Posts Tagged habitat

STEM Tuesday — STEM Activity Books– Author Interview

STEM Tuesday–Activity Books– Interview with Nancy Castaldo

 

Welcome to STEM Tuesday: Author Interview & Book Giveaway, a repeating feature for the last Tuesday of every month. Go, Science-Tech-Engineering-Math!

Today we’re visiting with STEM Tuesday contributor and prior interviewee Nancy Castaldo. An award-winning author, Nancy has a long list of books for kids, including activity books, such as Deserts. 

 

Picture of the book cover for Deserts by Nancy Castaldo

Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano:

Please tell us about Deserts and your purpose for writing it.

Nancy Castaldo: I began my children’s writing career with a series of nonfiction activity books that centered around the exploration of the natural world. Deserts followed the popular, Sunny Days and Starry Nights, and was published along with Rainforests, Oceans, and River Wild.

My first introduction to the desert environment came as a child. Deserts fascinated my dad and he shared that fascination with me. I can still remember standing in the desert and watching the iguanas basking on the rocks. As a lover of all reptiles and amphibians, I became an instant fan. Of course, there are many types of deserts around the world and each has its own flora and fauna. I wanted my readers to discover them along with me.

 

CCD: Can you share a favorite aspect of the book? What about a favorite bit of information about deserts?

NC: While I enjoyed bits of every desert, much of what I wrote about the American desert returned to me last year during my visits to Arizona. I spent weeks vacationing and researching there and found that chapter of the book rising up in my thoughts daily. Hiking in Saguaro National Park only reinvigorated my love of this majestic cactus species. Seeing the petroglyphs with a Native guide in Canyon de Chelly brought Navajo history alive.

 

CCD: Other than introducing the desert habitat to readers, were there any other themes you wanted to explore in this book?

NC: As an environmental educator, I strive to inform and inspire my readers about the natural world. In this book, along with my books on rainforests and rivers, I wanted my readers to expand their knowledge and perceptions about these ecosystems. Readers might think all deserts are hot or that monkeys live in all rainforest jungles, or that all rivers flow fast.  In these books, they’ll  find that our world is wide and these ecosystems differ from their perceptions in spectacular ways.

 

CCD: In your mind, what makes a great activity in a nonfiction children’s book?

NC: Activities that are easy to follow with simple materials can allow readers to explore ideas on another level. Plus, they are fun!

In DESERTS, readers learn how to make a solar still to collect water in the desert. Illustration: B. Kulak

CCD: Looking over the activities in Deserts, I’d say you nailed the activities on all of those points. I particularly appreciated the way you brought in activities (and text)  that help readers get a sense of how people and culture thrive in the desert. The still, sand painting, and kachina doll activities are some examples.

 

CCD: On a different note, this book goes back a while. How have you as an author changed? What has stayed the same?

While this is one of my older titles, I still have educators reaching out who are using it in their classrooms, especially during this pandemic. I still love including activities and additional ways my readers can engage with my topics in all my books. Whether it is a pizza recipe in my picture book, Pizza for the Queen, or a how-to on hosting a seed swap in my young adult The Story of Seeds, activities can provide a jumping off point for readers young and old.

CCD: It’s interesting to note that your love of activities as a way to help readers engage has stayed with you throughout your career.  Speaking of your career…Deserts is one of your earlier books. Imagine you were going to revise Deserts now. Given any changes in you, publishing, schooling, or the world at large that may come to mind for you right now, what might you want to change about Deserts

ND: I’ve been able to provide photos for many of my books recently. Although I love Betsy’s illustrations, I’d love to supply photos for a reboot of this title if possible.

CCD: Oh, that would be gorgeous–even though I agree that Betsy’s illustrations are lovely. Either way, it’s a wonderful book. Thank you for all of your work helping kids explore STEM ideas and activities, and thank you for the interview. 

Looking for more STEM activity books? Check out the entire August 2020 STEM Tuesday booklist!

Win a FREE copy of Deserts

Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment below.  (Scroll past the link to the previous post.) The randomly-chosen winner will be contacted via email and asked to provide a mailing address (within the U.S. only) to receive the book.

Good luck!

Photo of DESERTS author Nancy CastaldoNancy Castaldo has written books about our planet for over 20 years including, THE STORY OF SEEDS, which earned the Green Earth Book Award, Junior Library Guild Selection, and other honors. Nancy’s research has taken her all over the world from the Galapagos to Russia.  She strives to inform, inspire, and empower her readers. Nancy also serves as Regional Advisor Emeritus of the Eastern NY SCBWI region. Her 2020 title is THE FARM THAT FEEDS US. Visit her at www.nancycastaldo.com. 

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photo of author and STEM Tuesday contribuor Carolyn DeCristofanoCarolyn DeCristofano, a founding team member of STEM Tuesday, is also a children’s STEM author and STEM education consultant. She recently co-founded STEM Education Insights, an educational research, program evaluation, and curriculum development firm which complements her independent work as Blue Heron STEM Education. She has authored several acclaimed science books, including Running on Sunshine (HarperCollins Children) and A Black Hole is NOT a Hole (Charlesbridge).

STEM TUESDAY: Zoology – In the Classroom

 

Welcome to the Second STEM Tuesday of the Month!
This inaugural post offers some really wild ideas for connecting zoology books, activities, and kids. With this month’s selections and ideas, your students can spy on animals, find connections to scientists (and each other), and spread enthusiasm for zoology as they model a disease outbreak.

Cover of Beastly Brains: Exploring How Animals Think, Talk, and FeelHelp kids channel their inner Jane Goodall. Budding zoologists will soon be organizing and interpreting their observations like the pros when they read Nancy Castaldo’s Beastly Brains: Exploring How Animals Think, Talk, and Feel and hit the schoolyard to conduct scientific observations of animal behavior.

This book provides a comprehensive synopsis of science’s attempt to answer some fascinating questions, such as: What types of feelings, if any, do non-human animals have? Do they plan, anticipate, and think about themselves? How can we know? With the help of the Beastly Brains teacher guide (pages 16-19), segue into some serious fun: watching animals, the zoological way, and try to answer some of those questions. The guide includes instructions and a downloadable template for an observation record (ethogram).

After you cover the basics, practice with your students in the schoolyard or classroom animal center. Then set them loose on self-selected observations (AKA homework)—at a local park, home-based bird-feeder, or even the grocery store. (After all, humans are animals, too!).

Ask critical questions about the experience, such as:

  • Is there anything about this situation that might interfere with the animals’ typical behavior? (For example, captivity or the presence of an observer can influence animals’ behavior.)
  • What do students think might be going on inside the observed animals’ heads?
  • How sure can students be about their inferences?

Drawing from the book’s content, consider the challenges zoologists face as they try to make sure their own interpretations are correct. For another perspective and a simplified version of an ethogram activity, check out Pages 93-94 of the next book in this week’s feature…

IMage of cover of Zoology for Kids: Understanding and Working with Animals, with 21 ActivitiesPlay out a musical chairs-style model of habitat loss. A simplified ethogram activity is one of 21 experiences in Zoology for Kids: Understanding and Working with Animals by Josh and Bethany Hestermann. Providing a broader introduction to zoology than Beastly Brains, this book also offers a wide range of activities, including ecology-based crafts and games.

The Resource Game (p. 106) is worth a special look. Like many of the books on this month’s STEM Tuesday list, Zoology for Kids tackles habitat loss and the need for conservation to support the diversity of animal life on our planet. The Resource Game brings this issue to a concrete level for readers and helps students focus on animals’ needs for water, food, and space. The game may remind you of musical chairs—with a twist—as “animal” players seek out new resources when their own habitats are disrupted.

 

Image of cover of Zoology: Cool Women Who Work with AnimalsBreak the ice before kids “meet” zoologists. While several of this STEM Tuesday’s books introduce readers to animal scientists, Zoology: Cool Women Who Work With Animals, written by STEM Tuesday founder Jennifer Swanson, focuses on several female zoologists. Readers follow these scientists’ varied journeys to this field. With targeted questions, the book also encourages readers to identify with each scientist.

A fun activity called  That’s Me!  is a social ice-breaker often used to foster an inclusive classroom environment. With a tweak or two, it can support Cool Women’s connection-building between readers and featured scientists.
During the game, a leader makes a statement. Listeners decide if the statement describes themselves. Everyone who thinks so pops out of his or her chair and calls, “That’s me!”

Tweak the game for this book with statements that are true of the featured scientists. Aim to select facts that will be true of many of your students. You might start with the following ideas: “If I could, I’d have tons of pets.” “I’m not really sure what I want as my future career.” “I’ve taken care of a particular animal for most of my life.” “I sometimes have a lot of questions.” You can also turn some of the book’s highlighted Essential Questions into That’s Me statements.

Image of cover of Gorilla Doctors: Saving Endangered Great ApesCatch the zoology bug! Model a disease outbreak. Author Pamela S. Turner’s vivid storytelling about a mountain gorilla veterinarian who pays “nest” calls is sure to make Gorilla Doctors a hit with students. Among other topics, readers will learn about threats to gorillas’ survival, including the fact that well-meaning humans–who might not be ill–can pass potentially fatal germs on to our genetic cousins. This is a perfect opportunity to try an infectious disease modeling activity, described by a teacher in a 7-minute Teaching Channel video.

Carrying cups of a white liquid (milk), students “harmlessly” interact—only to find out later that  “germs” have spread from one individual to many. (You have spiked one of the cups with an additive that will change colors with the addition of a readily available solution.)

Want to take this further? Challenge students to consider this experience specifically as a model for the spread of disease between humans and gorillas. What is well represented and not so well represented in this activity? What specific changes could we make in order to improve the model of what is described in the book?

Wolf HowlingPlease join the pack! (It’s your turn to howl.)
Humans are social animals, right? We need each other and we share resources. So, please: Contribute to this blog community! We hope this will be a dynamic space for all of us as adult learners exploring this exciting territory–connecting middle grade readers with STEM books and their important themes.

  • Which ideas seem most intriguing to you?
  • What follow-up suggestions do you have?
  • What works really well with your readers and STEM learners?
  • What else is on your mind?

Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano is often spotted in her semi-wild habitat of Southeastern Massachusettts writing science/STEM books for kids, arranging her author visits, and working as a STEM curriculum and professional development consultant for authors, schools, museums, and anyone else who gives a hoot about science ed. Follow her on Facebook or contact her through her website http://carolyndecristofano.com.