Growing With Science Blog

Rise Up to The Sky for #Arborday

March 31, 2023 / Roberta / 1 Comment

Arbor Day is coming up April 28, 2023. Looking for ways to participate? Consider reading the new picture book, Rise to the Sky: How the World’s Tallest Trees Grow Up by Rebecca E. Hirsch and illustrated by Mia Posada as part of your celebration.

The book starts with a simple question: What are the tallest living things? Do you know? If you guessed trees, then you are right.

Next are a series of illustrations that show visually how tall some of the biggest trees are. Unlike Mia Posada’s eye-catching illustrations in Plant’s Can’t Sit Still, this time she uses cut paper collage to compare big trees to some man-made structures.

Young readers will then discover how trees get so big. Starting with a seed, trees use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide from the air to grow, grow, grow. The text is a straightforward introduction to such concepts as photosynthesis, capillary action, and the stages of the life cycle of trees.

Back matter includes further information about parts of trees (leaves, roots, trunk, etc.) and tree growth as well as information about where the world’s tallest trees live, two activities, and suggestions for further reading.

Rise Up to the Sky will appeal to budding arborists and nature lovers alike. Perfect to accompany units on life cycles and plants, or to prepare for a trip to see redwoods. And, don’t forget to share a copy for Arbor Day.

Related Activity Suggestions:

1. Plant a tree for Arbor Day or any day. Preferably choose trees that grow naturally in your area and make sure they have plenty of room to reach their mature height.

2. Huge trees start from small seeds. Take a walk and look for tree seeds. Check our Seed Photo Archive for examples.

An acorn is a seed of an oak

A pine seed germinating

3. Download a free teacher’s guide with activities at Lerner.

More Tree Science Activity Suggestions (From This Blog):

1. Tree Transpiration
2. How far does the water have to travel from roots to top of the tree?

- Leaf litter decomposition
- Tree leaf age-find out how long an individual leaf stays on a tree

Want to find more great books like this one? Visit our giant, redwood-sized list of tree books for kids.

Reading age ‏ : ‎ 5 – 10 years
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Millbrook Press ™ (April 4, 2023)
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1728440874
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1728440873

Disclosure: This book was provided as an E-ARC for review purposes. Also, I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at no extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

Bug of the Week: Desert Hackberry Butterflies

September 28, 2022 / Roberta / 0 Comments

On a recent hike, my son joked that we could identify one type of tree by recognizing the butterflies hanging around it.

The butterflies were the Empress Leilias,

and American snout butterflies.

Can you guess the tree?

In this case it was the desert hackberry, Celtis pallida.

Unlike its relative the netleaf hackberry (previous post), the desert hackberry keeps its leaves all winter long. When ripe, the bright orange fruit are a favorite of many species of birds.

A tree that supports both birds and butterflies, doesn’t require much water, and is green all year? Sounds like a wonderful choice for desert landscaping!

STEM Friday #Kidlit A River’s Gifts

September 23, 2022 / Roberta / 1 Comment

Right in time for World Rivers Day (September 25, 2022), let’s jump in with wonderful example of picture book nonfiction, A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn by Patricia Newman and illustrated by Natasha Donovan.

Running through the book is the story of the Elwha River, which courses from Olympic National Park to the ocean in Washington state. Centuries ago several varieties of salmon and trout swam up the river to have their young. Then in the early 1900s people dammed the river, blocking the salmon from swimming upstream and flooding the landscape. The salmon numbers dwindled and wildlife disappeared. But the dams fell into disrepair and members of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and others persistently advocated to get them removed. Finally, in 1992, Congress passed The Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act, allowing for the dams to be demolished. Since that time, the river has made strides towards recovery.

In addition to the uplifting story of the restoration of the river and the salmon, plus the wildlife and people that rely on them, Patricia Newman packs the book with STEM. Young readers will learn about river vocabulary words like headwaters, channels, riverbanks, etc. Do you know what an alevin is? Find out in the wonderful illustration of the life cycle of salmon. Learn about the workings of a hydroelectric dam and how the dams were removed. Explore how important salmon are to ecosystems through food webs. See examples of wildlife and other kinds of fish found in and around the river. This book is jam-packed with all the fascinating information needed to truly understand the impact of the main story.

Natasha Donovan’s illustrations (website) are the water that keep it all flowing. In the note in the back matter, she explains that she grew up on the West Coast and had a wealth of sensory experiences to draw on for her work.

A River’s Gifts is one of those special books that fit into many different lessons: geography, history, science, technology (dams), nature, ecology, art, and literature, to name a few. Essential for American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, Earth Day, and of course, World River’s Day, readers will return to it again and again. Invest in a copy today!

Related Activities:

Find out more about the book and download a Teacher Guide at Patricia Newman’s website.
Check out the river-related books and activity suggestions at STEM Tuesday
LitLinks activity: Write a persuasive poem through the eyes of a salmon.

The book trailer is lovely.