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Tag: STEM Books (Page 7 of 16)

Exploring the Energy Potential of Oceans with The Next Wave

January 9, 2015 / / 1 Comment

Today for STEM Friday we are featuring The Next Wave: The Quest to Harness the Power of the Oceans (Scientists in the Field Series). Author Elizabeth Rusch introduces us to a number of scientists who are working hard to convert the mechanical energy of ocean waves into electrical energy. See a full review at our sister blog, Wrapped in Foil.

Waves are actually very complex and we are still learning about them.

How do waves form?

The waves in the ocean form due to wind blowing on the surface. The shape and size of the waves depend on the force and steadiness of the wind, and the distance over which the wind travels, called “fetch.” The shape of the wave is also influenced by the depth of the water, especially as it meets the shore.

Activity 1. Exploring Waves

Gather:

  • Plastic bin
  • Water
  • Food coloring
  • Dropper

You may use a sink or bathtub to hold the water, but because you will be blowing across the surface, a plastic bin situated on the waterproof surface of a counter or tabletop will probably be easier to maneuver around. This would be an ideal activity to try outdoors.

bin-with-water

Fill the bin 3/4 full of water.

Ask the children if they have ever been to the ocean and seen waves. If they have not, consider showing a video (YouTube has dozens).

ocean-waves-ca

Brainstorm about how to form waves. If water splashes are not a problem, allow the children to free-explore their ideas about how best to produce waves. They will probably put their hands in and swirl the water.

Now reveal that waves are formed by wind blowing over the water. Have the children blow and see how the waves look different from those they produced using their hands.

Did they form in parallel lines like in the video above?

Once the children have seen waves, add a drop of food coloring to the water and have them blow waves again. How does the water move? Do all layers move the same way?

Many texts will tell you that the water in the deeper part of the ocean does not move forward as a wave passes by, but simply travels in a circle or oscillates. Proof is given when an object floating in the water simply bobs up and down, rather than moving forward.

waves-oscillating

 

If you look closely at the second video, however, you will see that the top layer of the water with the food coloring moves across the surface with the waves. Why?  One possible solution is that the bin is too shallow and the waves are behaving more like those at the shore, where the circular motion is disrupted. Can you think of any other reasons?

Activity 2. Water Vortices

Older students might want to try the experiments with vortices suggested in this video by Physics Girl (has a pop-up ad):

Isn’t that incredible? I can’t wait until it is warm enough to try it myself.

If your children like these activities with waves, be sure to pick up The Next Wave: The Quest to Harness the Power of the Oceans (Scientists in the Field Series) . It introduces young readers to an exciting new technology that will capture the energy of waves and convert it to useful electrical energy. The book will definitely inspire young readers who want explore waves and oceans. It is also a great resource for adults who want to learn more about this relatively new area of research on a potentially renewable source of energy.

Age Range: 10 – 14 years
Grade Level: 5 – 9
Series: Scientists in the Field Series
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers (October 14, 2014)
ISBN-10: 0544099990
ISBN-13: 978-0544099999

You might also be interested in other books we have reviewed from the Scientists in the Field series. 

 

scientists-in-the-field-series-book-reviews

Disclosures:  The book was provided by the publisher for review purposes.  I am an affiliate for Amazon, and if you click through the linked titles or ads and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Proceeds will be used to maintain this self-hosted blog.

 

Come visit the STEM Friday blog each week to find more great Science, Technology, Engineering and Math books.

Sea Turtle Science For Kids

December 5, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Today we were inspired by two books about sea turtles. The first is Sea Turtle Scientist (Scientists in the Field Series) by Stephen R. Swinburne. This book for middle grade students reveals Dr. Kimberly Stewart’s efforts to investigate and conserve sea turtles on the Caribbean Island of St. Kitts. See a full review of the book at our sister blog, Wrapped in Foil.

For younger readers, we found Leatherback Turtles (Reptiles) by Mandy R. Marx with consulting editor Gail Saunders-Smith PhD. This is part of a series of informational books about reptiles featuring short sentences and carefully controlled vocabulary perfect for beginning readers.

Learn about sea turtles:

Sea turtles are pretty amazing creatures. There are currently seven recognized species:

  • leatherback sea turtle
  • green sea turtle
  • loggerhead sea turtle
  • Kemp’s ridley sea turtle
  • hawksbill sea turtle
  • flatback sea turtle
  • olive ridley sea turtle

The leatherback sea turtle is in a separate family from the other species. It is the largest turtle, and it is also unique because it lacks a hard shell. Baby loggerheads hatch out of eggs laid in the sand on beaches. The little loggerhead turtles crawl to the sea where they live for 20 to 30 years before they reach maturity. Amazingly, once they are fully grown, the females return to the same beach where they hatched out to lay their eggs.

The Kemp’s ridley and olive ridley also return to the beaches where they hatched to lay eggs. These two species, however, are a little different because many, many females return to the same beaches, all at the same time. These mass landings of female sea turtles are called “arribadas.”

This video shows a sea turtle arribada from Costa Rica. WARNING for little viewers:  The video does show eggs coming out of the female’s body. There’s also a graphic scene of vultures feeding on a dead sea turtle around the 2:20 minute mark (near the end).

Scientists are studying how sea turtles can remember the beaches where they hatched and how they know which way to swim to return. One thing they found is that sea turtles can sense the Earth’s magnetic field and use it as a guide.

 Did you know that…?

Like whales and dolphins, sea turtles must return to the surface to breathe.

Ways to help sea turtles:

Light pollution is a hazard to sea turtles. Newly-hatched sea turtles use light from the stars and moon and reflections on the water to navigate to the sea. If there are bright lights from human sources around their hatching sites, the sea turtles become disoriented and head inland instead of out to sea, which is usually deadly. Efforts are being organized to cut down excessive lighting along beaches while the sea turtles are hatching.

Finally, sea turtles mistake floating plastic bags for their natural food, jellyfish, and swallow them. The bags are not digestible and can cause death. Protect sea turtles and other animals by making sure plastic bags are properly recycled, or even better, use reusable cloth bags instead.

Related activities and links to lesson plans:

Download the discussion and activities guide for Sea Turtle Scientist at Steve Swinburne’s website, as well as posters, leaflets and find links to other great websites.

See Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Plastic in the Water Column lesson (scroll down to see link to .pdf lesson) as well as their open sea cam where you might spot a sea turtle.

For more information about related creatures, see our previous week of ocean-themed books and activities at Growing with Science.

Why not combine your STEM lesson with some great art by creating a watercolor sea turtle? Drawing and painting animals requires the same close observation skills so useful to scientists.

Sea Turtle Scientist (Scientists in the Field Series) by Stephen R. Swinburne

Age Range: 10 – 14 years
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers (January 7, 2014)
ISBN-10: 0547367554
ISBN-13: 978-0547367552

Leatherback Turtles (Reptiles) by Mandy R. Marx with consulting editor Gail Saunders-Smith PhD

Reading Level:  K-1
Publisher: Capstone Press (January 1, 2012)
ISBN-10: 1429666463
ISBN-13: 978-1429666466

Disclosures:  Sea Turtle Scientist was provided by our local library. Leatherback Turtles was provided by the publisher for review purposes.  I am an affiliate for Amazon, and if you click through the linked titles or ads and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Proceeds will be used to maintain this self-hosted blog.

 

Come visit the STEM Friday blog each week to find more great Science, Technology, Engineering and Math books.

 

Learning About Animal Behavior with Animal Teachers

November 7, 2014 / / 5 Comments

Today we a featuring an award-winning new nonfiction picture book Animal Teachers by Janet Halfmann and illustrated by Katy Hudson. For a full review of the book, see our sister blog, Wrapped in Foil.

Animal Teachers introduces young children to the idea that nonhuman animals learn from their parents and peers in similar ways as humans by giving a series of fun and instructive examples. Some of the examples in the book will probably surprise you. Did you know that chicks might need to be taught what is proper food or that cheetahs might need to be taught how to run? The book definitely gives you a lot to think about.

Related Information and Activities:

What is learning? What is teaching? It turns out that these are not easy questions to answer, especially when we think of animals other than humans. It also isn’t easy to figure out what behaviors are inborn or innate (nature), which are learned or depend on experience (nurture), and which are a bit of both. Let’s take a look at some vocabulary and activities from the field of animal behavior.

Learning:  the act or process of acquiring new knowledge, skills or preferences by being taught, practicing, or experiencing something.

An example would be learning to roller skate. You might watch someone else, have someone teach you how to stand up, and then practice for hours before you completely know how to do it.

Animal Teachers has a lot of good examples of animals learning what to eat, how to recognize their parents’ voices and even how to stay dry.

Teaching:

Those who study animal behavior have had to come up with a definition of teaching that can be used for nonhuman animals. They have decided to be a true teacher, an animal must change its behavior when it encounters an inexperienced animal. At a cost to its own ability to perform the task, it must set an example so that the untrained animal can learn more quickly than it could have without training.

An example in Animal Teachers is a mother elephant teaching her baby to drink water.

alex-wild-photo-elephant(Public domain photograph by Alex Wild)

You might think that drinking water would be automatic, but a baby elephant starts out drinking its mother’s milk with its mouth. Drinking water from a stream using its trunk is very different. It must suck the water half way up the trunk, hold it as it moves its trunk into its mouth and then release it into its mouth. It is kind of like learning to drink with a straw.

How does the mother change its behavior to be a teacher? Instead of simply drinking as much as she needs and walking away, the mother shows the baby and encourages it to copy her movements.

It turns out that even invertebrate animals can be teachers. Sometimes worker ants teach other worker ants from the same colony how to reach food by a behavior called “tandem running.” An ant that knows the way to the food runs ahead and an ant that doesn’t know the way follows closely behind. The “teacher ant” changes its behavior because it runs more slowly than it would have it was simply going to the food on its own. A learner ant can run to the food by itself after following the teacher ant, where it couldn’t before tandem running (See more at  memory in ants from Wild About Ants).

Teaching Activity:  Playing School

Have you ever played school? It can be a lot of fun.

1. Find a place to use as your “schoolhouse and invite your sisters, brothers, and friends to play school.

2. Decide what you would like to teach and what your students would like to learn.

3. Gather some books, paper and pencils/markers. Or if you like sports, pretend to be a coach and gather some balls and other sports equipment.

4. Take turns being the teacher (or coach) and being the student.

5. Read and discuss Animal Teachers. Answer the questions in the book. Talk about what you learned as a teacher and what you learned as a student.

Other vocabulary used when studying animal behavior:

Anthropomorphism: This is a big word that means we shouldn’t think all animals think and do things like humans. One problem with studying learning in other animals is that when a nonhuman animal behaves in a way that we recognize as similar to us, we think it is also has the same thoughts as we do. For example, when a cat rubs against us, we may think it is showing affection, whereas it may be simply rubbing its scent on us (marking).

Self-recognition: One test of animal smarts that has been used in the past is whether or not it can recognize itself in a mirror (a Scientific American article that reveals there are some faults with this test).

Even so, see the self-recognition rouge test in action with some babies and toddlers.

Some other animals are definitely capable of self-recognition, including dolphins and elephants.

Self-Recognition Mirror Activity:
See if your pets react to a mirror, either handheld or bathroom mirror (be careful not to endanger your pet by placing it somewhere too high or unsafe). While gently playing or grooming your pet, introduce the mirror. What do you observe? Does your pet try to get to the animal behind the mirror? Does it seem excited, as if meeting a new dog or cat for the first time? Or is it not interested at all?

Do you have a bird, guinea pig or pet rat? How do they react to a mirror? Compare the reaction of your different pets.

Design an experiment to hide a treat that your pet can see in the mirror but not without the mirror, such as placing a treat on the ground behind it when it is looking in the mirror. What does it do? Does it seem to understand the food is there and turn around or not?

Back to the book, Animal Teachers is wonderful jumping off point to learn more about animal behavior. It definitely would be a great resource for the classroom and you will also want to share it with children interested in animals. Expect high excitement and a lot of lively discussions!

Age Range: 4 – 8 years
Hardcover: 36 pages
Publisher: Blue Apple Books (September 2, 2014)
ISBN-10: 1609053915
ISBN-13: 978-1609053918

Disclosures: The book was provided by the author 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 not extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

 

Come visit the STEM Friday blog each week to find more great children’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math books.

nonfictionmonday

Reviews of children’s nonfiction books are posted Mondays at Nonfiction Monday blog.

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