May 25, 2010
One of the things that we really loved when we visited the Tech Museum in San Jose, California (the heart of Silicon Valley) was the presence of graduate students from the Genetics department in Stanford University’s School of Medicine, doing hands-on genetics experiments like DNA Spooling with kids who were visiting the museum.
The day we were there we watched Dan Kvitek, a graduate student in Genetics, working with young visitors. Every graduate student who joins this program not only interacts with kids in the museum, but also writes for the website, answering questions submitted to Ask a Geneticist and researching and writing articles for Current News in Genetics.
The program is overseen by professor Barry Starr, who was present the day we visited. He told us that they saw an opportunity with the popularity of forensic-based television programs like CSI to get kids engaged with the science behind the mysteries…..and the collaboration between university and museum was born.
I am always updating and adding entries to my online Science Dictionary, because as we all know, science is much less about knowing the "right answer" than it is about asking good questions. Our understanding of the world around us is always growing and evolving, especially in a field like genetics. On my list of definitions to add to the online dictionary are terms like forensics and DNA mapping. Like Dr. Starr, I know that kids are fascinated by this fast-developing field, which explores the fundamental "fingerprints" of our individual, biological identities.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
May 24, 2010
Today we thought we’d share some of the feedback from the In-School testing which is underway on the prototype Teacher Guide for Seymour’s EARTHQUAKES book. This testing is happening in conjunction with the creation of thirty Teacher Guides to be used with his books. They will be available online for free teacher downloads by the time schools resume in the autumn of 2010.
For those interested in the anecdotal highlights of the in-school testing, here is feedback from fellow science writer Jordan Brown, who is collaborating with us on both the writing and testing.
Highlights of the 3rd grade class testing:
* Kids enjoyed having "Why I Wrote this Book" from Seymour Simon read aloud. One of the teachers shared her story about experiencing an earthquake in Seattle.
* As you might expect, any opportunity for children to share personal stories captured group interest. One boy told about visiting California recently and experiencing his first earthquake.
* The 3rd graders really liked the "Make a Quake" website. We did this online activity several times, changing the variables to see how damaged the building became.
* Many kids were very surprised to learn how frequent earthquakes are.
* They also enjoyed when I passed around the hard-boiled egg with the cracked shell still on (like cracked plates around Earth). Spontaneously, I had all kids press their palms together forcefully, then have one of the hands push upward, so they could imitate the motion of faults sliding passed each other.
* For the building activity, I made the challenge a bit tougher for the third graders. I told students to build a building as tall as they could—but also try to stabilize it. Otherwise, I feared they would just make long, flat structures. All but one of the buildings they made held up when, as a group, we tested them out by shaking a plastic plate beneath each model.
From the Kindergarten Testing:
* Kids loved looking at the dramatic photos when I flipped through the book—but some of the kindergartners got a little scared. I made a point of reassuring them that the chances of a big, dangerous earthquake in our area was very rare.
* Class was fascinated by the map on page 12 (in which every small red dot represents where an EQ has occurred).
* When talking about why scientists can’t predict precisely when an EQ will occur—one child made the comparison to a balloon being blown up. If you keep blowing, eventually it will pop—but you don’t know exactly when.
* Building activity was a big hit - The teacher commented that she really loved watching the groups of children having to work together to figure out a possible solution. When some of the groups had trouble coming up with a self-standing building (I only provided a small number of materials, so they had to think creatively), they got inspiration and ideas by looking at each other’s work.
If you are interested in giving us feedback on this prototype, we would LOVE to hear from you. You can download a free copy of the Teacher Guide for Seymour Simon’s EARTHQUAKES by clicking on this link.
Posted by: Liz Nealon
May 19, 2010
As you may have read previously in this space, we are creating free, downloadable TEACHER GUIDES to go with all 26 of Seymour’s Collins/Smithsonian books.
One of the nice features at the start of each Guide is a brief piece of first person writing from Seymour entitled "Why I Wrote This Book." It’s designed for teachers or parents to read aloud with kids before starting to talk about the book together.
Today we are working on the Guide to accompany CATS, and we thought you might like to preview what Seymour wrote about the genesis of this book.
When I wrote the book on cats, my family had two feral cats that had been born in our back yard and that we took into our house when they were a few weeks old. They became tame and we named them Mittens and Sir Isaac Newton (aka Newty Frewty). You can guess the reason for naming a cat Mittens but let me tell you about Newty. Sir Isaac Newton was one of the greatest scientists of all time and he had a mind that was “forever voyaging through strange seas of thought,” according to the poet Wordsworth. My cat Newty was always wandering into strange places in my house so that is how he got tagged with the name of the great scientist, Newton.
We have completed a prototype Teacher Guide - for EARTHQUAKES - and are currently testing it in classrooms. If you would like to give us your feedback you can download a copy by clicking on this link. We would love to hear from you!
Posted by: Liz Nealon
May 12, 2010
We are hard at work creating Teacher Guides to be used with all 26 of Seymour Simon’s Collins/Smithsonian books (as well as other favorites like EARTH, THE MOON, DESTINATION MARS, ANIMALS NOBODY LOVES, etc) in the classroom. The four-page, black-and-white PDFs will include: Why I Wrote this Book (from the author), an Introductory Activity, Questions to Ask Before Reading (with answers), Questions to Ask After Reading (with answers), Classroom Activities, Additional Resources (both books, web links, relevant graphs and charts), and a reproducible page with a children’s activity.
Our goal is to have thirty of these Teacher Guides created and available online for free teacher downloads by the time schools resume in the autumn of 2010.
One of the guides is finished and currently being tested in schools. This is an image of structures built by 3rd graders, who then tested them to see if they could survive an "earthquake." You can download a free copy of the Teacher Guide for Seymour Simon’s EARTHQUAKES, which includes multiple teacher resources and this hands-on activity, by clicking on this link.
And, if you would like to give us feedback on this prototype, we would LOVE to hear from you.
Posted by: Liz Nealon
May 11, 2010
Tornado season can be a scary time for kids who live in affected areas. The last 24 hours have been deadly in Oklahoma, and thousands of people in Kansa and Oklahoma are still without power.
I wrote an extensive post recently about tornadoes, which you can still access online. And, since giving kids a sense of what they can do to stay safe helps them to feel less frightened, I’d like to reiterate the key things for kids to know if they live in the southern plains, or in a place where tornadoes might strike.
** Pay attention to early warning sirens and alerts on radio and television, so that you can take shelter before a tornado strikes.
** Cars and mobile homes are NOT safe during a tornado. Go to the basement of a solidly built house.
** If you are in an apartment or home without a basement, getting into a bathtub and covering yourself with a couch cushion protects you on all sides.
** If you are out walking or biking, life flat in a ditch if there is no rain. If there is rain, there may be a danger of flash flooding, so stay out of the ditch, get away from trees and power lines, crouch down and make yourself as small as possible - be a "human basketball"!
Reassure children that they don’t have to worry too much in advance about tornadoes, but finding out when they are coming and knowing what to do is certain to help them if one strikes.
(Editor’s Note): For kids who want more information about storms, Seymour has also written a Level 2 SeeMore Reader called SUPER STORMS, which is also available in Spanish, titled TORMENTOS INCREíBLES.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
May 11, 2010
Many of us were dismayed when President Obama recently announced cuts to NASA’s budget. Although everyone understands the need for austerity in these troubled economic times, I am always in favor of invention and exploration - one of the best attributes of American culture.
This Friday, the space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to make its final launch, undertaking a 12-day mission to the International Space Station to replace solar panel batteries, install a backup antenna and attach a Russian module filled with supplies. After the Atlantis mission, the other two shuttles - Discovery and Endeavour - are each going to make one more flight, and then all three will be retired.
Maybe it’s because I was an impressionable 8 years old when President Kennedy gave his stirring "We will go to the moon….." speech. Or because I used to set my alarm to get up and watch the shuttle launch when my friend, Navy Captain and astronaut Dan Bursch flew one of his four missions. Danny shares the U.S. space endurance record with astronaut Carl Walz - 196 days in space! (his kids still remember this milestone because he missed Christmas and several birthdays - even an astronaut is still just "Dad" when he gets home). So, despite its flaws, limitations, and several tragedies, I felt very sad when I heard the Shuttle program was being discontinued.
The good news, reported in today’s Science Times, is that we’re continuing to train astronauts for exploration of other planets…..we’re just not doing it in space!
Yesterday marked the beginning of the 14th NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) mission. A crew of six, led by Col. Chris A. Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut who flew two shuttle missions, descended 65 feet to an underwater laboratory off the coast of Florida, where they will practice the skills required for setting up a habitat on another planet.
By adjusting the buoyancy of the diving suits, the aquanauts can go about their work feeling as if they are walking in the one-sixth gravity of the Moon or the three-eighths gravity of Mars. And, they have set up a 20-minute time lag in communications with their mission controllers on the surface, just as they would have if they were trying to get advice or help in solving a big problem while on Mars.
Click here to read the entire story about how these aquanauts are developing the skills we will need for future space exploration. It’s not over yet!
Photo: NEEMO 13, courtesy NASA
Posted by: Liz Nealon
May 10, 2010
Sunday, Mother’s Day, was very windy with gusts reaching 40 miles per hour. It was sunny and there were many cumulus clouds in the blue skies. But there weren’t the usual puffy cumulus clouds that look like cotton balls.
Instead they were cumulus fractus (or fractocumulus) clouds, sometimes also called "scud" by pilots. Fractus clouds are clouds that are torn by high winds and look very much like cotton balls that have been torn apart by fingers. They change constantly and often move rapidly across the sky.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
May 7, 2010
The oil spill in the Gulf off the coast of Louisiana threatens one of America’s treasured environments as well as the livelihood of many families in the region. The area has a huge abundance of living things, both above and below the su
rface waters of the Gulf. The bays and wetlands are nurseries for fish and birds. This photograph, taken by Alex Brandon of the Associated Press, shows volunteers caring for one of the tens of thousands of birds who nest on Breton Island National Refuge in this season. The oil is reaching there now.
Sea turtles in the Gulf are migrating or nesting on the shores in the pathway of the oil slick. Many Gulf families depend upon fishing or shelling for their livelihoods.
The NY Times has been publishing a map daily, with each day’s outline reflecting the most current estimate by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the extent of the oil slick on that day. Here is where we are today:
For those who are interested in following this more closely, NOAA publishes daily forecasts of how the currents are moving the oil (including the potential of carrying it out of the Gulf and into the Atlantic Ocean) at www.deepwaterhorizon.noaa.gov.
This huge oil spill is an ecological and economic disaster and the effects will be felt not just in the Gulf region but all over the country.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
May 6, 2010
One of the techniques that I love seeing teachers use with their students is having them write every day in a journal, or in this case, a blog!
Teachers in the Avoca School District (serving portions of Glenview, Northfield, Wilmette, and Winnetka, Illinois) welcome readers this way when they come to the site:
Welcome to one of the student blogs at Avoca School District 37. Students will be posting in their school blog throughout the school year sharing their writing, as well other projects they create. We hope that you will visit the student blogs and make comments to the students about their work.
Payton describes himself this way in his "About Me":
I’m ten years old going to be 11. My favorite subject is Math and Reading. My friends say that I’m cool and funny. I think I am amazing. This year I am hoping to learn everything there is to learn.
Click here to read Payton’s review of DANGER! VOLCANOES.
As I tell both teachers and students when I visit schools, if you want to be a writer, the most important thing to do is WRITE! This program is a great way to encourage kids to express themselves, and get positive feedback on their writing skills.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
May 5, 2010
A few weeks ago we were so pleased to report here that the Eco-Libris blog had named Seymour’s GLOBAL WARMING book the "green book of the week."
Today we received a note from the reviewer, Raz Godelnik, who is doing valuable work on behalf of the environment at Eco-Libris.
He wrote: As you will see, our mission is to green the book industry and make reading more sustainable and we hope to make it happen sooner than later! One of our main activities is a tree planting program, where we work with readers, publishers and authors to plant trees in developing countries for the books they read, publish or write. So far we have planted with our planting partners around 150,000 trees! You’re welcome to see some of the planting activity on our planting gallery.
I took his suggestion and learned a lot on the Eco-Libris website. For one thing, more than 30-million trees are cut down annually for virgin paper used for the production of books sold in the U.S. alone. That is sobering.
Eco-Libris has come up with a very simple idea to enable those of us who are readers (and therefore big consumers of books) to do something simple and affordable that will have an impact: plant one tree for every book we read. They see it as a way of taking responsibility for the environmental impact of the books we read.
This is a big idea. Here is how it works:
You go to the website and make a commitment to plant 10 trees every month, for a cost of $10 per month. Eco-Libris has carefully selected qualified planting partners in Nicaragua, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Malawi – places where planting trees will not only benefit the environment but also the local community – and they will plant the trees.
Y
ou willl receive stickers like this one (printed on recycled paper) for every tree that you plant, affixing them to your books to demonstrate your commitment to the environment.
I’m not only signing up to support Eco-Libris myself, I’m going to give a gift subscription to my college student, who as a History/Literature major, will be very happy to start to balance out the environmental impact of all those books! What a great idea. A simple, elegant way to make a difference.
Posted by: Liz Nealon
