Between the By-Road and the Main Road: science

Showing posts with label science. Show all posts

Saturday, June 9, 2018

Book Resources

I am in the process of designing four units of study with a group of public school teachers who work in the Bronx. One question I am asked (and was asked) is: How do you find so many great books? I decided to put together a response that they and you can access of resources and book companies I often use.

Websites for Reviews of Children's Books

Favorite Independent Book Publishers of Children's Literature

Annick Press: Annick Press publishing children’s book for ages 6 months to young adult. They are “committed to publishing Canadian authors. You can find submission guidelines on their site. I have bought The Streets are Free and When I Was Eight. Both titles I would recommend.
Arte Público Press and Piñata Books - Two picture books from Piñata Books I recently bought, Agua, Agüita / Water, Little Water and Adelita and the Veggie Cousins / Adelita y las primas verduritas. I have bought lots of books from Piñata over the years.
Barefoot Books: This publishing house was begun by two moms. They are very conscious of sustainability. I just bought The Barefoot Book of Children and La Frontera: Mi viaje con papá / My Journey with Papa ( a must read!).
Bharat Babies A new publisher for me. They publish books about India (culture/religion).
Boyds Mills Press Every time I go to their site I find a book I want. Just saw, Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop.
Chronicle Books The masthead to their site reads, "see things differently." I think that summarizes well the books they produce. They do help me to see the world differently. Brendan Wenzel's Hello Hello is stunning.
Cinco Puntos Press Last purchase was All Around Us. I’m still puzzling over it—a good thing. I have purchased from them for a good amount of time.
Enchanted Lion Books I like everything about this book publisher. I love their books. Their site is under construction. This is A Poem that Heals Fish was great. I think they publish some of the finest children’s books. Visually amazing books.
Fifth House They are a bilingual publishing house often producing books in English/Cree. Dragonfly Kites is my latest purchase.
Fitzhenry & Whiteside: I have been buying their books for at least a decade. Cathryn Sill's About Birds remains a favorite.
Groundwood Books/House of Anansi. This is one of my very favorite publishers of children's books. The quality of illustration, story, and diversity is stellar. I recently bought A FAMILY IS A FAMILY IS A FAMILY, THE TRIUMPHANT TALE OF THE HOUSE SPARROW, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GARDEN, THEY SAY BLUE, and THE FUNERAL. I'd recommend all of these highly. Their books make me think.
Just World Books I came across them when I purchased Gaza Writes Back, which I would recommend. Highly political press.
Kids Can Press - I enjoy the books they publish and use a lot of titles in the curriculum I design. Last purchase was WILD BUILDINGS AND BRIDGES.
Lee & Low Books: My go-to publishers. I have been buying their books for years. The quality, range and diversity are exceptional.
Magination Press (APA): Appreciate the healthy picture books they produce without getting too preachy. Latest purchase, When You Look Out the Window: How Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin Built a Community.
Orca Book Publishers If I remember right it was my search for Julie Flett books that first led me to Orca Book Publishers. They have quirky titles that fill in collection well. City Kids is a favorite.
Pajama Press - They published recently one of my favorite books, My Beautiful Birds. They are new to me.
Shen Books Now an imprint for Lee & Low. Their Cinderella stories are outstanding.
Tara Books Their books are not ordinary. I like to browse these books as they are artful. For example, the fold out book - A VILLAGE IS A BUSY PLACE! is a great example of form and content mixing.
Tilbury House I am never disappointed with purchases of their published books. They are always stunning, artful, compelling works. Rogério Coelho's Boat of Dreams is one example. Wow.
Tradewind Books I love Julie Flett's books (authored and illustrated) and purchase all her books. Last purchase, A Day with Yayah. This has become one of my favorite publishing houses. They have an eye for choosing authentic and compelling books.
Tundra Books: Last thing I bought there was From the Heart of Africa.
Wings Press These are books I read as an adult reader. Last purchase, Borderlines: Drawing Border Lives / Fronteras: Dibujando las vidas fronterizas. Inspiring.

Here are a 30 blog posts where I recommend books.

Sunday, April 29, 2018

8 Recent Nonfiction Science Picture Books that Ask Questions

from The Deadliest Creature in the World.

Guiberson, Brenda Z. (2016). The Deadliest Creature in the World. Illustrated by Gennady Spirin. New York: Henry Holt. Questions and first person responses.

Image result for moon bear by brenda guiberson

from Moon Bear

Guiberson, Brenda Z. (2016). Moon Bear. Illustrated by Ed Young. New York: Square Fish.

Questions and poetic answers.

Guiberson, Brenda Z. (2013). The Greatest Dinosaur Ever. Illustrated by Gennady Spirin. New York: Henry Holt. Questions and first person responses.

Image result for Fossil by Fossil: Comparing Dinosaur Bone

from Fossil by Fossil

Levine, Sarah. (2018). Fossil by Fossil: Comparing Dinosaur Bones. Illustrated by T.S Spookytooth. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook Press.
Rhetorical questions and direct address.

from Bone by Bone

Levine, Sarah. (2016). Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons. Illustrated by T.S Spookytooth. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook Press.

Rhetorical questions and direct address.

from Can an Aardvark Bark?

Sweet, Melissa. (2017). Can an Aardvark Bark? Illustrated by Steve Jenkins. NewYork: Beach Lane.
Question and Answer format with internal rhyme.

from If Polar Bears Disappeared

Williams, Lily. (2018 - Will be published in August). If Polar Bears Disappeared. New York: Roaring Brook Press

Poses a single question: What would happen if polar bears disappeared from the planet?

from If Sharks Disappeared

Williams, Lily. (2017). If Sharks Disappeared. New York: Roaring Brook Press

Poses a single question: What would happen if this continued and sharks disappeared completely?

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Reading and Writing Research in 1st Grade

Screenshot from video.

I really appreciate this 7-minute video of learning taking place in grade 1. Teaching first graders to read and extract important information from informational texts is not an easy task. This video is part of Developing Independent Learners published by Stenhouse. It features first grade teacher, Vicki Atland.

Friday, May 30, 2014

For the Birds, Part 2 - Books for Grades 5-8

from Peter Sis'sThe Conference of the Birds.

Traditional and Contemporary Stories

Lumbard, Alexis York. (2012). The Conference of the Birds. Illustrated by Demi. Bloomington, IN: Wisdom Tales Press.

Martin, Rafe. (2007). Birdwing. New York: Scholastic.

Sis, Peter. (2011). The Conference of the Birds. New York: Penguin.

from Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95.

Informational & Literary Nonfiction

Arnonsky, Jim. (2011). Thunder Birds: Nature’s Flying Predators. New York: Sterling.

Fleischman, Paul. (2013). I Am a Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices. Illustrated by Ken Nutt. New York: HarperCollins.

Hoose, Philip. (2012). Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Hoose, Philip. (2004). The Race to Save Lord God Bird. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

from Looking for Seabirds: Journal from an Alaskan Voyage

Webb, Sophie. (2011). Far from Shore: Chronicles of an Open Ocean Voyage. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.

Webb, Sophie. (2004). Looking for Seabirds: Journal from an Alaskan Voyage. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.

Webb, Sophie. (2000). My Season With Penguins: An Antarctic Journal. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Make Me Look. Make Me Understand. Visual Representation and Science

Cover: No Small Matter: Science on the Nanoscale, by Felice C. Frankel and George M. Whitesides, from Harvard University Press

Felice Frankel co author of No Small Matters (with chemist, George Whitesides) explains how important the thinking that happens alongside the making of images/models are. She explains how reating representations yields critical thinking. Making representations (photographs, drawings) gets "me to thinking about how to create that representation had to force ne into understanding the stuff better."

A talk by Felice where she explains on this idea follows. During the talk, she mentions Picturing to Learn.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The Rhapsody of Things as They Are

A problem with common core and quite frankly State standards as well is the belief that the direct disciplinary route is not only the "best" way to learn, but the only way to learn. I've been wondering about this for a long time as I know that I weave in and out of disciplinary knowledge, but more times than not, coming to know (or unknow) is more nomadic than directional. I truly can't trace the way I come to know completely.

For example, I have been thinking about the blue light at the far edges of the horizon for a long time and was especially interested when I read A Field Guide for Getting Lost. The language Rebecca Solnit used invited me to think, wonder.

Looking East. (M.A. Reilly, 2010)

Solnit opens the second chapter in A Field Guide for Getting Lost by writing:

The world is blue at its edges and in its depths. This blue is the light that got lost. Light at the blue end of the spectrum does not travel the whole distance from the sun to us. It disperses among the molecules of the air, it scatters in water. Water is colorless, shallow water appears to be the color of whatever lies underneath it, but deep water is full of this scattered light, the purer the water the deeper the blue. The sky is blue for the same reason, but the blue at the horizon, the blue of land that seems to be dissolving into the sky, is a deeper, dreamier, melancholy blue, the blue at the farthest reaches of the places where you see for miles, the blue of distance. This light that does not touch us, does not travel the whole distance, the light that gets lost, gives us the beauty of the world, so much of which is in the color blue.

Talking About Malcolm X (M.A. Reilly, 2009)

I wondered about the science of this passage, the intention of light getting lost and such. I asked Rob as we are sitting outside having breakfast on our deck. He is my first source for all things science and I read the passage aloud and asked, is this accurate? He insisted, rather emphatically, that light doesn't disperse. Waves don't disperse. He then explained the loopy look of blue wave lights and the more staccato look of red wave lights using science terms and all I could think about is jazz.

Yesterday we visited friends, Ethel and Mark. Mark is a jazz musician. At one point we discussed the way improvisation happens like a good conversation and I found myself wondering if nature improvises. Is everything determined? Is nothing determined?

This led me to read a bit more this morning. Ward Cameron (2005) writes in Colours of the Sky:

When light travels through the atmosphere, it comes into contact with materials that scatter and filter out certain parts of the spectrum. These include atoms of oxygen and nitrogen. As light moves through the atmosphere, the blue end of the spectrum is gradually filtered out leaving a predominance of yellow light. This causes the sun to appear yellow from the earth's surface. As the sun travels greater distances through the atmosphere, more and more of the blue light will be removed...This scattering of blue light also results in another atmospheric phenomenon – a blue sky. When we look upwards, we are actually seeing the scattered blue light – the light that didn't reach the earth's surface.

As I read this I wondered about light as waves, remembering that as Rob spoke I was recalling earlier discussions and reading about waves, light, particles. Louis Bloomfield from Physics Central explains:

To understand why the air redirects primarily blue light, we have to look at the physics of light interacting with matter. Sunlight consists of countless tiny electromagnetic waves, each with an approximate frequency and wavelength, and each with a small amount—a quantum—of energy. Because of the discreteness of their energies, these basic electromagnetic waves have many particle-like properties and are known as photons of light.
The energy of a photon of sunlight determines its color, with higher-energy photons appearing at the blue end of the light spectrum and lower-energy photons appearing at the red end. The bluish photons also have higher frequencies and shorter wavelengths than the reddish photons. These differences in wavelength are responsible for the blueness of the sky.
Electromagnetic waves consist only of electric and magnetic fields, and they interact with matter by exerting forces on the charged particles in that matter. Through these interactions, matter can absorb a light wave and may then reemit it in a new direction, a process known as Rayleigh Scattering. That is just what the air particles do. In effect, the air particles act as antennas for light, absorbing light heading in one direction and reemitting it in another.

Josef Albers. Image for Command Records. Found Here.

Then I found a wonderful website, Causes of Color, which attempts to marry the aesthetics of color with the science of color. They organize the discussion of color into three causes: Light is made, light is lost, and light is moved. As I read through these pages I was thinking about Josef Albers--returning to subject matter I knew better, felt more comfortable with--something that might anchor the new. Albers's told us that color is understood through experience. He explained, "In visual perception a color is almost never seen as it really is - as it physically is. This fact makes color the most relative medium in art."

Things are not what they are. Tentative perhaps, like this post?

Wallace Stevens's musing about the blue guitar and how things are changed as they are played on that guitar had me quickly leaving Albers and thinking instead about poets, Picasso, and a lovely book of etchings I have by British painter, David Hockney --his homage to Stevens an Picasso. I took a bit of time to reread "The Man with the Blue Guitar" and was stopped by these lines towards the end of the poem:

...Morning is not sun,
It is this posture of the nerves,

As if a blunted player clutched
The nuances of the blue guitar.

It must be this rhapsody or none,
The rhapsody of things as they are...

Counting (M.A. Reilly, 2010)

The rhapsody of things as they are is an odd truth we fight bitterly, evidenced by the way our government--both federal and state--organize "content" as deliverable products. We lack such imagination to imagine things are only as they are and what injustice do we serve to learners when we "train" them to believe solely in such nonsense.

Way always leads on to way. Frost knew it and so should we. The direct route may be economical at first blush, but nomadic tendencies are more representative of thinking, of wondering, of coming to know and unknow.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

On Faith and Science: Learning to Listen

Annie Dillard in Teaching a Stone to Talk concludes:

It is difficult to undo our own damage and to recall to our presence that which we have asked to leave. It is hard to desecrate a grove and change your mind. We doused the burning bush and cannot rekindle it. We are lighting matches in vain under every green tree. Did the wind used to cry and the hills shout forth praise? Now speech has perished from among the lifeless things of the earth, and living things say very little to very few... And yet it could be that wherever there is motion there is noise, as when a whale breaches and smacks the water, and wherever there is stillness there is the small, still voice, God's speaking from the whirlwind, nature's old song and dance, the show we drove from town... What have we been doing all these centuries but trying to call God back to the mountain, or, failing that, raise a peep out of anything that isn't us? What is the difference between a cathedral and a physics lab? Are they not both saying: Hello?

I often think of observation as a sighted matter--one conditioned by vision, by seeing. Perhaps it's because I am an artist I want to think, but even as I am offering up such rhetoric, I know it to be untrue. Much art, like learning, requires listening.

Some days, I forget what it means to listen and even how to still myself long enough so I can listen, can discern the various layers of sound. My job often requires me to act. Some days I wonder if any action would suffice, regardless.

Once in Tuscany I learned to walk taking very small steps: heel to toe for an hour. I walked about a monastery where I was staying in such a manner, making no attempt to talk and made no images, my camera and sketch pad left behind.

Each step was a breath.

Each breath was an act of faith.

Nothing was required, beyond heel to toe. Breathe.

So what might we make of Dillard and her words, especially those of us who reside at schools? Is science our futile human attempt to call God, like a phoenix rising, from all that we have abandoned? Do we substitute someone's given definition of "improvement" for learning how to be still enough so we might listen for some local truths being uttered by children? By teachers? By staff members? By parents? Are we so busy saying hello, that we cannot hear?

Tomorrow when I get to work I'm going to take small steps.

Heel to toe.

Heel to toe.

Breathe.

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