Inspiration along the Writing Journey

As we worked on Funky Fungi, Alisha and I discovered a couple of books that inspired us on our writing journey. They engaged our curiosity and prompted several conversations that led us to look more closely at the fungi surrounding us.

Entangled Life, by Merlin Sheldrake

You know it’s going to be a fun book when the first thing you read is “What is it like to be a fungus?” Merlin Sheldrake gives us a tour of the kingdom from a fungal point of view. If we want to understand how ecosystems work, we need to understand the mycorrhizal fungi beneath our feet. Fungi challenge the way we think about evolution and intelligence, even what makes an individual. 

In one chapter Merlin takes us on a hunt for truffles; in the next we watch mycelium solving a maze. My favorite, though, was the dive into lichens. Lichens are relationships between algae and fungi, but what exactly do the fungi do? Then there’s the connection of fungi with roots, and mycelial webs connecting entire forests (and other plants) into an internet of sorts. Throughout, he cites research, both past and ongoing, that contribute to our current understanding of fungi. Underlying it all is the caveat that what we think we know now will undoubtedly change as we learn more. 

Finding the Mother Tree, by Suzanne Simard 

I picked up a copy of this book the day it hit the bookstore. I love how Suzanne Simard took me right into her world of trees. Born and raised into a logging world (the rainforests of British Columbia, Canada), she spent her days learning about – and from – the trees surrounding her. In this memoir, she writes about her work in forestry and her research in the forests. Suzanne’s language transported me deep into the northwest forests. Reading it on my porch on warm summer days, I could almost smell the pine needles and the earthy soil of the rainforest.

The book’s focus is Dr. Simard’s studies on how trees communicate through underground mycelial networks, how they care for each other and mount defenses against natural enemies. I particularly liked the sections where she detailed the methods of her scientific inquiry. She does not gloss over the hard work: fencing study sites, transplanting trees, digging, watering, camping out, even the failures due to weather and other elements. And there were plenty of failures – that’s part of the scientific method, right? 

Nor does she gloss over how the scientific community responds to new ideas that challenge the status quo. By the end, I gained a better understanding about the connectedness of the “Mother Tree” that nurtures the forest. More important, I gained appreciation for how important these underground connections are for the survival of both forest and human. 

Remember to check out our Funky Fungus Fridays over at my author Facebook page, and Alisha’s #FungiFriday posts on Twitter

Check back next month for another post about our book-writing journey.  Funky Fungi, 30 Activities for Exploring Molds, Mushrooms, Lichens, and More is part of the Chicago Review Press “Young Naturalists” series. You can find out more about our book at the publisher’s website. It will hit bookstore shelves in two months, but you can pre-order it at your favorite local bookstore, or online at Bookshop.org

Extreme Planet

Extreme Planet
by Carsten Peter & Glen Phelan
112 pages; ages 8-12
National Geographic Kids, 2015

If you're looking for adventure, this book opens up lots of possibilities. Tucked within the covers are photographs of some of the wildest places Carsten Peter has visited: volcanoes, caves, glaciers, and canyons.

But since it's winter, let's explore chapter 2: Glaciers and Ice Sheets. Greenland is cold and icy - a huge ice sheet one-to-two miles thick covers most of the island. This sheet was built up over thousands of years, with snow falling on top of older layers and compressing them into layers of ice. This ice pushes outward from its thickest region, says Carsten, like cake batter spreading out as you pour it in a pan. But a lot slower.

Each chapter includes current topics and science activities. In this chapter, Carsten addresses the issue of climate change and provides tips on things you can do to reduce global warming. He also includes a hands-on activity challenging readers to find fabrics that could keep them the warmest in an Arctic expedition.

Carsten writes - and explores - far away places. But, he says, there's a lot to explore right in your own community. Visit a nature center and learn about the plants and animals that live there. Learn what it was like before people settled in the area. Or settle down in your back yard and watch the wildlife that visit your part of the planet.

Today is STEM Friday. Drop by the STEM Friday blog for book reviews and other STEM resources.

Explore Honey Bees!

Explore Honey Bees! with 25 great projects
by Cindy Blobaum; illus. by Bryan Stone
96 pages; ages 7-10
Nomad Press, 2015

This book is hot off the press and just in time because in just 10 days we begin celebrating National Pollinator Week. It's chock-full of all things honey bee: anatomy, social behavior, a tour of the bee hive, There are lots and lots of things to do. Twenty-five of 'em, in fact. You can try stinger designs, check out what you'd see if you had bee eyes, and try your luck at communicating the location of sweets with a waggle dance. My favorite is how to make a bee buzzer.

There are lots of sidebars and text boxes with highlighted information, and cartoony illustrations to keep things light and fun. And there are lots of new words to learn, like spiracle, and pheromone. You can't learn about bees without learning some flower anatomy too. Because if you can't find the stamens, you can't collect that high-value food, pollen.

If pollen is important to honey bees, it's doubly important to flowers. They can't make their seeds (or fruit) if the pollen doesn't find its way to the stigma. Fortunately, honey bees - and wild bees - do a good job of helping move the pollen. Though they do it by accident.

The last chapter focuses on threats to bees: colony collapse disorder, climate change, and pesticides. But there's hope - and there are things you can do to help make the world a safer place for bees. One thing is to plant a honey bee garden. Another is to not spray pesticides in your garden and yard, and even the trees.

The book ends with a fun mad lib, a glossary, index, and list of resources - and a handy metric conversion chart so you can start thinking like a bee scientist and talk about meters instead of yards.

Today's review is part of the STEM Friday roundup. Drop by STEM Friday blog for more science books and resources. Review copy from the publisher.

Sea Turtle Scientist

Sea Turtle Scientist 
(Scientist in the Field series)

By Stephen R. Swinburne

80 pages; ages 10-14

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014

Leatherbacks have a tough life – only one egg out of a thousand will produce an adult sea turtle. Hatchlings no bigger than matchbox cars push themselves across the sand towards the ocean. If they’re lucky enough to make it without becoming a meal for some other animal, they’ve got more challenges in the sea.

In this book, Steve Swinburne takes readers to St. Kitts island, where Dr. Kimberly Stewart has spent her life studying the leatherback turtles. He takes you out into the field on a midnight search for nesting leatherbacks. There – in the red beam of Kimberly’s headlamp – it’s an 800-pound sea turtle.

“She shimmers as the last of the seawater runs off her huge frame,” writes Swinburne. “Facing away from the sea, the female leatherback uses her three-foot-long front flippers to throw sand.” Finally, after scooping a hole about 28-inches deep, the female leatherback begins to drop her eggs – “…wet, gleaming white eggs the size of billiard balls…” and one of the turtle-watchers races to count them. Meanwhile, another records measurements while Kimberly takes a blood sample and tags the female.

Swinburne fills the pages with photos – some of the nighttime field trip to tag the turtles – as well as turtle science, history, and an honest discussion of modern threats to the sea turtles. Fishing and habitat loss account for many deaths. Then there’s marine debris – like all that plastic that ends up in the ocean, and eventually in the stomach of a turtle.  Swinburne also includes a profile of an unlikely turtle ally: a former turtle fisherman who now patrols the island and protects the turtles.

There are plenty of sidebars, a chapter on how a community came together to save the turtles, and even a list of “must-haves” for your Turtle-Watching Toolkit. Backmatter includes a glossary, advice on how to adopt a sea turtle, list of resources, and an index.

 Drop by STEM Friday to see what other science books and resources bloggers are sharing. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Recruiting Alien Space Scouts

Alien Worlds: Your Guide to Extraterrestrial Life

by David Aguilar

80 pages; ages 8-12

National Geographic Kids, 2013

Are you ready to jump into space? To boldly go where no man has gone before? If so, you’ll need a handy field guide to extraterrestrial life.

David Aguilar’s new book may look like science fiction… but it’s not. Aguilar, who directs the Science Information at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has written a number of nonfiction books about space – but he wanted to write something that would appeal to kids. Especially kids who love adventure.

So in this book he invites readers to enlist as “alien space scouts” to search for life on eight new worlds. Space scout training begins with a briefing on how planets form, where to locate habitable zones around stars, what types of “Earth-like” planets we might find, and how to identify life on another planet. He includes the obligatory warning: Do not try to feed these life-forms. Some of them sting or bite, with nasty consequences.

Then it’s time to suit up, fuel the rocket and head out to explore. There’s Ocean World, similar to a young sea-covered Earth with a few emerging volcanic rocks. Life on this world looks a lot like what we would find if we visited Earth 450 million years ago, says Aguilar.

There’s a desert-like “Dying World” where temperatures range from 85 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit – a snapshot of what Earth could be like a billion-and-a-half years from now. “Sleepy Hypnos” is a planet that, with three earth-years of winter, is populated by a variety of life-forms that undergo metamorphosis. And there’s “Rogue World” where life has evolved from metal, glass, and energy fields.

For each world Aguilar provides a field guide to the aliens, with in-depth information about life under those environmental conditions. Truth is, says Aguilar, we don’t know what life on other planets will look like. But we do know about the diversity of creatures that have lived – and are living – on our own planet. And though he doesn’t come right out and say it, this fun exploration of other worlds underscores just how important habitat is to life.

Beyond the book:

Go on an “alien” hunt. You don’t need a spaceship to see weird creatures – just check out what’s living in a neighborhood pond or under a log. Or take a virtual field trip via your computer to check out things that live in Earth’s harshest environments. What lives in the Sahara desert, on top of Mount Everest, or at 20,000 leagues under the sea?

Design an extraterrestrial creature. Choose one of the alien worlds and design a plant or animal that lives there. Think about what it needs to survive:

•     a way to breathe
•     a food source
•     protection from heat and/or cold
•     protection from cosmic radiation
•     a way to sense their environment
•     a way to move (based on the planet’s gravity)

Drop by STEM Friday to see what other science books and resources bloggers are sharing.

Celebrate Earth Week - Explore Natural Resources!

Explore Natural Resources
by Anita Yasuda; illus. by Jennifer Keller
96 pages; ages 6-9
Nomad Press, 2014 (release May 13)

In this book you discover natural resources through hands-on activities. By the end of the book, promises author Anita Yasuda, you'll be able to design a wind-powered car, catch solar rays, build a composter, and be proficient in the 3 R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Topics include: air, water, soil, energy, and conservation. There are plenty of new words to learn (humus, source recuction, VOC) and twenty-five hands-on activities that range from crafts (recycle a T-shirt into a cloth bag) to technology (build a turbine). You'll be able to calculate your "water footprint" - how much water you use each day - and cook a s'more in a solar oven you build out of a discarded box. There's even a recipe for natural pesticide that you can spray on your plants to keep pesky bugs away. It works - I used to use it to keep ants from invading my kitchen counter.

The book is due out in a couple weeks. While you're waiting, here's an activity from the first chapter:

Get to Know Who Lives in Your Neighborhood

• Divide a piece of paper into six sections. Label each section with one of these headings: Birds; Reptiles; Insects; Mammals; Trees; Plants.
•  Draw a picture from each category, or cut out an example from magazines, and glue it into its section.
• Clip your page to a clipboard and take it - and a pencil - along on a walk through your neighborhood. If you have a camera, take it along too.
• As you walk along, listen and look for the animals and plants on your list. Jot down what you see, or keep a tally of what's in your neighborhood.
• Later - when you get home or visit a library - look up some of the plants and animals you discovered in a field guide or on the internet.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Abayomi, an Orphaned Puma Cub

Abayomi, the Brazilian Puma

by Darcy Pattison; illus by Kitty Harvill

32 pages; ages 6-10

Mims House, 2014

In October, 2012 a puma cub was born in Brazil. That's not unusual because pumas, also known as mountain lions, range across North, Central and South America. They live in a variety of habitats, from desert to swamp to forest. This particular puma lived in a forested place close enough to a city that he could see the skyscrapers every day. But while he and his mom could see the city, nobody could see them. The pumas moved between forest and human habitation silently; unseen.

Until one night. The mother, hunting for food, revisited a chicken coop she’d raided a few weeks earlier. But this time the farmer was ready for her – with a trap. Unfortunately, the mother was injured and died, leaving the cub to fend for himself until, a month later, scientists finally rescued him.

When Darcy Pattison first heard about the orphaned puma cub, she knew there was a story… but where? Part of that story, she knew, would have to be about the impact urbanization has on wildlife.

Darcy: Now more people live in urban areas than rural. That changes the question from “how can we save this species” to one of how we can live in a way that we share the world so that both humans and wild things can survive. Some city planners try to create green spaces and corridors that link forests to each other so that wild populations can move from one place to another.

Archimedes: What intrigued you so much about this particular story?

Darcy: The fact that pumas live so close to people and yet they are invisible. When I looked at a “Google Earth” map of where the chicken coop is, it’s within a mile or so of a large city. The pumas hunt over wide areas, so they wander through human territory. But no one has documented their existence. It’s similar to the cougar (mountain lion) sightings in the northeast and mid-south. People swear they’ve seen “big cats” but there’s no documented trace of them. Their secrecy – and their adaptability – are a big part of why I like this story.

Archimedes: What can people do to make it easier for pumas and other wildlife to survive in and around expanding urban areas?

Darcy: In Brazil the government established policy that requires landowners and farmers to set aside a certain amount of land for wildlife. But there’s more to it than just putting aside acreage. When deciding to create wildlife corridors – swaths of land that animals can use to travel from a forest on one side of a city to a forest on the other – land-use planners need to think about where animals normally go. Most animals follow rivers and creeks, so working those into the corridor plans makes sense. Road crossings are the most dangerous. As we become more urban, this problem increases. The question we need to ask ourselves is: How do we make room for the animals that we share the planet with?

 

Drop by STEM Friday to see what other science books and resources bloggers are sharing. Review copy provided by publisher.

Bedtime Math for Pi Day!

Bedtime Math 2; This Time It's Personal

by Laura Overdeck; illustrated by Jim Paillot

ages 3-8; 96 pages

Feiwel & Friends, 2014

Laura Overdeck has released her new book full of fun and crazy math - and just in time for Pi Day! Like her earlier book, this one is full of silly questions, puzzlers, and other math fun for kids who love to ponder stuff whilst in PJ's. And like her earlier book, there are problems for wee ones, for little kids, and for big kids.

But wait - that's not all! This time Overdeck includes a BONUS level where, she says, "readers can tackle math acrobatics that require two or more steps." And this time the theme is personal, with problems that feature spaghetti, underwear, duck-duck-moose, and the ever-annoying mystery of missing socks. You might notice that there are lots of socks all over the cover. What you won't notice, unless you take your book into a dark room, is that those socks glow in the dark.

I called Laura last week and asked her some questions about her book, math and Pi. First off, she pointed out that although her book was released this week (in honor of Pi Day) there's not even a slice of a Pi problem between the covers.

Laura: Pi is a really tough concept, and is a bit above the level of most readers (up to second grade) of this book. However, today's Bedtime Math blog will feature something Pi-related. The thing with Pi, and why it's important, is that people tend to underestimate the distance around circles. Or curves - if you're ever stuck in a traffic jam on a curve, you want to be in the inside lane. So knowing that Pi is a bit more than 3 helps people estimate the distance around a circle, or how far a ball will travel in one roll.

Archimedes:You've added a BONUS problem. Anything else new with this second book?

Laura: I expanded the type of problems for wee ones, making them more concrete. Now there are problems that ask them to count objects on the page, or determine what is bigger, or figure out what comes next. I wanted to make it easier for young children to jump into doing math. At the same time, I want to make parents comfortable with sharing math with their kids. Over the past couple years I've learned that people are reluctant to change things - so in this book I wanted to make sure that if we asked kids to count something, it would be an item almost everyone would have in their home.

Archimedes: What are the Crazy Eights?

Laura: We're launching a nation-wide math club that will be available to schools for free. There are four age levels: PreK, kindergarten, grades 1-2, and grades 3-5 - and they all feature hands-on activities. The idea is to make math a fun, social activity. Click here for more info.

Thanks, Laura - and now....  Time for Pi! One of the activities Laura suggested for Pi Day is to compare the distance around two circular things. For example: how much farther does a large bike tire go in one rotation compared to a kid's bike tire? Or how much farther does a beach ball go in one roll than a soccer ball? Or if you were a lego-man, how much farther would you have to walk if you were walking along the crusty edge of a large pizza compared to a medium pizza?

And what does this have to do with Pi, anyway?

Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference (distance around) to it's diameter (distance across). Put in math language,  π = c/d. But don't take my word for it. Go on a Pi Hunt. All you need are a tape measure (or string), a ruler, a pencil and paper, a calculator and a few  round things: soup cans, the compost bucket, cheerios, m&m’s, a cocoa mug, cookies, marshmallows, cupcakes, a pizza….

Use the tape measure or string to measure the distance around your object (circumference). Now measure the diameter (the distance from one side to the other, through the middle of the circle). Divide C by d to get ... oh, perhaps you didn't get 3.14159. Not a problem – compare the circumference and diameter of another round thing. And another. Do any of them come close? If you get 3.14 you’re doing well.  Check out more Pi Day activities here and here . 

Drop by STEM Friday to see what other bloggers are writing for about science, technology, engineering and math today.

Review copy provided by the publisher.