| Variation and Adaptation |
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Blue Whales and Buttercups invites students to consider
the diversity of life on Earth. The photographs and informative
captions in the book show many examples of ways in which
organisms are different; the text explains that living things
can differ in size, how they move, and how they protect
themselves. At the same time, living things also share many
characteristics, and these similarities help scientists classify
organisms into groups. The book provides context for the unit
through a virtual tour of some of the amazing living things
on Earth. It provides many examples of characteristics for
students to draw upon in order to understand that living things
are different in many ways and the same in others. |
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The Code introduces students to the science of genetics
in an accessible way. The book explains that individual
characteristics are the result of the combined DNA “code”
that people get from their birth parents. The book discusses
the difference between inherited and acquired characteristics,
providing several familiar examples. One example is that
of identical twins who have the same genetic code but are
distinguishable because of their different life experiences.
The theme of variation and relatedness is extended
throughout this book as students consider what characteristics
all humans have and which characteristics make each of us
unique. This book provides students with important science
information about cells and genes that is hard to observe
firsthand in the classroom. |
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Mystery Mouths introduces students to the concept of
adaptations by providing them with the opportunity to
examine the characteristics of various animal mouths. First
the students are shown a mouth and asked to examine it.
They then turn the page and learn what kind of animal has
such a mouth, and what these mouth adaptations allow the
animal to do. The students also examine skulls and animals
with similar mouth structures and compare how they are
similar and different. The structure of this book makes it
an ideal text for students to practice and use the science
and comprehension skills they’ve been learning thus far—
examining the visual evidence offered by the skulls in the
book and making inferences based on this evidence. |
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Evidence from the Past introduces students to the work
of the Argentinean paleontologist Rodolfo Coria. By reading
about Professor Coria and his work, students get a glimpse of
what an actual paleontologist does and how paleontologists
use evidence to make inferences that help to explain how
species lived long ago. The book follows Coria as he makes a
series of discoveries about two important dinosaurs found in
Argentina. It focuses on Coria’s evidence collecting through
his fossil discoveries and the scientific explanations he
constructs along the way as he reviews his evidence and
revises his explanations based on new fossil evidence he finds.
This book models both the nature and practices of science
through following Professor Coria and his work. |
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| Digestion and Body Systems |
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| Systems develops the concept of systems through an analysis of parts that interact to create a whole. Photographs, diagrams, and tables convey the structure and function of a bicycle wheel and a bicycle. The book illustrates how parts work together—a bicycle is a collection of interacting parts including a seat, handlebars, a frame, a chain, pedals, and wheels. It shows how you can change a bicycle system so it works differently and you can change a bicycle system in ways that cause it not to work. The book goes on to discuss systems more broadly—the human body, a dishwasher, the Solar System. Triangle diagrams are used to show how different systems work together to form larger systems. This book helps students understand an important scientific concept and apply it in a variety of situations. |
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| Secrets of the Stomach describes the work of three scientists who investigated how the stomach digests food. It outlines how each of them found evidence that added to the scientific community’s understanding of digestion. By reading this book, students learn that scientists base their explanations on evidence and that the best explanations are those that take into account all of the evidence. After looking at several explanations, students learn that acid juices in the stomach aid in the digestion of food. This book models how to make explanations based on evidence and how to revise explanations when new evidence is discovered. |
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Voyage of a Cracker follows the path a cracker takes as it is
eaten and travels through the digestive system. Each page spread includes a real photograph that was taken inside the body, as well as a diagram indicating the part’s position in the body. As the students read the description of where the cracker has traveled, they are prompted to make inferences about which digestive organ is being described. This book provides images and context to deepen students’ understanding of a system that is largely unseen and helps to summarize what they have learned. |
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Handbook of Body Systems is a reference book with a section
about each of the six most important systems in the body: the
circulatory, digestive, musculo-skeletal, nervous, renal, and
respiratory systems. Each section tells about the function and
main parts of the system and briefly describes how the system
works. Common problems that can occur within or between each
system’s organs are also mentioned. Students use the book to
learn basic information about several body systems. |
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| What’s the Diagnosis? tells about Elaine Davenport, a real doctor who specializes in pediatric medicine. The book’s introduction describes how an important part of Dr. Davenport’s job is making diagnoses when patients are sick. The book presents two fictional accounts that are based on Dr. Davenport’s real experiences. In the first scenario, Dr. Davenport makes a diagnosis of the cause of a boy’s sore throat. As Dr. Davenport gathers evidence for the diagnosis, students learn the process involved in making a diagnosis. The second scenario introduces a patient who has an upset stomach. Students learn how to use the evidence collected by Dr. Davenport to make their own diagnosis of this patient. |
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| Weather and Water |
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Tornado! A Meteorologist and Her Prediction tells the story of
a weather scientist, Lynn Burse. Students read about how Burse
gathers evidence that helps her predict when a tornado is coming. They learn that meteorologists take measurements, including wind speed and temperature, and use weather balloons to take measurements high above the ground. The book includes examples of weather data displayed in different ways, such as a table and a map. This book supports students in making connections between their own weather data collection in the classroom and what scientists in the field do to help society. |
Coming soon! |
Go with the Flow: Making Models of Streams is a book
about Chris Cianfrani, a hydrologist who studies the movement,
distribution and quality of water on Earth. The book pays special
attention to the models Cianfrani makes in order to understand
the water that she studies. Both physical and computer models
are introduced as tools that Cianfrani uses in her work. The book
emphasizes the important concept that models are very useful for making predictions and helping to understand how something
works, but that they cannot show everything. |
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In Falling Through the Atmosphere students are introduced
to Captain Joseph Kittinger, the only person to have “fallen”
almost 20 miles through the atmosphere to land on Earth.
Students first follow his ascent in a balloon, and learn about
what the temperature was like, as well as the things he saw
and experienced as he rose in the air. Next, students follow his
descent down through the atmosphere. This book helps students
visualize what our atmosphere is like, and provides a window into Kittinger’s unique experience. |
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| Sky Notebook is set in the Colorado mountains where storms move through on a regular basis during the winter. The narrator is a scientist and an amateur meteorologist who takes measurements and keeps detailed notes about the weather each day in his “Sky Notebook.” Beautiful photographs illustrate what the narrator is seeing each day as he takes measurements and writes notes, so the storms that pass through can be experienced visually as well as through the data and description that is provided. This book serves to model what students could do if they, too, wanted to track their own weather with a sky notebook. It also offers a second-hand data experience by giving students a chance to make predictions and inferences from the data that is included in the book. |
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The Weather Encyclopedia is a collection of interesting
information about a variety of weather topics. From atmosphere
to wind, this encyclopedia contains 27 major topics, describing
types of weather and related subjects, such as meteorology
(and meteorologists), the water cycle, humidity, condensation,
evaporation, weather maps, and more. Careful attention has been given to the text features in this reference book, so students can become familiar with a number of important ones (Index, Table of Contents, headings, specialized vocabulary, etc.) and learn how to use them strategically. |
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The Wet Weather Handbook is a reference book about eight
different kinds of wet weather. The book presents the following
information about each type of weather: what it is and how it
forms, a United States map showing weather patterns, a focus on a surprising detail about the type of weather, and a severe example of that weather. Careful attention has been given to the text features in this book, so students can become familiar with a number of important ones (Index, Table of Contents, headings, maps, etc.) and learn how to use them strategically. |
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The book Water in the Desert examines water in an unlikely
place—a hot, dry desert in North America. As students learn how
a small amount of water in the desert changes phases throughout a typical day, they also see how the organisms in this environment have to live in special ways in order to survive. This book gives students the opportunity to experience phase change, particularly evaporation and condensation, in the context of a real-world ecosystem. |
Coming soon! |
What’s Going on With the Weather? is a fictional story describing the weather observations and investigations that a young girl named Toby makes as she moves from Boston to San Francisco one summer. As soon as she begins her new life in San Francisco, Toby notices that the weather is quite different from the summer weather she left behind in Boston. She begins with questions about why this is so, and ends up learning a great deal about the weather patterns in both San Francisco and Boston. This book models a realistic investigation that a student
might undertake. In the Weather and Water unit, Toby’s investigations serve to model an actual investigation students will do in subsequent sessions. |
Coming soon! |
| Drinking Cleopatra’s Tears is a book about the water cycle. The book uses humorous and interesting examples of how water on Earth is recycled over time. It emphasizes the point that water is continuously recycled on Earth through the water cycle. Diagrams in the book highlight the different phase changes (evaporation, melting, condensation, freezing) that water goes through as it travels around the Earth and in the atmosphere. This book helps students review and apply their growing knowledge of the water cycle, and adds an important dimension to their understanding—that water on Earth is not lost over time. |
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Light Energy |
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| Can You See in the Dark? invites students to wonder about whether or not people need light to see. The book details a search for a completely dark place, following the narrator from a movie theater to a closet to a dark campsite, finally ending in a cave where there truly is no light at all. This book introduces the idea that all light comes from a source, and that light is necessary for us to see. The book enables students to identify many different sources of light through its text and illustrations. Can You See in the Dark? provides an intriguing invitation to the Light Energy unit and poses a question that students will return to many times as they learn more about light and how people see. |
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| The Speed of Light communicates that light travels and that it is the fastest thing in the Universe. The book compares the speed of light to other extremely fast things, such as a jet, a rocket ship, and sound. Data about these comparisons are presented in tables, as well as through descriptive examples that suggest what would happen if light were in a race with such competitors as the fastest human, the fastest animal, and the fastest car on earth. Through examples like these, The Speed of Light helps students understand how fast light travels—something that is impossible for them to observe firsthand. |
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| Why Do Scientists Disagree? is a book with two distinct but related threads. On the right-hand pages, students read about the ways scientists use evidence, make explanations, and debate their ideas to move the field forward. Science is defined as a community enterprise in which explanations are based on evidence and there is discussion about that evidence. On the left-hand pages, these ideas are exemplified in the story of the scientist Galileo and how his observations of the Moon changed people’s ideas about light. This book helps students to see that disagreement is an important and positive stage of scientific discussion that often leads to new understandings and eventual agreement. |
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I See What You Mean explains the relationship between reflection and vision. It is an extended dialogue between two people who are trying to figure out how light is involved when they see a peach. As they question each other and add more to their description of how people see, they explain more of the process involved in sight. Over the course of the book, students learn that light comes from a source, bounces off objects, even non-shiny ones, and travels to our eyes. Detailed illustrations and ray diagrams support the text and show the path of light
in each scenario. This book supports firsthand investigations with critical information that is not easily observed and directly addresses the misconception that only shiny materials reflect light. |
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| The Handbook of Light Interactions presents real data on how various materials interact with light. The investigation on which the book is based took place in a dark room with a flashlight as the only source of light. The resulting data is organized into tables by type of material, showing how much light each material absorbed, reflected, and transmitted. By comparing their observations with data in the book, students can draw more accurate conclusions about how light interacts with various materials. This book supports students’ firsthand investigations by providing additional information that they need to answer important questions about light interactions. It also provides quantitative data for them to interpret. |
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| Light Strikes! shows light interactions in real-life situations. Students are invited to look at ordinary scenes and observe how light is interacting with materials, sometimes in unexpected ways. The book reinforces concepts about reflection, absorption, and transmission. It helps students make connections between the science they are learning and their everyday lives, and to be aware of the role light is playing when they see shadows on a wall, notice reflections in a window, or put on their favorite pair of sunglasses. |
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Cameras, Eyes, and Glasses is about three important things
that use lenses to refract light. The book explains what lenses
are and what they do, then describes the lenses in cameras, eyes, and eyeglasses. Photographs and ray diagrams help students understand how the lenses work. The book also includes suggestions for simple activities readers can do to observe refraction in action. It reinforces and extends students’ firsthand investigations by providing examples of refraction in use in the world. |
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| It’s All Energy explains that energy makes things happen all around us, all the time. The book highlights the many different forms of energy we use every day—to move, talk, cook, create music, light or heat. Students learn about light, sound, electrical, thermal, and motion energy through familiar examples. They also learn that energy can be transformed from one form into another. |
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Sunlight and Showers introduces readers to Dr. Ashok Gadgil, a scientist who uses his scientific knowledge to address real-world problems. Dr. Gadgil’s students work together as a team to design a solar water heater for use in Guatemala. The book describes various ways the young scientists solve the design problem—working as a team, investigating the issues and
gathering data, and designing and testing a solution. The book demonstrates that solar energy is useful as an alternative source of energy and models the nature of science by providing a compelling example of scientists solving real problems for real people. |
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| Go to: 2nd/3rd Grade Books or 4th/5th Grade Books (coming soon) |
