Cause and Effect – From sharks to us

 If Sharks Disappeared by Lily Williams presents a simplified explanation of a complex process, trophic cascade, which tells us why sharks are critical for maintaining balanced, healthy oceans. This is an excellent book for demonstrating how creatures in an ecosystem are interconnected and when one component is missing the impact can have devastating consequences.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve notice a few more books at the juvenile level that portray sharks in less a scary light. I think promoting a better understanding of the important role sharks play in their ecosystems is crucial for changing out views about them.

According to William's book, it is estimated that 100 million sharks are killed every year.  This is driven by market demands for shark fins to make soup as a Chinese and Vietnamese delicacy, fishing practices that inadvertently kill sharks, as well as human fear that fosters the idea that fewer sharks is better for human safety. Overfishing has resulted in 1/4 to 1/3 of shark species being vulnerable to extinction.

As apex predators sharks help control population numbers of other species such as seals and sea lions. If their populations are left unchecked fish populations would be at risk and seals and sea lions would starve. If fish disappear, then plankton, the food that many fish eat could also over multiple, turning ocean waters into a thick sludge. Oceans would be unable to support much life and this would eventually impact animals and humans living on land.

I recommend this book for elementary grades study science topics such as life cycles, food chains, ecosystems, and sustainability issues.

Other resources I recommend are:

Sharkwater (DVD) by Rod Stewart

The Great White Shark Scientist by Sy Montgomery

Wandering Whale Sharks by Susumu Shingu

Wild Ocean: Sharks, Whales, Rays and Other Endangered SeaCreatures by Matt Dembicki (ed.)

Ocean Soul by Brian Skerry

The World Without Fish by Mark Kurlansky

Real-world designing and making for a good cause

Beauty and the Beak: How science, technology, and a 3D-printed beakrescued a bald eagle by Deborah Lee Rose and Jane Veltkamp is quite the title, isn’t it?

What a fascinating story to bring into the classroom to discuss the impact of STEM/STEAM (science, technology, Engendering, art and math) related issues.

This is the story of Beauty, a bald eagle who sustained a gunshot wound that destroyed the top part of her beak. On the verge of starvation, Beauty was rescued and taken to a wildlife center, her first stop in her rehabilitation. From there she was moved to a raptor center run by Jane Veltkamp, a raptor biologist who wanted to have a prosthetic beak made for Beauty. An engineer, Nate, took up the challenge to create a beak using a 3D printer. The process was very much a trial-and-error technique that required hundreds of hours to refine. A dentist was brought into help set the beak into place. The beak worked for a time until it was realized that her natural beak was growing back very slowly. She permanently lives at the center and is supporting scientific study about eagles.

The back section of the book, contains a substantial amount of information about where Beauty is now, her prosthetic beak, and general information about eagles. Everything from their importance to ecosystems and First Nations peoples, their physiology, and conservation efforts is here for research.

The reference section is of reputable websites from government and environmental sources. There is one from the Museum of Science in Boston that has information about making and testing models of Beauty’s beak. There is a rich resource from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology that will supplement general information about eagles. The raptor center that Jane Veltkamp founded is included as well and has a wealth of resources to support this book as a classroom resource.

I’m recommending this for grades 3 or 4 up to grade 8. It demonstrates innovative thinking and designing, problem solving, biology and wildlife conservation. It’s a perfect real-world example for interdisciplinary work about a very cool topic. 

Nonfiction Roundup

As life in the Doucette Library is becoming quieter with teacher-education students out on practicum, I’m getting caught up on some reading.

Today I’m highlighting some interesting nonfiction books for all levels.

Elementary

A Place for Turtles by Melissa Stewart

Despite the commercialism of the jingle, “I love turtles”, I do, in fact love real turtles. They are fascinating creatures and this book lays out many interesting facts about various species of turtles predominately found in the United States. Along with these facts are the conditions and challenges that turtles face today. The illustrations are well done and provide abundant details about what the turtles look like and their habitats. It emphasizes the interconnectedness within ecological systems and the importance of protecting turtles.

Emmanuel’s Dream: the true story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah by Laurie Ann Thompson

What an interesting story! This is about a young man from Ghana who overcomes a physical challenge and societal prejudices proving that “disability does not mean inability”.  Born with only one strong leg Emmanuel had to learn to do things for himself fairly quickly. He learned to carry water and climb coconut trees.  He hopped two miles each way to get to school. He learned to make friends when the other kids didn’t want to play with him.  He was resourceful and resilient. As a young man he decides to honour a promise he made to his dying mother by cycling close to 400 miles across Ghana to spread his message that “disable does not mean being unable.” Loved it.

Colors of the Wind: the story of blind artist and champion runnerGeorge Mendoza by J.L. Powers

This book also explores the life of an artist who lives with what could have been a debilitating condition, going blind at a young age, but ends up becoming a world class runner and renowned artist. It’s an interesting story with good classroom potential to teach about resiliency, inclusion, and art.  I did find the writing somewhat abrupt, a little choppy with no sense of what the time line was for George’s life.

Middle School

The Snow Baby: the Arctic Childhood of Admiral Robert E. Peary’sdaring daughter by Katherine Kirkpatrick

Another fascinating look at an atypical childhood. We are introduced to Marie Ahnighito Peary, born in a shed in Greenland in 1893, the daughter of a naval office obsessed to become the first person to reach the North Pole. Marie and her mother were often willing participants of Peary’s expeditions (and there were many) that placed them far from Washington D.C. society and living in the high Arctic with sailors, explorers and local Inuit people. Marie was adventuresome and saw her father as a hero for trying to attain his goal. There are lots of photos of Marie, her family, the ships she sailed on and various locales that are mentioned in the text. The book has a lot of text which may put off younger or struggling readers but the story here is so interesting that it’s worth having in the classroom.

Flying Cars: the true story by Andrew Glass

“Is this for real?” asked my partner when he saw this book sitting on the coffee table at home. That’s exactly what I thought when I came across this one, too. I had no idea that so many attempts had been made by so many innovators to construct a vehicle that would allow a car to fly or a small aircraft to drive like a car.  Many configurations of areocars have been designed between the early 1900s and today. It’s a fascinating idea that sparks the imagination but within a heartbeat raises a myriad of questions about the challenges of just anyone flying/driving a vehicle. Nevertheless, a really cool idea.

Secondary

Garbology: our dirty love affair with trash by Edward Humes

Okay, I’m going to fess up that I haven’t read all of this one – yet. This is an interesting, well-written account of the practical and societal issues about garbage.  What drew my attention to this book was an article that came my way about Boise High School using this book to engage its student body with reading and sustainability issues. Check out the article to read more about this initiative or read about the school's objectives for this project here. I love the idea that this sort of enterprise can have such a big payout for both literacy and social change in a school setting. This is an interesting and informative read that really does impact all of us.

Coffee Table Book Roundup

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you’ll know how much I love coffee table books that have lots of oversized, glossy photographs.  I promote them in my workshops for student teachers, across the grades as a way to engage students. Whether a student is able to read the text of the book is less important in my mind than as a way to get a person interested in the topic.  If they’re keen enough maybe they’ll ask questions or even attempt to read the passages related to the pictures.

I’ve always been fascinated with macro photos. If this appeals to you too then you need to check out Hyper Nature by Philippe Martin.  The photographs are stunning. He’s developed a special technique making digital photos that brings the entire image into focus.   Blurry backgrounds and foregrounds are minimal and the creatures are in total focus.  This creates very sharp, almost 3-dimensional images.

His work is primarily of animals, insects and plants, found in their natural habitats around the world. Each photo tells us the common and Latin names of the living thing and details about how he achieved the photo including light conditions.  He does not always provide the location which is a minor quibble. I can’t say enough about the amazing, brilliant images in his book.

With spring about to get fully underway in Calgary, more and more bird life is becoming prevalent in our backyards and parks – at least for us in the northern climes. Life-size Birds: the big book of NorthAmerican birds by Nancy J. Hajeski, is one book to consult if you’re into bird watching and looking to hook a younger person.  With 95 birds featured including songbirds, raptors, gamebirds, waterbirds, among others we get to see and learn about them up close. This oversized book tries to show the birds on a 1:1 scale. For the smaller birds this is pretty easy.  We get to see hummingbirds, tits, warblers and wrens as they fly, feed, nest and care for their young. The larger birds such as the pileated woodpecker, bald eagle, vulture and larger owls are often depicted in part on the 1:1 scale to get a sense of size and also include other images on a 1:2 or 1:4 scale to see the entire bird.  All four sides of every page has a size gauge (in inches) to help with the sizing. Each entry also includes details about the bird's physiology, habitat and distribution. There are a few ‘features’ that focus on nest, eggs, birdsongs, bills, migration and threats to species. It’s a fascinating book that would be great in a math or science classroom teaching about measurement, scale, ratio and proportion.  I recommend this for grades 5 and up.

I should tell you right up front that I don’t get any kickbacks from National Geographic for recommending their books. I promote them all the time as they really know how to pull these kinds of books off.  Their explorers go to amazing places, often having adventures while taking remarkable photographs of their subjects of landscapes, people or animals.

First up are Ocean Soul by Brian Skerry and PristineSeas: journeys to the ocean’s last wild places by Enric Sala. Both of these books focus on the richness, wildness and beauty of the oceans of the world but Ocean Soul really looks at the wildlife that abounds and those that are under threat whereas

Pristine Seas showcases similar environments as ecological landscapes. Both give us what we love in these kinds of books; lots and lots of beautiful, informative images with well written commentary.

My last recommendation is Bear: spirit of the wild by Paul Nicklen.  This explorer must have nerves of steel and a big lens or two to get such close-up photographs of polar bears, grizzlies, black bears and spirit bears. There are shots of him only a few feet away from the bears as he makes his photos. Interspersed throughout the book are many contributors offering their personal perspectives about bears and their place in their environments. This book mixes pleasure viewing the images and informative, personal narratives. The outstanding kind of picture book in my opinion and one that anyone can enjoy.

More divergent thinking

Most of you will know how excited I get with books that offer a different spin on their topics or in how they present their material aka divergent thinking. I facilitated a workshop last October with students about the range of resources available, different types found in fiction and nonfiction and with their assistance created a Pinterest board listing some of their recommendations for books with divergent thinking characteristics. (See also blog from October.)

So today I’m recommending two more books that I think also showcase qualities of divergent thinking.

First up is I’m Trying to Love Spiders by Bethany Barton. No super surprising twist about the topic in this book.  Yup, it’s about spiders. As the author explains she’s trying very, very, very hard to learn to ‘love’ them which is hard work and taking a toll on the spider population. But by learning more about spiders, their characteristics and what they’re good at (mostly eating lots of other insects) the author does eventually come to better appreciate them.  Next up, learning to love cockroaches.

Both the illustrations and font type-face add to the book’s humour. Unless you’re already comfortable around spiders the book is easy to relate to. I, too, can appreciate qualities of spiders but its best if they stay out in the garden. I will try the catch-and-release approach to those that do take up residence in the house but once they reach a size of large proportions (Yes, I’m thinking of you dearly departed ginormous cane spider in Hawaii) I just kind of lose it.

So we have information, humour, and relatability to draw us in and engage our interest.  I’d recommend this for early elementary grades and see it tying in to the Alberta Education science curriculum for grade 2.

A Nest is Noisy by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long is my next recommendation.

This is part of a series that I think is brilliant. Here are the other titles:

An Egg is Quiet

A Butterfly is Patient

A Rock is Lively

A Seed in Sleepy

All of these take a phenomenon from nature and give it an attribute you wouldn’t necessarily connect to that particular natural occurrence. I particularly like A Rock is Lively as you don’t think about a rock as being all that lively – for most of us they’re pretty static. Check out the book to find out more.  And what a great activity to have students model their own work by matching atypical attributes to nature’s wonders.

In A Nest is Noisy we’re introduced (or reminded) about various animals who build nests, mostly egg laying creatures such as birds, fish, and insects but also prairie dogs, primates and squirrels who do not lay eggs. So how are nests noisy? They’re filled with the busy-ness and the getting-on-with of life of rearing the young. The range of construction materials is fascinating including everything from typical twigs, leaves and grasses to mud, bubbles, and saliva. Army ants use their own bodies to create bivouacs or ‘living nests’.  Besides trees, nests are found in water, underground, in sand and shallow, rocky streambeds. The illustrations are beautifully rendered in watercolour with lots of attention to detail but typically displayed on single coloured backgrounds to highlight the nests and animals.

I recommend all of Aston's and Long's books across the elementary level in science (animals, building materials, sound), language arts and art.

Coffee table books round up

Even though I haven’t been blogging very much in the past few weeks rest assured that I’m always busy reading or at least looking at books with lots of pictures.

Thus today’s topic – coffee table picture books.

I’m a big proponent of these books as the best of them are typically, beautifully produced, informative and often give us mini-narratives about the photographer’s work, adventures and views on a given topic.

Let’s start with Dawn to Dark Photographs: the Magic of Light by National Geographic.  I can’t think of a single National Geographic book that has ever disappointed me.  Always stunningly beautiful photographs arrayed in thoughtfully produced books.

In Dawn to Dark Photographs, the photographs are sorted into eight sections based on time of day starting with dawn, then into sunrise, morning, midday, afternoon, sunset, twilight and then night.  Most of the photos are of landscapes and specific natural phenomena with a few showing people or animals.  In terms of classroom use, I was thinking about the obvious connections with the elementary science units about light and shadows, time, animals, as well as with photography as an art form for any level.  What I hadn't thought about was the meditative quality of the book.  Jim Richardson in the preface reminds us that photographs can resemble medieval meditations (think illuminated texts like the Book of Hours) as we pause to look and reflect on “the miracle of light and appreciate its infinite and astonishing variety”.  Every few pages we get a short passage written by the photographers about their picture: what they saw and experienced and maybe tried to capture in their image.  Or we are given a short poem, quote or thought that ties into the adjacent photo. 

India: In Word & Image by Eric Meola obviously connects to the grade 3 social studies curriculum which looks at life in India.  What totally blew me away was the overwhelming sense of colour.  Even before getting to the title page our eyes are bombarded with achingly vibrant colours.  Besides being richly coloured, the photographs capture the exotic and textured landscapes and architecture of India.  Images of people are captured individually or in groups in moments of celebration and everyday activities.  I’m not sure if it’s just me being caught up with the myriad of patterns and colours of saris or the photographer’s keen interest, as many of the pictures depict sari-clad women.

The photographs are anchored between passages, often selections taken from novels, written by authors who are Indian, of Indian descent, or who write about India.  The passages are appropriate for high school level and up but the pictures will engross any age.

And, finally I’m recommending Relics: Travels in Nature’s Time Machine by Piotr Naskrecki. This one has more text than the other two making it appropriate for high school reading level and up or perhaps for students who are super keen on palaeontology and willing to make the effort.  I didn't find the information difficult to digest; it just seemed a little dense and might be intimidating to less-than-proficient readers.  However, Naskrecki does include lots of vignettes of his adventures, which read like little mini-stories and he certainly conveys his passion and excitement.

But it's the great pictures that will get students into the book.

This entomologist is also a fantastic photographer who travels the world looking for animal and plant relics found in nature.  “Living fossils”, relicts and relics all refer to those species of plants and animals that can be linked to similar organisms in the fossil record.  These are modern plants and animals that can provide insight into genetics, habitats, adaptations and behaviours of ancient species.  Some of these include horseshoe crabs, legless lizards, various tree frogs, toads, caterpillars, ferns and fern-ish looking trees known as cycads, magnolias and so many more.

One critter of particular interest is found in the Rocky Mountains close to Calgary.  Ice crawlers are insects that live in ice caves or on northern talus slopes up to about 3,000 meters, who like it cold but not too cold (0 to -9 degrees Celsius).  You can kill an ice crawler by merely touching it because of our warm body temperatures. Very cool little critters.  Again and again, I flip through pages and see yet another fascinating animal and another and another…

Classroom connections again would lean to environmental science, art and language arts.

Scientific thinking

Far From Shore: Chronicles of anOpen Ocean Voyage by Sophie Webb is a detailed and quiet account of four months spent on a research ocean vessel collecting data about various marine animals (from plankton, various species of fish and tuna, dolphins and whales to sea birds).  The data collected will eventually be studied for many reasons but the primary purpose is to see whether populations of dolphins affected by purse-seine fishing have started to recover.

This four month journal certainly give us a good idea what it’s like to be a marine biologist/naturalist involved in such a research project.  Besides enjoying the beautiful water and wildlife, there are immense stretches of tedium, little privacy and down time from work (except when it storms or the ship stops for supplies at various ports).  Detailed descriptions of the ship’s layout and explanations of nautical and scientific terms are also included.

The author’s illustrations (completed while onboard) also give us visuals to show us what she sees as well as what she imagines. For example, the marine life that is below water is displayed to give us a sense of life at great depths, such as a sperm whale chasing squid or what  mixed school of tuna dolphins look like.

Geographic coordinates, scientific equipment, maps, charts and labelling of animal species all contribute to make this a good science book for middle grades.  Not a lot of excitement and drama to capture a student’s attention, but full of good information book about the nature of research on the open ocean.

Recommended. 

Can you ever have too much squid?

I recently mentioned that I had been very busy doing lots of workshops for student-teachers about using resources in classrooms.  This year, a few instructors and I came up with a new spin on how to introduce the diverse range of resources available to them from the Doucette Library, but within a meaningful context.  I've found that book-talking or waving wonderful kits at students, though fun, isn't very effective.  They don’t remember what they've seen or they make lists of stuff that they’ll never look at again.

But, pulling bunches of stuff (aka “packages” of juvenile fiction and nonfiction, kits, posters, teaching resources) together centred around an idea like sound, nutrition or the question, ‘What is art?’ and then letting students play and explore the resources seems to produce a more thoughtful experience.  Questions about the resources and follow-up discussion get them thinking about how these resources can be used in their teaching, what the resources add to the unit,  and if are they worthwhile.  Plus, the hands-on approach for the students is way more engaging.

One of the ‘packages’ I pulled together that kind of surprised me but totally sucked me in, was centred on marine life, specifically the giant squid.  Since Alberta is a prairie province, studying the ocean is not part of the curriculum.  But this fascinating, creepy, slightly repulsive, creature is too good to pass up, if the opportunity should arise.  You never know where the interests of your students will go, right?

During the last few months I've come across pieces in the news and other odd bits of information about these captivating creatures.  I've always been taken with the image of the giant squid’s eye from Steve Jenkins, ActualSize which shows the ‘actual size’ of the eye.  It. Is. Big. : about 25 cm. (10 in.) in diameter. Showing this illustration in a workshop always gets a response from students.

Another book by Lola Schaeferth, Just One Bite: 11 Animals and Their Bites at Life Size, includes a four page spread that shows the jaws of a sperm whale clamping down on a giant squid, its favourite food. Awesome!

Then a recommendation from another blog prompted me to order Giant Squid: Searching for a Sea Monsterby Mary Cerullo and Clyde Roper (594.58 CeG 2012).  I gobbled this book up.  It briefly covers historical references to this fairly unknown creature that tantalize us into wanting to know more.  Scientific knowledge about the giant squid is still relatively new since they live in the deepest regions of the oceans and most information has been derived from dead specimens.  Scientists have been pulling together slivers of evidence for decades as if trying to solve an intriguing cold case.  There are lots of photographs interspersed between blocks of information.

But wait! There’s more! HereThere Be Monsters: the Legendary Kraken and the Giant Squid by H.P. Newquist (594.58 NeH 2010) was already in the Doucette Library’s collection.  This book is a lot denser in text formatting and information primarily about the colossal squid (14m or 45 ft long) and the giant squid (estimated to grow up to 13m or 43 ft long).  Many of the illustrations are the same as in Giant Squid.  I found this one a more thorough but slower read.  

I recommend both books but think the first book will appeal to younger kids and struggling readers more.

To fill out the package for the workshop, I included,

 Down Down Down by Steve Jenkins,

The Deep by Claire Nouvian,

 The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea by Helaine Becker,

 Oceanology: the True Account of theVoyage of the Nautilus by Zoticus de Lesseps, 1863 by Emily Hawkins,

Ocean in a box kit: 20 driedspecimens for classroom study,

a specimen of an octopus encased in a plastic block for comparison, and

a replica of a toothfrom a sperm whale.

There were many more books that I could have supplemented this topic with.

And, I did order a replica of a giant squid beak for next time, so there’ll be one more resource to “oooo” and “ahhh” over. 

I love doing these kinds of workshops.  They present options for our student teachers and resources that they are often unaware of.  The accessibility of the internet has made unit/lesson planning an interesting endeavor that can be too easily padded out with multiple websites of varying quality.  Don’t get me wrong.  I, too, am out there looking for information on the net (see Ocean Portal from the Smithsonian about the giant squid, if you’re really keen) but I'm still in the camp that kids need real ‘stuff’ and books to touch and handle.  I'm here to remind our upcoming-teachers-to-be about that very thing.

Like Gobies and Groupers

Coral Reefs by Jason Chin (577.789 ChC 2011 PIC BK) is a fantastic introduction to the varied and extraordinary creatures that form coral reefs and the animals that depend on them.

The text is all about the facts – how reefs form, what is coral, the importance of coral reef systems, and the relationship between plants and animals that live within this habitat.  Like I said, the facts.

The illustrations, though, take us on an adventure story. A girl pulls this book off a library shelf, delving into the world of reefs. Slowly, as she reads, the ocean and its creatures surround and submerge her into the watery environment (don’t worry about breathing problems).  The colour, shapes and textures of the different corals are very well displayed. We see parrot fish eating coral and then see sharks that eat the parrot fish.  The diversity of fish that live within reef systems is often shown, while the text only picks out a couple of specific species to illustrate the relationship between the fish and the reef.

As the book comes to an end, the above-world slowly begins to rematerialize, until eventually a soggy but contented reader shares her book with her friends.

A concise “afterwards” explains how coral reefs are under threat and how we can help protect them.  The author also provides very brief additional information about the relationship between coral and the algae living inside them, as well as a short bibliography.

Since this book is all about partnerships, relationships and interdependence within an ecosystem, I would extend my recommendation to another book, as well.

Reef by ScubaZoo (577.789 Re 2007) is a beautiful coffee-table book that really draws readers into the world of the coral reef.  Tons of gorgeous close-ups of corals, fish and plants will engage readers of all ages.  This book is not to be missed if you’re doing a unit about reefs, oceans, ecology, habitats, or environmental issues.

So, like the symbiotic relationship of gobies and groupers, these two books will enchant, inform and entertain students.  Chin’s will work best with students in elementary grades and the coffee-table book will work with anyone.

Today is Nonfiction Monday hosted at Shelf-Employed.  Check out this week's round-up of nonfiction children's literature.

“The pine was lonely. But it did not know it.”

The Lonely Pine by Aaron Frisch (577.586 FrL 2011 PIC BK) is a lyrical look at a pine tree growing in the far north, past the tree line.  Conditions are very harsh. Trees typically do not grow past a certain latitude or elevation due to extreme cold, lack of moisture, exposure to wind or poor soil conditions. This poem becomes a tribute then to this exception that manages to survive.

So, The Lonely Pine pays homage to a lone tree that,

...had grown where it should not.

The air was too bitter.

The ground too solid.  Earth’s crown too close.

And yet, there it stood.

Month by month we are given a snapshot as to what this little tree endures, like January’s winds that throw “daggers of ice”, March’s cold “that made its limbs creak and needles jangle” or July’s sun that “finally showed its full face”. 

We read that “the pine could only live.  Live and watch and listen and feel.”  So we too watch the polar bears, foxes, and migratory birds that inhabit the north, listen to the buzz of insects, and feel the earth tremble as herds of muskox pass.

Much of the information is conveyed through the illustrations (by Etienne Delessert) which depict the animals or conditions that may or may not be mentioned in the text.  Some of the illustrations are a little too stylized for my taste and I had difficulty discerning what animal was shown in the month of July (maybe a wolf?).

Overall, I liked the book and would recommend it for the grade 6 science unit (in Alberta) about trees that asks students to learn about the importance and interactions of organisms and trees within specific habitats. Could provide a starting point for research about this topic.

I could also see this book used in higher grades in language arts as a good example of poetic use of language.  I love the last line, which is also the title of today’s blog.  It’s a testament to unacknowledged endurance and resilience.

Cause and effect

The Chiru of High Tibet: a true story by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (599.646 MaC 2010 PIC BK) provides an intriguing story about the reclusive and now threatened (very nearly endangered) tiny antelope-like chiru that reside in the Tibetan mountains.

In addition to learning about the animal and its habitat, we are taken along on a true life adventure as wildlife biologist/conservationist, George Schaller studies and strives to protect the chiru. But protecting the chiru is no easy task. He thinks that if he can determine where the calving grounds are, he will be able to petition the Chinese government to protect the area from hunters and, protect the shrinking chiru population. But the shear ruggedness and extreme weather make this a difficult task. Four other men, Conrad Anker, Rick Ridgeway, Galen Rowell and Jimmy Chan, take up Schaller’s mission and after incredible hardship, pulling all their supplies in heavily laden, two-wheeled carts through rough terrain do discover this secret location. (Check out this video clip to see what the carts looked like and some of the conditions the four men had to endure.)

So why are the chiru almost endangered? Namely, for shahtoosh, shawls made from the warmest and finest wool in the world that can only be collected from a dead chiru. They can't be sheared like sheep because without their coats the extreme cold would kill them, and they do not survive in captivity. Apparently, the highly prized shawls (sold for thousands of dollars) are the equivalent of three to five dead chiru (p. 18). This is another example of consumers in the West are driving illegal activities that are determental to animal populations.

The illustrations are beautifully rendered with an emphasis on cool colours that are evocative of the high altitude of Tibet’s plateaus. There are two pages of photographs that give us a glimpse of the landscape and what a chiru looks like, and a short bibliography at the back of the book.

This will be a great book to bring into elementary classrooms to illustrate effects of globalization, the impact humans can have on animal populations, consumerism, and illegal trafficking of animal parts, in addition to learning about a unique animal in an exotic place.

Today is Nonfiction Monday.  Pop by A Curious Thing to see other blogs reviewing nonfiction children's literature.

Interesting patterns

Before & after: a book of nature timescapes by Jan Thornhill (577.5 ThB 2005 PIC BK) is an interesting resource if you’re looking for an unusual science book that combines measures of time, observation skills, and nature.

The author has selected seven types of environments from different parts of the world (coral reef, savannah, Australian forest, tropical rainforest, wetland, meadow, and school yard) and shows how each changes with varying shifts in time. 

For example, the first set of pages shows a brightly coloured and highly detailed ‘snapshot’ of a coral reef.  There are many species of tropical fish, various types of coral, starfish, octopus, sea urchin, etc.  This is the ‘before’ shot.  Turn the page and we see what the same location would look like ‘after’ a few seconds.  Pretty much everything has moved except the coral, as you would expect. 

A little further on in the book, we look at a wetland at dusk.  Again, many animals, birds, insects, reptiles, fish, plants, etc. are depicted going about their lives as night is about to fall.  Turn the page and the scene is an hour later.  We see a pair of moose and group of raccoons that had not been visible in the preceding illustration and the heron that had been predominant in the ‘before’ illustration is now gone.

The last set of illustrations show a schoolyard that is about to undergo a transformation from barren yard to a vegetable-producing, bird-attracting, insect-laden garden as cultivated over the span of a year.

Each duo of pages is framed with the creatures that are, or will be, in attendance in the next set of pages, providing kids the opportunity to identity the wildlife and see what changes occur over a specific period of time.

Though young children ages 5 and 6 will enjoy looking at illustrations, I think kids even up to grade 5 will take pleasure in identifying changes between ‘before’ and ‘after’ in these timescapes.

Today is Nonfiction Monday hosted at Wrapped In Foil.  This is a weekly roundup of children's literature that is focused on nonfiction children's literature.  Well worth a look.  

Fur, feathers and fins

The Doucette Library seems to be having a run on new animal books lately.  I’m enjoying many of them, as most have gorgeous photographs or illustrations to entice and keep my interest.

Here are a few highlights:

Anything by National Geographic is always a safe bet, especially when it comes to photographs.  I was especially captivated with Great Migrations : official companion to the NGC global television event by K.M. Kostyal (591.568 KoG 2010).  Having caught just one episode on TV, I enjoyed browsing through this one and having another visit with the red crabs on Christmas Island, Monarch butterflies in Mexico and wildebeests in Africa.  I was further induced to read more about the migrations of sperm whales and elephants.  I loved the pictures of the Golden jellyfish, too.  For high school to adult.

The Doucette Library also picked up the kids’ version of this title: Great Migrations: whales, wildebeests, butterflies, elephants and other amazing animals on the move by Elizabeth Carney (591.568 CaG 2010).  This covers the same animals with less emphasis on text.  Information is presented in very concise blocks.  I did find the varying font sizes and colours on each page a little distracting but I’m not too sure whether kids would pick up on this or not. Again, the photographs can’t be beaten.  Suggested for ages 5-9.

One last offering by National Geographic is the Wild Animals Atlas: Earth’s astonishing animals and where they live (590 Wi 2010).  Organized by continent, the selection of animals is pretty typical of each area (i.e. Giant pandas in Asia, lions and hippos in Africa, grizzly bears and bison in North America, etc.) with information about habitat and range displayed on introductory maps.  Then there’s more detailed information on a select ‘spotlight’ animal as well as a ‘spotlight’ feature about a specific ecosystem such as the Amazon rainforest.  Far from comprehensive, I think it would be best used as an introduction, to pique interest and present information about well known animals in a geographical way.  Best for young readers, ages 5-9.

I love books that can show me the ‘actual’ size of animals (see Actual Size by Steve Jenkins). Life-size Aquarium by Teruyuki Komiya (591.77 MaL 2010 PIC BK) takes us to a zoo-type aquarium to see a variety of sea animals ranging from sea horses, penguins, dolphins to various tropical fish and Japanese spider crabs, to name a few.  The best pages are the fold-outs which show just how huge the colourful, Humphead wrasse is (it can grow up to 8 feet long!!), a close-up on the mouth of an Orca whale and the length of a walrus’ tusks.  Questions and basic facts are included as well.   The pictures will appeal to young children (ages 4-8) but they will need help with the text which is suited to older kids (maybe up to 10 or so).

My last recommendation is Orangutans Are Ticklish: fun facts from an animal photographer by Steve Grubman.  This one had been recommended on a couple of other blogs that I follow and sounded intriguing.  I especially like it for the perspective shared by the photographer as he works with each animal.  Again, the selection of animals (hippo, aardvark, kangaroo, grizzly bear, lion, etc.) are pretty typical, to appeal to young kids (ages 3 to 8).  The best feature is the simple yet creatively arranged photographs of each animal.  Check out the photos of the orangutan – it looks as if she’s dancing. The photographer does suggest that they were dancing as he took his shots.  You will learn a few basic things about each featured animal and enjoy it very much, while doing so.

Gross or Engrossing

I was recently helping one of our undergraduate students pull resources for a unit about the nutrient cycle.  My first thought, “Oh boy! How are we going to make that interesting?”  I knew the library didn’t have anything new about this topic specifically.

 

 Sometimes, I jump a little too quickly to the wrong conclusion.  As it turns out, the unit was a hit with her grade 6 students.  She taught the cycle showing the interconnectedness of the individual components (water, air, decomposition, plant growth, minerals, etc.), reinforcing the concept with a game that emphasized this never-ending cycle.  To emphasize the importance of decomposition, the unit was wrapped up with the book, What rot! : nature’s mighty recycler by Elizabeth Ring (571.939 RiW 1996), read aloud to the class to spark questions and discussion. This fairly short book, besides describing the process of decomposition, includes lots of great photographs with close-ups of worms, insects, and bacteria breaking down organic matter. A little ‘gross’ (according to a couple of the grade 6 students), but fascinating at the same time. 

I love that the student-teacher used a non-fiction book as a read-aloud to grade 6 kids.  I love that the gross bits of the book worked at succeeded in getting the kids talking.

Next, I’ll keep my eyes open for newer resources about the nutrient cycle.  Any recommendations?
Join Nonfiction Monday Roundup at In Need of Chocolate to see a list of recent blogs dedicated to highlighting nonfiction resources.