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Books Related to Science and Nature for Young Kids

10/27/2015

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Here are a few of my favorite books that we've read over the last few months that deal with science and/or nature.
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On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein
by Jennifer Berne
illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky

At first, it might seem that a story about Albert Einstein might be rather ambitious reading for very young kids.  However, as someone who values curiosity and wants to foster that in my kids, I really like this book.  It is well written and very appropriate for its intended audience.  It introduces young kids to one of the more extraordinary and well-known minds of the last 150 years and encourages curiosity, questioning, imagining, wondering and learning. My kids listened aptly as the book described Albert as a young child who spoke little but was very curious and fascinated by the world around him; as a young adult who continued to question and wonder about light, sound, magnetism, gravity, time and other mysteries; and as an older adult who continued to think, ask questions and seek answers until the end of his life.  Briefly, concepts such as atoms and the speed of light are woven into the story - not in a boring, technical way, but rather from a viewpoint of fascination.  Those unique physical attributes of Einstein - the long, wild hair, baggy sweater, shoes without socks, and violin in hand - are part of the story as well.  The story ends by mentioning that though Einstein helped us understand our universe better, we are still left with many questions...questions which the reader may someday answer themself by "wondering, thinking, and imagining."  

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The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps
by Jeannette Winter

My oldest son, Hopper 1, loves watching nature shows and reading about nature.  His career aspirations at this young age include being a "nature tracker."  So this book, unsurprising to me, was a hit with him.  The story does a good job of introducing the reader to Jane Goodall, starting with her childhood observations of the natural world around her.  The story sparked conversations on watching and observing, respect for our natural environment, conservation, and protection of habitats and endangered species.  We also watched this video from YouTube with a brief bit about Jane Goodall.  There is more information about Jane Goodall's mission on the Jane Goodall Institute website, including information about the Roots and Shoots program, which is the Institute's global youth-led community action program.

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No Monkeys, No Chocolate
by Melissa Stewart and Allen Young
illustrated by Nicole Wong

​This book might be a bit wordy for some young kids, particularly if they aren't very interested in the topic, but my kids enjoyed the book and requested that it be reread several times.  The book begins by mentioning how chocolate cannot be made without cocoa beans, and then briefly describes what cocoa beans are and how they are prepared for making chocolate.  From there, it goes into a tale of interdependence, describing how we cannot have cocoa beans without out a series of other natural factors that play a role in the production of cocoa beans:  no cocoa pods without the pollination of cocoa flowers, no cocoa flowers without midges that carry the pollen to other cocoa flowers, no cocoa flowers without cocoa leaves to trap sunlight, no cocoa leaves without lizards that eat the aphids that would otherwise destroy the leaves...and so on, until we get to the role that monkeys play.  I like that the book took something that kids are familiar with and (often) like - chocolate - and used it to show the interdependence of nature and to communicate the importance of conservation.  Commentary at the end of the book mentioned the recent drastic loss of rain forest habitat and discussed how traditional cocoa farming methods - which do not conserve the rain forests - are much less effective at producing cocoa pods than growing trees within rain forests due to the interdependence previously discussed; it also provided suggestions on "what you can do to help" conserve tropical rain forests. Additionally, we followed up with discussion on how humans actions or events may seem to affect only one aspect of nature, but due to interdependence and its ubiquity, there is usually a ripple effect with far-reaching consequences.

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Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt
by Kate Messner
​illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

This book follows a year in the life cycle of a garden, focusing on the hidden life of a garden, by telling a story about what is occurring up in the garden and down in the dirt as the various seasons pass.  It starts with planning the garden in late winter/early spring and with the worms and insects stirring up the soil. As the book goes along, the garden is cleared, seeds are planted, and plants sprout and bloom, grow in the summer's heat and then are harvested; meanwhile, there is hidden activity that is constantly going on down in/on the dirt.  Various critters make cameo appearances, either helping or hindering the garden.   At the end of the book, more detail is provided on all of the animals mentioned in the story, explaining whether they are friend or foe to gardeners.  This book was an enjoyable read and informational.  My kids enjoyed hearing about all the different animals, some of which they were able to relate to from their own experience with our garden this summer.  This book was also a good way to review the seasons of the year with my younger son.   I would like to also read Over and Under the Snow by the same author, which should be an appropriate story for the coming months.

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Feathers: Not Just for Flying
by Melissa Stewart
by Sarah S. Brannan

​This book may not appeal to all young children, as it is informational rather a story.  The author describes the various purposes of feathers - from maintaining warmth to sun protection to creating noise to helping birds sink or float - and introduces the reader to birds that use their feathers in the manner described.  There are also illustrations and descriptions of the types of feathers a bird may have (down feathers, flight feathers, sensing feathers, etc.).  Following our reading of the book, we also discussed what it means to classify and examples of classifications in the book, and then we did a simple classification/sorting activity with some of our toys:  we discussed different ways we could classify our toys - by color, by use, by similar features, and so on - and then grouped the toys by those classifications.

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Science for Young Kids:  Anatomy & Physiology - The Central Nervous System

10/17/2015

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My kids and I have recently being doing activities to learn about the human body, and one of our recent lessons centered around the central nervous system.  (Our previous anatomy and physiology lesson covered the skeletal system.)  An outline of our lesson is below.

Activities:
  • Read Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak and illustrated by Sarah Ackerley.  Although this book was not in our library system, we were able to acquire it via interlibrary loan.   ​
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This book was a great way to introduce the central nervous system (CNS).  The illustrations and text were fun, yet provided good information on the anatomy and function of the CNS.  Descriptions included some of what the brain does (helps you remember, helps you name things, interprets what you hear, makes you "you" with all the things you like and dislike), what the parts of the brain are (cerebrum, cerebellum, medulla oblongata, and so on), and what the neurons do (carry information to and from the brain).  I also really appreciated that the book emphasized that we grow and stretch our brain by learning and trying new things, and that "making mistakes is one of the best ways your brain learns and grows."  Here is a YouTube video with a brief introduction to the book.

Rather than just reading the book, I tried to incorporate some movement and physical activity.  We would stop at various points during the reading to act out what was being described or to swing, run, hop, and so on and then talk about how our brain made such movement possible.  Although it has been weeks since we had our lesson on the central nervous system, my kids will still remark about how their brain is allowing them to do a certain movement, how their brain feels a certain way that day, or how their prefrontal cortex helped them decide something.  Although they aren't always accurate with their terms or the brain region responsible, I'm surprised by how much they do recall.  Hopper 1 will sometimes mention something about his "oblong medulla" (a.k.a. medulla oblongata), and I'm impressed that he recalls such an unusual term.
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  • Cut out life-size printouts of some brain parts and glued them onto our body maps.  I printed off a life size cerebrum, cerebellum and medulla oblongata which I downloaded from this blog post from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  Whenever we add something to our body maps, I also have the kids tell me something they like about their bodies and write it at the bottom of their body maps.

  • Made a jello brain, examining the general structure, the left and right brain hemispheres and the brain regions which were visible.  We used a brain mold purchased from Amazon, and followed the instructions from one of Amazon's "answered questions" on this item to make a jello brain using peach or watermelon jello, fat free evaporated milk, and food coloring.  The brain ended up looking pretty good, and the kids thought it was really cool.  However, I thought it was much, much too gray, and I would either skip food coloring next time or use a different mix of colors.  Additionally, none of us could stand the taste of the peach jello, and we ended up throwing the brain in the trash after playing around with it a bit - I intend to use a different flavor the next time we make a jello brain.
Discussion points:
  • Our brain is vital to life and nearly all bodily functions.  It is our body's control center and plays a role in controlling everything from breathing and body temperature to skeletal muscle movement (e.g. walking or picking up a spoon) to memory to emotions.  Our brain translates messages from sight and hearing into an understanding what it is that we see and hear and then sends return messages for appropriate responses.
  • The brain has 2 halves called the right hemisphere and left hemisphere.  These hemispheres control opposite sides of the body and have different dominant functions (e.g. logical tasks versus creativity).  The two hemispheres are joined by a band of nerve fibers called the corpus callosum.  We discussed the hemispheres primarily while looking at the jello brain and then cutting it in half.
  • Neurons, or nerve cells, carry messages to and from our brain and the rest of our body.  The neurons are like little roads going throughout our bodies along which messengers (electrochemical signals/nerve signals) travel, dropping off messages to the various parts of our bodies and taking other messages back to our brain.  
  • Since our brain is so important to our life and to everything that we do, we need to take care of our brain and protect it.  We help keep our brain strong and working well by eating healthy, exercising, avoiding excessive stress, making sure we get plenty of sleep, and continuing to learn new things.  The ways that we protect it include wearing a helmet when we bike, skateboard, play hard contact sports, or do activities with a likelihood of falling and hitting our head; and avoiding diving head first into shallow water or charging head first into things or people (we've had some issues with the latter, so I made sure to emphasize that).  
Vocabulary words:  Cerebrum, cerebellum, prefrontal cortex, medulla oblongata, neuron, hemisphere
Additional activities (which we didn't do this time, but I'd like to do sometime in the future):
  • Act out how messages are sent between our brains and the rest of our bodies by imagining the house as our body and having the kids run to a room in the house to pick up envelopes/messages prepared ahead of time; for example, pretend the bathroom is a finger containing a message, "I feel something very hot".  The kids would run the messages back to me at another location in the house (the "brain").  I would then read the message, write a response message, such as "move your hand back quickly", and have my kids run that message back and pretend to do the response.  This is an activity for which several different scenarios could be acted out.  Since signals need to travel very quickly, this could be a great way to learn while also expending some excess energy.  Another option would be to have two of us stand across from each other with one representing the brain and the other representing a body part, tossing a ball back and forth quickly as we call out messages to each other. 
  • Do an experiment putting one hand in cold water and one hand in hot water, then moving both to a bowl of lukewarm water and registering how each hand feels. This experiment could show how our brain - and our perception of our environment - can be  "tricked" by the multiple messages it receives.
Resources:
  • The Brain Made Simple - this website has some good information on the various parts of the brain, including the functions of the right and left hemispheres.
  • Australian Child and Youth Health website - this site has a page with good information for talking about the brain with kids.
  • Neuroscience for Kids - as well as neuroscience information, the website lists experiments, such as touch experiments that show neuroscience in action
  • Video:  Brain Jump with Ned the Neuron: Challenges Grow Your Brain​
  • Video:  Magic Box Animation video on the brain for preschoolers
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National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month - Books on Kindness and Self-Confidence for Young Kids

10/15/2015

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October is National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month.  In recognition, I'm sharing a few of the books which the kids and I have read this month or recently which deal with topics of bullying, kindness and/or self-confidence.  Although I don't consider any of these books to be a one-stop-shop for kid-level information on what bullying is, how to prevent it and what to do about it, they all can be used to prompt further discussions around bullying, treating others with kindness, being aware of others' feelings, and believing in oneself.  As to be expected, many of these books - geared towards young children - can seem overly simplistic in their resolutions, but the message and context is appealing to young kids.
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Each Kindness
by Jacqueline Woodson
illustrated by E.B. Lewis

I really liked this touching book by a Newbery Honor-winning author and a Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator.  Unlike the other children's books I read to the kids that led to discussions of bullying, this story doesn't have a nice, tidy, all-is-well-now-and-everyone-lives-happily-ever-after ending, which is why I think its message is powerful: even small kindnesses matter, and the opportunity to extend kindness to a person and to alleviate their hurt can quickly be gone forever.  My kids listened attentively to the story, but didn't want to read the book again because it "was sad."  Regardless, I think it was important to read the story to them because in real life our actions and inactions sometimes result in an unhappy ending.  In this story, Chloe and her classmates continually ignore, exclude, reject, whisper about and laugh at a new classmate, Maya, despite Maya's repeated attempts to befriend them.  They call Maya "Never New" because of her secondhand clothes.   Eventually Maya stops coming to school, and never returns.  As the jacket cover states, "When Chloe's teacher gives a lesson about how even small acts of kindness can change the world, Chloe is stung by the opportunity that's been lost.  How much better could it have been if she'd just shown Maya a little kindness and opened her heart to friendship?"

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The Invisible Boy
by Trudy Ludwig
illustrated by Patrice Barton

This was a enjoyable story that both the kids and I liked, with a message about how simple kindnesses and inclusion can make a big difference to someone who is left out.  Brian is a quiet, yet imaginative boy who is overlooked and excluded - he is not invited to birthday parties, not included in games, overlooked by his teacher, and eats alone at lunch.  Essentially, he is treated as though he is invisible, which the illustrations further emphasize by showing Brian as a colorless pencil drawing amid all the color around him.  When a new kid, Justin, is teased at school, Brian extends him kindness.  Justin responds by befriending and including Brian, and we begin to see color in the illustration of Brian.  Justin's inclusion of Brian results in the larger group including Brian, and we finally see Brian in full color (i.e. no longer invisible). 

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Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun: Having the Courage to Be Who You Are
by Maria Dismondy
illustrated by Kimberly Shaw-Peterson

Lucy's classmate Ralph repeatedly teases and embarrasses her about some of the things that make her unique - her hair and her food (one of her favorite sack lunches is spahgetti in a hot dog bun).  Lucy doesn't want to be a tattletale, but doesn't know what to do.  When her tormentor finds himself in a bad situation, Lucy has the opportunity to turn away but instead chooses to help him, and in doing so turns him into a friend.  The story has some good lessons about kindness and empathy, even towards those who do not show us the same.  However, I found the title a little misleading as I didn't see an obvious lesson about having the "courage to be who you are."  I also don't think that the ending - with Ralph suddenly changing his ways because Lucy helped him - provides kids with a very realistic scenario of the way teasing and bullying works.  Nevertheless, the book did serve as a jumping off point for further discussion.

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Chrysanthemum
​by Kevin Henkes

Chysanthemum is a young mouse who loves her name and thinks it is absolutely perfect.  At least, she loves it until she starts school and some of her classmates tease her about the length of her name and being named after a flower.  Being cast as a daisy in the school play only encourages more laughter from Chrysanthemum's classmates.  However, when the class discovers that their favorite teacher's first name is Delphinium - another long name of a flower - and that she thinks Chrysanthemum's name is absolutely perfect, they begin to wish they were named after flowers, and Chrysanthemum's confidence returns.  This was a cute, enjoyable story which led to discussion about how important our names our to us and how it can feel when others make fun of our names. 

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 I Like Myself!
by Karen Beaumont
illustrated by David Catrow

This is a story to encourage self-confidence and self-acceptance.  The main character is a fun, quirky little girl who likes herself both inside and out, and wouldn't want to be anyone else.  Regardless of what anyone else thinks of her, she likes herself in all her myriad possibilities because "I'M ME!" - wild or tame, with beaver teeth or messy hair or purple polka-dotted lips.  My kids and I really liked the silly nature of the book and the fun illustrations, yet it also had some great lessons on self-worth, such as:  "No matter if they stop and stare, no person ever anywhere can make me feel that what they see is all there really is to me."  

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Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon
by Patty Lovell
illustrated by David Catrow

This story has much the same feel as the book mentioned immediately above, I Like Myself.  Undoubtedly, this is partly due to both books having the same illustrator, but the theme is also much the same, and we enjoyed this book as well.  The jacket cover describes the story this way:  "Molly Lou Melon is short and clumsy, has buck teeth, and has a voice that sounds like a bullfrog being squeezed by a boa constrictor. She doesn't mind. Her grandmother has always told her to walk proud, smile big, and sing loud, and she takes that advice to heart.  But then Molly Lou has to start in a new school. A horrible bully picks on her on the very first day, but Molly Lou Melon knows just what to do about that."   

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