OF THE SKY
Roberto Trotta Revolving around the idea of "illuminating complexity through simplicity," this short story looks at the universe through the eyes of a fictional scientist (Student-People) hunting for dark matter with one of the biggest telescopes (Big-Seers) on Earth (Home-World). The little book and sporadic black and white illustrations discusses everything from the big bang and black holes to dark energy and the origins of the universe. As an unusual poetic primer on science, it is "a unique blend of literary experimentation and science popularization" Trotta, R. (2014). The edge of the sky: All you need to know about the all-there-is. Basic Books.
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Told only in the 1,000 most common words in the English language - which are listed alphabetically in the front of the book and excludes "physics," "energy," "galaxy," and even "universe."
Reminiscent of Fry's 1,000 Instant Words!
Reminiscent of Fry's 1,000 Instant Words!
MOSS WITCH and OTHER STORIES Sarah Maitland In fourteen short stories, Maitland focuses on a specific and contemporary aspect of science, writing an imaginative tale from personal research with the subjects' leading researchers. From that scholarly knowledge, Maitland injects magic, voice, and plot to convey accurate science information in a unique form. At the end of each story, the researcher or spokesperson to whom Maitland interacted to produce the story has written an endnote, commenting on how their knowledge was ultimately used and harnessed by the author. Some of the topics Maitland explores includes particle physics, stem-cell research, plate tectonics, genectics, game theory, nanotechnology, and bryology (the study of mosses). In one story, a geologist explains the failures of the feminist movement to her teenage niece in terms of tectonic subduction. Cross-curricular spins on scientific knowledge and metaphoric language characterize this anthology. Maitland, S. (2013). Moss witch and other stories. Carcanet Press Ltd.
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Drawing his plotlines and characters from classic literary works - from A Christmas Carol, The Wizard of Oz, Grimm fairy tales, and Alice in Wonderland - physicist Robert Gilmore offers a series of novels that integrate literature and science. For a spin on The Wizard of Oz, Gilmore has Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Greek follow the yellow "building block" road to the Wizard of Quarks, stopping in the atomic garden and other literary landmarks revolutionized with science. Taking on fairy tales in another novel, Gilmore presnets Snow White, who doesn't run into seven dwarves, but one of the Little People, then one of the Even Smaller People, and then one of the Truly Infinitesimal People. The only dwarves she does find are collapsed stars. Girlmore also tackles Scrooge, giving him three ghosts that don't want to open his heart, but desire to open his mind.
Gilmore, R. (1995). Alice in quantumland: An allegory of quantum physics. Copernicus.
Gilmore, R. (1996). Scrooge's cryptic carol: Visions of energy, time, and quantum nature. Copernicus.
Gilmore, R. (2001). The wizard of quarks: A fantasy of particle physics. Copernicus.
Gilmore, R. (2003). Once Upon a Universe: Not-so-Grimm tales of cosmology. Copernicus.
"Physics teachers are always searching for new methods to present, illustrate, and communicate an in-depth understanding of physics to their students...Physics teachers may find ideas in some of the tales useful in introducing difficult concepts to their students." - Fernande Grandjean and Gary J. Long
JOURNEY BY STARLIGHT Ian Flitcroft & Britt Spencer As a dense, black-and-white graphic novel, Journey by Starlight is narrated by an Albert Einstein caricature as he takes the readers through his first ideas about relativity and the universe. On a journey on a beam of light traveling to Earth from 3,000 miles away, Einstein explains the science behind everything from the origins of the universe to the meaning of life, relativity, black holes, quantum mechanics (for beginners), climate change, evolution vs. intelligent design, and how the brain works. The plethora of science facts are all illustrated and delivered in a fun, palatable, and comprehensible chunks. Flitcroft, I., & Spencer, B. (2013). Journey by starlight: A time traveler's guide to life, the universe, and everything. One Peace Books.
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Alludes to and illustrates three literary works to help explain its science facts: Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass (p. 200), Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (p. 176), and J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (p. 53)!
QUANTOONS Tomas Bunk Quantoons compiles 58 contest problems that ran between 1991 and 2001 in Quantum Magazine, which was a collaboration between Russian and American scientists that was published by NSTA. The cartoons are colorful and fun characters resemble MAD Magazine illustrations due to Thomas Bunk's prior work with the magazine. The cartoons all complement different physics concepts in attempt to make the advanced science fun and engaging, as well as understandable. For instance, one cartoon dabbles in the classic physics problem of crossing a river and determining where you'll end up on the opposite shoreline. Bank, T., Eisencraft, A., & Kirkpatrick, L. D. (2006). Quantoons: Metaphysical illustrations. National Science Teachers Association.
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Detailed drawings mix Isaac Newton and Marie Antoinette with Romeo & Juliet and Einstein while metaphorical cartoons about physics supplement the science concepts!
THE WHERE, THE WHY, & THE HOW Jenny Volvovski, Julia Rothman, & Matt Lamothe With chapter questions that spark curiosity - like "Do immortal creatures exist?", "Why is each snowflake unique?", What is the "god particle?", and "Do squirrels remember where they buried their nuts?" - this virtual coffee table book offers vibrant, full-page illustrations for each topic covered, as well. Curriculum content appears in the form of tectonic plates (earth science), the dynamics between evolution and climate change (biology/living environment), gravity and the speed of light (physics), and dark matter (chemistry). Therefore, these short scientific explanations can be easily integrated into classroom lessons as supplemental texts. Volvovski, J., Rothman, J., & Lamothe, M. (2012). The where, the why, and the how: 75 artists illustrate wondrous mysteries of science. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books LLC.
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The illustration for Question 52, "Do Immortal Creatures Exist," presents a jellyfish as "The Old Man of the Sea," a literary spoof on Ernest Hemingway's classic work!
THE MAGIC OF REALITY Richard Dawkins Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins presents a sort-of-children's nonfiction book with The Magic of Reality. With large, beautiful illustrations by English graphic artist Dave McKean, Dawkins’ volume is as accessible as it is illuminating, covering a remarkable spectrum of subjects and natural phenomena — from who the very first person was to how earthquakes work to what dark matter is — in a way that infuses reality with the kind of fascination and whimsy we’re used to finding in myth and folklore. Each chapter begins with a famous myth from one of the world’s religions or folklore traditions, which Dawkins proceeds to myth-bust by examining the actual scientific processes and phenomena that these stories try to explain. Dawkins, R. (2011). The magic of reality: How we know what's really true. New York, NY: Free Press.
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Dave McKean is the same illustrator for many popular literary authors, like Neil Gaiman (The Graveyard Book and The Wolves in the Walls) and David Almond (Mouse Snake Bird Wolf, Slog's Dad, and The Savage).
WHAT IF?: SERIOUS SCIENTIFIC ANSWERS TO ABSURD HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS Randall Munroe Approaching topics like the probability of finding your one "soulmate," whether stirring a cup of tea vigorously enough could ever bring it to a boil, and the consequences of swimming in a spent-nuclear-fuel pool, Munroe pairs stick figure sketches with informative, hilarious prose. As a former NASA researcher, the author runs a website (http://xkcd.com/) that's similar to this book, as it include stick figure responses to his follower's questions. Munroe, R. (2014). What if?: Serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
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Randall Munroe answers Gregory Willmont's literary question - "At what point in human history were there too many (English) books to be able to read them all in one lifetime?" - by pulling in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and calculating "storytelling speed" and the average writer's word-per-minute production rate during their "active periods."
WHAT'S SCIENCE EVER DONE
FOR US? Paul Halpern Throughout the television show's seasons, The Simpsons has commented on science issues like genetic mutation, quntum physics, the Coriolis effect, aliens, and time travel. So a university professor of Physics guides the reader through myriad classic episodes to launch scientific discussions and raise questions. Keeping the tone in line with the famous family's flair for comedy, this unauthorized, fun, and dynamic guide to science through the lens of popular culture seeks to unpack the accuracy of the science depicted on the television screen. For example, could gravitational lensing create optical illusions, such as when Homer saw someone invisible to everyone else? Is the Coriolis effect strong enough to make all toilets in the Southern Hemisphere flush clockwise, as Bart was so keen to find out? Halpern, P. (2007). What's science ever done for us?: What The Simpsons can teach us about physics, robots, life, and the universe. Wiley.
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This popular TV show gains interdisciplinary potential when episodes - like "Das Bus" for Golding's Lord of the Flies, "HOMR" for Keyes's Flowers for Algernon, and "Lisa's Rival" for Poe's Tell Tale Heart - are also used in English class!
Both of these anthologies take real children's questions gathered from UK primary schools and responds to them by inviting leading experts in science fields to contribute. The experts (or technically "popularizers") give short and accessible answers that are humorous, engaging, and - most importantly - comprehensible to, and aware of, their intended audience: children. Therefore, the book holds many opportunities for quick, nonfiction supplemental texts in the classroom. For example, pair the titular passage (click here for a Microsoft worksheet version) of Does My Goldfish Know Who I Am? with David Almond's The Boy Who Swam With Piranhas. Some questions call upon Brian Cox to explore the edge of the universe, Sir David Attenborough to explain why monkeys could ever turn into men, and Miranda Hart to ponder why it's funny when someone farts.
Harris, G. E. (2012). Big questions from little people and simple answers from great minds. Faber and Faber.
Harris, G. E. (2013). Does my goldfish know who I am?: And hundred more big questions from little people answered by experts. Faber and Faber.
Harris, G. E. (2013). Does my goldfish know who I am?: And hundred more big questions from little people answered by experts. Faber and Faber.
Pair 30-Second Elements with the various literary periodic tables available: Period Table of World Literature, Period Table of Story Elements, Period Table of the Elements of a Literary Life, Periodic Table of the Hunger Games, etc.
A new series issues encyclopedia-like books that deliver science content in "bite size," concise pieces that allow classroom integration to be easy and feasible. Using no more than two pages, 300 words, and an illustration for each concept, the books break down complex science into palatable, fast chunks. Providing information from famous scientists (Who are Dmitri Mendeleev and Glenn T. Seaborg?) and body parts and brain chemistry (i.e. what are the duodenum?) to the technology being used to study the science (i.e. What do MRI scans tell us?), the books come in a slim and bland brown paper-like hardcover form, but hold accurate, comprehensible information.
Finn, G. M. (2014). 30-second anatomy: The 50 minute structures and systems in the body, each explained in half a minute. Icon Books Ltd.
Serri, E. (2014). 30-second elements: The 50 most significant elements, each explained in half a minute. Icon Books Ltd.
Seth, A. & Frith, C. (2014). 30-second brain: The 50 most mind-blowing ideas in neuroscience, each explained in half a minute. Icon Books Ltd.
Chown attempts to teach physics concepts in these humorous, fun books. Quantum Theory cannot Hurt You is split into two parts, the first dealing with Quantum Theory and the second tackling Relativity. The second installment of the series, The Matchbox That Ate a Forty-Ton Truck is split into three sections: atoms, elements, and the Big Bang Theory. Chown illuminates ordinary and everday routines and objects with the physics concepts they can teach, adding relevance and comprehensibility to his didactic prose.
Chown, M. (2007). Quantum theory cannot hurt you. Faber & Faber.
Chown, M. (2010). The matchbox that ate a forty-ton truck. Faber & Faber.
SCIENCE VERSE Jon Scieska & Lane Smith Centered around a boy plagued with the "science verse curse," the protagonist begins to go about his schoolday putting everything into verse after his science teacher, Mr. Newton, exclaims, "You know, if you listen closely enough, you can hear the poetry of science in everything." With enormous eyes and a football-shaped head, the student relays science facts in funny little verses, touching upon subjects like evolution, parasites, dinosaurs, astronomy, the water cycle, and various body parts. Scieska, J., & Smith, L. (2004). Science verse. New York, NY: Viking Juvenile.
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There are even science poems based on Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" and Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"! And this book is written by the same author - Jon Scieszka! - as The Stinky Cheese Man
and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!
and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!
THE ROBOT ZOO John Kelly With large cutaway drawings of various animals - from giraffes and chameleons to platypuses to tarantulas - the slightly oversized picture book uses a mechanical approach to explain their digestive and circulatory systems, movements, and adaptation processes. A smaller picture of the biological interior complements the main mechanical diagram of each species. Captions and labels describe the function of each animal part. For example, the chameleon sports "protective sleeves for visual receptors (eyelids)" and "flat video screens" that "show camouflage patterns (skin cells called chromatophores lying beneath skin scales)." Overall, the picture book seeks to foster an appreciation for nature's engineering. Kelly, J. (1994). The robot zoo: A mechanical guide to the way animals work. Turner Publishing.
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Pair with Ken Kesey's mechanical view of humanity in his classic novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, or artist Robert Chew's Big Five series in which he imagines a future where anti-poaching operations are aided by mechanical robots of the species they seek to conserve. Or MIT engineers' actualization of Chew's visions through a robotic cheetah. However, be sure to supplement it with Jonah Lehrer's reminder (in Proust was a Neuroscientist) that although science "say[s] we are nothing but a loom of electrical cells and synaptic spaces...we feel like the ghost, not like the machine." Even consider Mark Huxman's opinion essay, "Ecosystems are not Machines" to drive home Lehrer's point.
MOCHA DICK: THE LEGEND AND FURY Brian Heinz & Randall Enos This picture book "biography" of a marine-monster-turned-literary-legend chronicles the story of Mocha Dick, the albino sperm whale who inspired Herman Melville classic, Moby-Dick, after the classical author read a May 1839 article in the New York monthly magazine, The Knickerbocker about the whale's whaling ship encounters. With murky illustrations, the picture book comments on the relationship between man and nature, flowing from how human aggression transformed the “peaceful giant” into a terrorizing legend to the whale's first recorded attack near the South American island of Mocha (hence the whale's name) to the fatal harpoon blow. Heinz, B., & Enos, R. (2014). Mocha Dick: The legend and fury. Mankaton, MN: Creative Editions.
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Pair with Herman Melville's literary classic, Moby-Dick - especially Matt Kish's Moby-Dick in Pictures: One Picture for Every Page in which the illustrator created an image a day over eighteen (18) months based on a text passage from every page of the 552-page Signet Classics paperback edition.
NEUROSCIENCE HAIKU Eric H. Chudler With the author being the executive director of the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering and a neuroscientist at the University of Washington, this little book filled with little poems does not reduce neuoscience to oversimplifications. Instead, this pint-sized book is full of informative and fun haikus that introduce readers to accurate information about the brain. The book is divided into three sections: places, things, and people. As its best feature, each haiku is supplemented with a short prose paragraph that further explains the science illuminated in the three poem lines. Chudler, E. H. (2013). The little book of neuroscience haiku. W. W. Norton & Company.
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Pair with a copy of David M. Bader's Haiku U: From Aristotle to Zola, 100 Great Books in 17 Syllables
in the English classroom library!
in the English classroom library!