Have you been over to visit the Cybils nomination lists yet?
What are Cybils? The acronym stands for children’s and young adult bloggers literary awards. Bloggers who specialize in children’s and young adult books have developed the Cybils awards to highlight some of the best books published in the previous year. Back in September people nominated their favorite books by genre. Now the judges are reading and reviewing all the books to pick one winner from each category. Although there is a lot of excitement about which books will be chosen as the best, going through the nomination lists is also a great way to find interesting new things to read.
To save you some time, I went through the list of nominated nonfiction books in the picture book category and selected some science and nature books that you might find useful. (By the way, once again I am a round II judge for nonfiction picture book category.) Soon I’ll tackle the middle grade/young adult books.
Nonfiction Picture Books – Science and Nature
(The titles are linked to take you to Amazon for more information)
I am excited to report that the experiment for this week are inspired by a new book, You Can’t Wear These Genes by my friend Shirley Duke, who blogs at SimplyScience. Be sure to look for my interview with Shirley and more about the book over at Wrapped In Foil. Shirley will be celebrating her 100th blog post this week at SimplyScience, so you might want to stop over and say hello.
About the book: You Can’t Wear These Genes is an easy-to-understand overview of genetics for children in grades 4-7. Reading this book is a perfect way to introduce a lesson on genes and DNA.
Shirley starts out with an idea a child can relate to, how we inherit traits from our parents. Further inside are explanations of common terms, like chromosomes, alleles, and what a genome is. The crisp clear, illustrations of the structure of DNA, for example, complement the text. Not only does Shirley review the background of what we know so far in the field of genetics, but she also gives us a glimpse of the future by looking at the Human Genome Project, genetic engineering and cloning.
I know I will be using this book when I present the following activity to a group of children next month.
Activity: DNA Extraction From Strawberries and/or Bananas
Believe it or not, these days you can extract DNA from common fruits and vegetables right in your own home.
You’ll need:
strawberries, bananas or both (these fruit contain extra copies of DNA making extraction easier)
plastic bags that seal (or something to mash the fruit in)
water, preferably distilled
a device to measure liquids in ml (optional for a single test, see 1 below)
dish detergent
table salt and measuring spoon
a container to mix the extraction buffer in
isopropyl alcohol and a way to keep it cold. Most recipes call for 90%, but 70% is acceptable.
glass container, like a beaker
funnel (optional)
filter material such as cheesecloth, coffee filter, paper towel or any old piece of cloth
test tube or spice jar, and some type of holder to keep it upright
A medicine dropper (optional)
wooden stick that will fit in the test tube, such as a craft stick or wooden skewer
Method:
Before you start, put the isopropyl alcohol in the fridge or on ice so that it is cold when you need to use it. Note:Â you can use ethanol, but isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol is cheaper and easier to obtain.
1. If you are working with a group you will need to make the extraction buffer, which is the solution that helps break down the strawberry cells and release the DNA. The basic ingredients are water, dish detergent (or shampoo) and table salt. One common formula is 300 ml water, 25 ml dish detergent, and 1 Tablespoon table salt. Note:Â Stir this mixture gently. Excessive bubbles will interfere with the extraction process later on.
If you are doing a single test on one strawberry or one piece of banana, there’s no need to make up a big container of buffer. Try 2 tsp water, 1 tsp soap, and 1 pinch salt for each berry.
2. Place a single strawberry or 1/2 a banana in the plastic bag, seal and mash it up. You can do one kind of fruit, or do both separately and then compare your results. The plastic bags works well if you are doing this with a group of children because each child can mash his or her own. You can simply mash the fruit in a bowl, too. This should only take a minute or two. If the banana is somewhat green, you can add a bit of water to make it easier to mash.
3. Add up to 10 ml of the extraction buffer to the bag, and mash some more. Again, try not to create excessive bubbles. Remind small children not to taste the fruit after this step.
4. Set up some sort of filtration system. This can be a simple as a coffee filter over a cup or cheesecloth over a funnel. The idea is to separate the fruit juice from the pulpy material. The DNA should now be in the juice that passes through the filter. You can throw away the pulpy remains. The videos have more details about filtering if you have never done it before.
5. Pour your juice into the test tube or spice jar. If you have a lot of bubbles on top, remove these with a medicine dropper. Now slowly pour in 8 to 10 ml of the cold isopropyl alcohol. It should form a layer on the top of the juice.
6. With the wooden stick, stir at the interface of the alcohol and juice. A thick, globby material should form on the stick, which is your DNA. If it doesn’t appear right away, give it a minute or two and try again.
There’s nothing like being able to watch someone do a demonstration to help you figure out what to do. Here are two videos that show how to extract DNA, each using slightly different techniques.
DNA Extraction from Strawberry Video
DNA Extraction from a Banana Video
These are sure to give you some ideas for further experiments. What happens when you add the alcohol to the test tube first versus second. Does the order change the amount of DNA you obtain?
Once you are confident of your technique, go ahead and try other fruit or vegetables, such as kiwi or onions. You can also compare room temperature versus cold alcohol to see whether it really needs to be cold. Have fun and I’d love to hear what you find out.
For more information about genetics online, try Learn Genetics at The University of Utah.
Here at Growing with Science I usually concentrate on great nonfiction, but I came across a fiction series that some of you might be interested in. Books in the Doyle and Fossey, Science Detectives series by Michele Torrey and illustrated by Barbara Johansen Newman each contain four science mysteries, plus in the back are instructions for seven activities and experiments related to the stories that you can try yourself.
Although the covers and titles may look a bit scary, the mysteries themselves are pretty straightforward.
In The Case of the Barfy Birthday, the detectives Doyle and Fossey investigate whether their client accidentally poisoned her sister, help save some birds, do a bit of ghost busting, and figure out how to get a pig out of a pit. Note to the squeamish: The first case does involve vomit.
The Case of the Gasping Garbage sends the detectives to the laboratory to find out why the garbage can is making odd noises, has them figuring out a way to help frogs, investigating the case of a stuck truck, and using chromatography to identify who wrote a love letter.
Will The Case of the Mossy Lake Monster be their last? After taming the monster, Doyle and Fossey discover why a cat won’t eat, find a way to help penguins covered with oil (a story straight out of the news), and reveal a political prankster.
The Case of the Crooked Carnival actually starts with the detectives looking into a report of ghosts in an old house. After they stop an alein invasion (of plants), Doyle and Fossey solve the mystery of a carnival game, and discover a problem with the town bridge.
In The Case of the Graveyard Ghost, Doyle and Fossey have to get their client out of a laundry chute, solve the mystery of some wrecked roses, reveal yet another ghost, and investigate a case of a rare bird.
The mysteries in these books are fast-paced and interesting. Doyle and Fossey are a bit over the top, but definitely likable characters. The activities and experiments are kid friendly. (You know how much I love when books provide hands-on activities to reinforce learning.)
I did find a few minor flaws in some of the books. For example, although billed as a microbiologist, the author states that yeasts are plants in The Case of the Gasping Garbage. Modern classification schemes group yeasts with the fungi.
I also wondered why in The Case of the Crooked Carnival, the alien plants are called “purple loosegoose.” In the back the author identifies a true weed, purple loosestrife. I guess the funny name injects a bit of levity?
In any case, if your children are interested in fiction and mysteries, these books might just entice them to try a bit of science as well.
