Children’s / Teenage general interest: Science and technology

Book SynopsisWith a striking glow-in-the-dark cover, this intriguing science book invites young readers to find light all around.  An Orbis Pictus Honor BookSun shines.Stars twinkle.Aurora borealis glimmers.Dramatic paintings of lightning, fire, fireworks and more introduces the sources of light—both natural and manmade—and encourage children to look around and observe.Kids will gasp in surprise at the beautiful glow-in-the-dark cover, and the bold spreads within.  Margaret Peot''s distinctive art style captures the elusive nature of light. Bioluminescent squid, fireflies and phytoplankton reveal light sources in living things. Fireworks and light bubbles sparkle on the page. This foundational science book will kindle curiosity in physical science and the natural world. The simple text makes science accessible to all ages.Toddlers will delight in the colorful art at storytime. As they grow

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Book SynopsisExplains the basic concept of the life cycle. This book also features examples which explain both plant and animal life including: insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and underwater life; the process from seed or egg through birth, growth, reproduction, and death; and, the dangers to existing life cycles from man and other predators.

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Book SynopsisCan we save endangered species?Yes, we can!The environment is constantly changing. People are building roads, houses, bridges, and cities. This development has damaged the natural habits of many native organisms. In this important book readers are introduced to a variety of these endangered species.Engaging text and stunning illustrations highlight the plight of these animals and plants and suggest ways to help restore their natural environments. From the beautiful cui-ui to the Puerto Rican parrot, readers will begin to understand how each living species contributes to our planet and how we can strive to save each of them.

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Book SynopsisAcadia Greene is at it again.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A picture book about the scientist who pioneered integrated pest management sounds boring, but this title is anything but. Schmalzer presents the life of Pu Zhelong through flashbacks and connects it to a child's-eye-view of a changing world, all set against the backdrop of Communist-era China. The representative illustrations create a fascinating, multi-layered visual feast that frames the flashbacks as journal pages and which incorporate historically and scientifically accurate illustrations of tools and insects set within beautifully designed Chinese paper cuts. This title would be a great STEAM pick for classrooms or home use. Both the illustrations and the science are fantastic. " -- School Library Connection" The young narrator, a fictional composite, recalls how insect invasions seriously threatened essential rice and lychee harvests in rural 1960s–70s Guangdong, China. The narrator explains that farmers were relying on expensive pesticides, which made people sick and gradually became ineffective, to battle pests. The arrival of Pu Zhelong, a pioneering environmentalist trained in Minnesota, changed the locals' approach. Working with farmers and students, barefoot, Zhelong advocated for natural-predator balance, and health and harvests improved. Clear, detailed text and drawings explain the use of parasitic wasps and silk-moth eggs for biological control; a lucid afterword connects readers to history (and acknowledges that pesticides are still widely used); and a brief bibliography provides additional value. Author and illustrator gracefully convey their expertise. Lyrical yet realistic line-and-color wash illustrations, dominated by rich greens, assure visual appeal. The clever scrapbook conceit might produce some confusion about the narrator's age but allows for the introduction of a dozen decorative and instructive paper-cut Chinese characters. An endpage explains each. VERDICT Readers interested in environmental science and Chinese history, language, and culture will find an engaging and informative story here. " -- School Library Journal" We spent last summer battling paper wasps. They were making nests in every nook and cranny they could find. My daughter got stung multiple times while playing at her grandparents. The insects were a menace. Never in a million years did I think wasps could be useful. Then I read Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean. I was entertained and educated by the book. Author Sigrid Schmalzer — winner of the Joseph Levenson Post-1900 Book Prize for 2018 for her book Red Revolution, Green Revolution — knows her subject well and that’s apparent. Her strength, however, is her ability to make this topic accessible for young readers. While Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean is not overly technical, Schmalzer doesn’t shy away from solid information. Illustrator Melanie Chan builds on Schmalzer’s text, providing context and making scientific process easier to understand. Chan’s watercolor illustrations transport readers to China, exposing them to a culture that is utterly foreign to many. Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean is a lovely look at how humans both help and harm the environment. Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean is a fascinating picture book that will appeal to adults as well as children. " -- Jessica - Cracking the Cover blog

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Book SynopsisKIRKUS STARRED REVIEW 2020 Outstanding Science Trade List A Junior Library Guild Selection A much-needed contribution to the children’s literature about evolution An excellent job of illustrating evolution. - BooklistTrade Review"The evolution of iguanas in the Galápagos provides a striking example of the workings of natural selection. This entry in the How Nature Works series explains how scientists have determined that two surprisingly different species evolved from a single ancestor. Collard's smoothly written text introduces two kinds of iguanas now living on these islands: a prickly pear-eating land iguana and a marine iguana that feeds on green algae underwater. He goes on to describe the volcanic origin of the archipelago and how plants and animals arrived. Drawing on well-grounded scientific conjecture (described in one of six informative sidebars), he then imagines the arrival of the first ctenosaur from Central America 8.25 million years ago and, after 3.75 million more years, the evolution of its algae-eating descendent. He introduces the theory of natural selection and, in another sidebar, explains how genes and their alleles contribute to individual differences. Returning to the continuing evolution of these two species, he shows how each has become perfectly adapted to its habitat. Finally he touches on other unique Galápagos inhabitants and the development of the theory of natural selection. A helpful map locates the Galápagos; images of its reptiles, birds, sea lions, and scenery will help readers picture the setting today. The attractive design makes good use of these well-reproduced photographs, some taken by the author. A fresh and accessible approach to an important scientific concept. (glossary, suggestions for further research author's note)" -- Kirkus Reviews - STARRED REVIEW

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Book SynopsisIn this nonfiction picture book, a stream narrates its own natural history as it flows from its headwaters in the mountains to its mouth in the lowlands, introducing the plants and animals that line its banks and live in its waters.Trade Review" Follow a headwater stream from its start as a spring in the forest on its journey to becoming a river, nourishing life all along its length. The main text, written in the first person from the point of view of the stream itself, sticks to the top or left of each spread, introducing major ideas: how insect larvae and nymphs recycle leaves; kingfishers; beaver dams, etc. Further information on, for instance, aquatic insect metamorphosis or otters’ transparent eyelids, is found underneath headings in a slightly smaller font. As the water flows downstream, children read about riffles, how aquatic insects must anchor themselves or be washed down to be a trout’s meal, the importance of trees along the stream’s banks, and the animals that find food or shelter near the water. Most but not all animal species are labeled in the illustrations, which are mostly realistic looking and come to life with masterful use of shading and sunbeams. The text alternates between rhyming and not, which can be distracting. Endpages are two halves of a map showing the course of the stream and the many sights pointed out in the text. Young naturalists will be heading to the nearest stream to explore. " -- Kirkus"Narrated in intermittent rhymes and using onomatopoeia, this educational picture book traces a headwater stream from its origins in the falling rain; its waters burble up from the ground and tumble over rocks. The illustrations are soothing, with eye-catching natural features, including flora and insect and animal life: an otter peeps over a rock, and a brook trout scans for insects to gobble. The light breaks through the forest canopy and slices through the stream’s surface, inviting contemplation over the intricacies of nature." -- Michelle Anne Schingler - Foreword Reviews

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Book SynopsisTrade Review" Young whale enthusiasts will lap this up, and primary-grade science teachers will have the crown jewel of the next marine life unit. " -- EB - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books"Tavis brightens his setting’s inky depths with glowing, brightly hued, and proficiently rendered images of voracious sea creatures converging on their benthic banquet. Along with notes for a select photo gallery of café customers, Sewell closes with a report on the rare discovery of one 1987 fall, plus engaging profiles of two marine biologists she tapped as consultants. A revealing glimpse of a rarely studied link in the oceanic food chain." -- John Peters - Booklist

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewDeveloping higher-level thinking skills should be commonplace in the curriculum now and this book does provide a way of doing that, it might even lead to students making up their own mysteries for their classmates to solve. I would recommend this book to teachers of years 5, 6 or 7. The Association for Science Education One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! is a wonderful resource for teachers who want to provide real-life math problems for their students. Each story problem is conveyed in a one-page format that asks the reader to draw a conclusion. The stories provide an insightful look into how math can be applied in the real world. Problems include discovering how much it would cost to either replace a book at the library or pay the late fees; the score you would need to win a gymnastics meet; and how to modify a recipe to accommodate a large group of people. Bonus sections include five extra math mysteries and five science mysteries. Most of the problems require higher-order thinking and may be difficult for students to complete independently. My sixth-grade classes worked in small groups with this book, which helped the students work toward a solution. Some of the stories are slightly fanciful, but they are completely math based and do not lend themselves to giving students the answer. I believe that the book would have been more coherent and beneficial for teachers if the stories had been better organized. Rather than arranged by story line, the stories could have been organized by concept (i.e., algebraic reasoning, geometry, probability, and so on). Overall this book can provide intriguing, useful, and challenging problems for a variety of students. -- Jennifer G. Martin, NCTM, Mathematics Teaching in Middle School Encouraging critical thinking skills, it teaches children to think quickly and scientifically. One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! is a highly recommended purchase for science teachers who want to introduce a bit of extra fun into the classroom. -- Willis B. Buhle, Reviewer Buhle's Bookshelf Conundrums, puzzles and enigmas! The scientific approach prevails overall. One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! turns us into sleuth hounds. If only textbooks were such fun! -- April Holladay, Author of Globe and Mail's online science column, WonderQuest One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! turns kids into scientists! Each of these clever stories sets up a mystery that can be solved using a bit of creative analytical reasoning. Stimulating and great fun for the whole family! -- Katrina L. Kelner, Ph.D., Deputy Editor of Life Sciences Science Parents and kids alike will be challenged by these stimulating, real-world science mysteries. One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! is a great way to grow a young scientist-or improve an old one! This book belongs in every school and every home. -- Julie Edmonds, Co-Director, Carnegie Academy for Science Education Everyone loves a mystery! The father-daughter team behind One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! have done a wonderful job writing stories that draw in curious young people... and show them that science can answer many of life's mysteries! -- Patricia Sievert, MS, Physics and Physics Education, Northern Illinois University A wonderful novel way to get kids happily engaged in problem-solving. It not only teaches kids about science, but also demonstrates how to use science in everyday life. Relevant, real-life examples make One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! a great read for kids...and adults! -- Marina Moses, Dr. PH, George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services These clever little science-based mysteries will have a myriad of uses. I see them as the perfect solution for stimulating kids on car journeys by really getting them to use their intellect. -- Kathleen Karr, Author of Born for Adventure and Agatha Award-winning The 7th Knot Like potato chips, one isn't enough-with One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! you'll just want to read more: These one-minute science mysteries are fun treats for readers that will sharpen their powers of observation and improve their reasoning abilities. -- Brenda Seabrooke, Author of Award-Winning The Haunting of Swain's Fancy Brilliant idea! What a wonderful father-daughter venture! The short story form and lively, friendly writing style make reading easy and fun. I couldn't put it down! When I thought I'd take a break from reading, my curiosity led me to read 'just one more.' One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! is not too theoretical, is easy to apply and boosts children's natural curiosity to learn. -- Shoshana Hayman, Life Center, Tel Aviv One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! is a great concept! It puts science in an everyday context and mixes it with a little intrigue to draw in both the inquisitive mystery buff and the curious budding scientist. What a brilliant idea for a father and daughter to write them together. They ensure that the mysteries are just as engaging for adults as they are for kids. What a great book! -- Marc Zev, Author of 101 Things Everyone Should Know About Math I love One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! I'm delighted to see a book featuring critical reasoning rather than fact memorization offered as a science-education resource. This book keeps you turning page after page! -- Ryan McAllister, Ph.D., Biophysics, Georgetown University One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! gives parents and children a magnificent imaginative platform to discover the way our world works. -- Marisa Frieder, Ph.D., Microbiology, Oregon Health and Science University "This is one smart, enjoyable book. Not only does it expose readers to a wide range of science topics and inspire fits of deductive reasoning, but the mysteries themselves are highly enjoyable little stories, replete with fictional characters whose personalities shine through and compelling story lines. It's hard to imagine this could all be accomplished in a format as brief as two pages per mystery, but such is the case. Indeed, their bite-sized nature makes each mystery all the more compelling for the fact that the reader need not wait long to begin mulling over possible solutions and can simply turn the page to learn the answer. And the titles of the mysteries are so cleverly conceived as to evoke immediate curiosity and excitement in the reader, pulling them in for a fast, satisfying, thought-provoking ride. The book is divided into four sections of 15 mysteries apiece, grouped according to the topics of Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical and Chemical Science, and General Science, followed by a bonus section containing 5 additional mysteries."Tillywig Award Winner 2015 Tillywig Toy and Media Awards WASHINGTON, DC It's a typical situation. A mother has to run an errand and leaves a note for her kids telling them to help themselves to lunch. There are eggs in the refrigerator, it says; but, some are hard-boiled and others are raw...and they look the same. How can the kids tell which is which without cracking them open?The students in the fifth grade science class at Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. have to think scientifically to solve the mystery. Samadhi says she had to try more than one idea to differentiate between the eggs.It was kind of difficult, but it was fun too," she explains. You get to do things yourself. You need to try new things, you don't have to do what the teacher tells you. You get to try stuff that you think might work for what you're doing."Samadhi discovered that spinning the eggs solved the mystery. Raw eggs spin more slowly than hard-boiled ones because the liquid inside slows them down.Think, solve and learnThis puzzler - The Eggcellent Idea - is one of 65 in the "One Minute Mysteries" educational series. Each mystery takes about a minute and half to read and requires students to solve it using their math and science knowledge. Mundo Verde teacher Karen Geating Rivera notes that the series was created by Eric and Natalie Yoder, a father-daughter pair. And when they were first written, the daughter was still a middle schooler. So it's not just written for children, but it was actually written in part by the child herself."Every single mystery is written with characters that are children, and children that are facing real world situation that they need to solve using their background knowledge on math and science," she explains. So they're not expected to have a bunch of formulas in their head that they already know. It's just things that happen every day and that you just think from a scientific or mathematical perspective to resolve."WATCH: Video report on project: http://www.voanews.com/a/minute-mysteries/3628608.html'Minute Mysteries' Help Kids Solve Math, Science Problems0:03:120:00:00/0:03:12Science teacher David Levin says the mysteries get the children excited. If they enjoy what they're doing, they will learn. That's my philosophy. I like having the opportunity of having them in small groups, sharing their ideas, feeling the experiment in their hands."Kids have also to discuss the facts among each other before declaring the answer. Ten-year-old Dante finds these group discussions useful. You might come to an agreement," he says. You might come to disagreement. But sometimes once you share your opinions, you can find out which one is the right response and which one isn't."Creating learning opportunitiesThe latest addition to the series is bilingual: English and Spanish. The authors are trying to provide a resource for dual-language education, which is a growing trend in many schools around the country, including Mundo Verde. School instructional guide, Berenice Pernalete says having bilingual instructions helps the students who come from different backgrounds. I think that for a language immersion school, one of the things that teachers do in order to foster engagement in students and to be really creative is that they have shared experiences."Teacher Karen Geating Rivera says bringing the mysteries into the classroom allows her students to develop several skills at the same time, and learn from each other. The kids who don't speak Spanish at home, and who are learning Spanish as a second or maybe a third language are able to hear the native speakers in a natural, authentic setting and start picking up some of that language and vice versa," she says. The fact that they are leaving the classroom still talking about what we've done tells me that I really made it an authentic experience, something that they can walk out and continue using in real life."The "One Minute Mysteries" series, she says, is another tool to keep her students engaged and foster their math, science and bilingual skills. -- Faiza Elmasry Voice of America, December 9, 2016

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Book SynopsisGene Barretta, the author of Now & Ben, Neo Leo, and Lincoln and Kennedy, enters the laboratories of one of America''s most important inventors, in this enlightening picture book, Timeless Thomas.What do record players, batteries, and movie cameras have in common? All these devices were created by the man known as The Wizard of Menlo Park: Thomas Edison.Edison is most famous for inventing the incandescent lightbulb, but at his landmark laboratories in Menlo Park & West Orange, New Jersey, he also developed many other staples of modern technology. Despite many failures, Edison persevered. And good for that, because it would be very difficult to go through a day without using one of his life-changing inventions.[This] accessible and informative account [is] a worthy successor to Barretta''s other men-and-ideas books. The New York TimesA glowing tribute to the inventor who continues to influence modern l

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Book SynopsisInside Build a Robot!, the latest volume of First Second's DIY comic series, you'll find step-by-step instructions on how to construct six different robots!

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Book SynopsisGet a charge out of Electricity, a new edition to the Science Comics series!Giant monsters are on the warpath, and it's Menlo the mech's job to protect the city! But when this metal marvel is shut down by an unlucky lightning strike, a resourceful engineer and his high-energy niece will have to find a way to plug in and power up to save everyone from certain doom!From simple circuits to giant grids, fossil fuel power plants to wind farms, electricity keeps the world running. In Science Comics: Electricity, you'll discover where electricity comes from, why lightning suddenly strikes, and how we've harnessed it all to turn the lights on in your room. Ready for action? Get energized with electricity!

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Book SynopsisHop to it with Science Comics: Frogs, a new volume of First Second''s fan-favorite nonfiction graphic novel series! With their signature sounds, athletic tongues, and bulging eyes, there's a lot to love about frogs! But did you know that they soak up air and even liquid through their skin? Or that they use their eyes to swallow food? From tiny tadpoles in water to boisterous bullfrogs on land, the life cycle of these amphibious acrobats is one of the coolest examples of metamorphosis around. So pull up a lily pad and dive in, because the frog facts in this book will truly give you something to croak about!

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Book SynopsisIn Black Hole Chasers, award-winning investigative journalist Anna Crowley Redding presents the riveting true story of one of the most inspiring scientific breakthroughs of our lifetimethe Event Horizon Telescope team''s reveal of the first image of a super massive black hole.In April 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope Team unveiled the first ever image of a super massive black hole.This inspiring scientific breakthrough took years of hard work, innovative thinking, and a level of global cooperation never seen before. The challenge was immense. The goal was impossible. They would need a telescope as big as the earth itself. The technology simply didn't exist. And yet, a multi-national team of scientists was able to show the world an image of something previously unseeable.Based off extensive research and hours of interviews with many of the team''s ground-breaking scientists, physicists, and mathematicians, Black Hole Chasers is a s

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