Another Great Life Science Title

I'm always on the look-out for new book titles to add to my science picture book collection, especially the books I've collected that deal with life science. In my 5th grade classroom, we talk about food chains, food webs, and the interdependence of living things within an ecosystem.

Several years ago, one of my colleagues (thanks, Sarah!) introduced me to a great book called Butternut Hollow Pond. It was a wonderful way to look at a pond ecosystem and how the living things within that ecosystem interact. It has served as a wonderful "kick off" to this life science unit for the last several years.

After acquiring Butternut Hollow, I started to look for books about other ecosystems and the living things within them. Looking at this wonderful collection of picture books I have brought into our classroom library is so much better than the science textbook reading!!

So, when I stumbled upon a new title (new to me; it was published in 2009) last spring at a conference, I had to have it. Whoo Goes There by Jennifer A. Ericsson and illustrated by Bert Kitchen is a delight, and a wonderful companion book to Butternut Hollow Pond. The reader is introduced to Owl, who just wants something to eat, and is really craving a tasty mouse. Page after page shows us the different animals Owl sees in his ecosystem and why they won't work for him. More importantly, the author shares with the reader what the other animals in the ecosystem are eating. Perfect follow-up to food chains!

It is written lyrically, with repeated refrains. It is a nonfiction picture book that would appeal to many ages through elementary. I think I will read this right after we dissect our owl pellets next week, and find the skeletons and skulls of the animals the owls have eaten. What fun to wrap up that hands-on activity with such a lovely picture book.

I'm delighted to put Whoo Goes There? in my classroom library.

How To Clean a Hippopotamus

I bought How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships by Steven Jenkins and Robin Page this past spring, put it on my bookshelf to read, and then forgot about it. I'm so disappointed about that because this book is an amazing find. It would have been a perfect complement to the life science unit I taught in the spring dealing with ecosystems, food chains, food webs, and interdependence.

This book deals entirely with symbiosis - how animals form mutually beneficial relationships with each other. What Jenkins and Page have done is choose some of the more unusual partnerships and highlighted them. I anticipate that when I share this book, I will hear comments like, "Gross," "Awesome," "They did what," and "No way," just to name a few.

Some of the relationships this book deal with are:

• cleaning by one animal of another (a plover cleaning a crocodile's teeth)
• protection from predators (upside-down jellyfish on top of a crab)
• hunting/finding food (the coyote and badger vs. the prairie dog)
• providing or sharing homes (black tree ants and woodpeckers)

Each double-page layout has a theme, and this is divided up into smaller boxes, anywhere from 3 - 8 boxes per page. Jenkins and Page co-wrote the text which is so amazing, but Jenkins' illustrations are perfect at both complementing the text, as well as engaging the reader.

In addition, for those readers who still want more knowledge, in the back of the book, the authors share even more information about symbiosis. They also have each double-page layout reduced, and underneath tell the size, habitat, and diet of each animal mentioned on those 2 pages.

How to Clean a Hippopotamus is a great nonfiction mentor text, as it so adeptly pairs the visual information with the written information. This will be one of those books I share multiple times throughout the year. I love Steve Jenkins' work, and he and Robin Page have another winner on their hands!!

Great Ecosystem Reading

The second in a short series about good books for my life science unit...

Butternut Hollow Pond by Brian J. Heinz is a book that has been out since 2000 (the Barnes and Noble website lists it as out in 2006), but a teammate introduced me to it several years ago. It is the perfect book for looking at a pond ecosystem, food chains, food webs, and the interdependence of living things within one particular ecosystem. It is a wonderful book to read aloud with students, watching their expressions as they get caught up with the predator / prey incidents.

This picture book divides the day at Butternut Hollow Pond into 5 distinctive times throughout the day: daybreak, mid-morning, noon, end of day, and night. The reader learns a lot about what animals are active at different times of the day.

The story line of this nonfiction narrative is sequential and easy to follow, as the predator on one page becomes the prey on the next. For instance, in one section a pickled frog catches a moth. On the next page, the frog is almost eaten by a water snake, but manages to stay still enough for the snake to pass. But right after that, the frog is eaten by a bass. That is followed by the bass being caught by a fisherman. Quite the food chain, indeed!

I think this book has many different entry points. Younger readers will be fascinated by the beautiful nature, and will be rooting for the five ducklings to NOT get eaten by the snapping turtle. Older elementary students will be able to enjoy the story (and I can testify that they will still be rooting for those ducklings!), but will also be able to analyze the life science aspect of this book. They will be able to find simple food chains within this ecosystem, and they will be able to stretch their thinking to discover possible food webs, as well. The conversation about the interdependence of the living things in this pond ecosystem is powerful.

Learning points aside, Butternut Hollow Pond is quite a lovely book! Starting with the title and front cover, all the way through the close-up illustrations of the animals inside, this is a book to be savored time and time again.

Down, Down, Down

I'm in the middle of teaching a life science unit right now. The teaching points are biomes, ecosystems, food chains, food webs, interdependence of living things, and carrying capacity . We don't currently have a science textbook in our school district (which I don't mind), so it makes us focus on finding good quality trade books to share with our students.

In my next few posts, I'd like to share some of the wonderful books my colleagues and I have found that deal very well with this topic of life science.

I recently found Steve Jenkins' newest book, Down Down Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea. I was initially drawn to this book because of the front cover visuals -- I was familiar with this author/illustrator (he's amazing!), and also because the front cover is so vibrant with color.

Then, I looked inside at the contents and knew I had found another fabulous non-fiction mentor text. Jenkins has taken one topic (ocean), and with each turn of the page, he has us descend further and further down through the water. Each page also contains fabulous illustrations (done in several different mediums), all labeled to help the reader. Along the right side of the 2-page layout, is a bar, which serves as a yardstick for where we are in our descent -- surface, sunlit zone, twilight zone, dark zone, the abyssal plain, and the hydrothermal vents. This is a technique that students could modify to use with almost any topic of their choice.

Then there is the text on each page -- it has amazing facts. I learned so much as I read. And the text is in very kid-friendly language. It would make a great read aloud, but children from grades 3 and up will easily be able to sit down and read this independently. I can envision my 5th graders doing a partner reading, and yelling out repeatedly, "Look at this! This is amazing! Can you believe this?" The information is truly just that good.

At each turn of the page, Jenkins pulls the reader in visually. As we descend through the ocean, we find it darker and darker, yet each living thing just pops off the page.

But, the final reason I just had to buy this book -- Jenkins does a wonderful job explaining the different ecosystems that exist within the ocean. My students will make many connections with what they've already learned and what he shares in this book.

I can't wait to share Down Down Down with my students!!! And if it teaches them a little something in the process, all the better.