Open Wide, Look Inside

Most of us can agree that Dr. Suess is a phenomenal storyteller for kids. His whimsical drawings and poems appeal to all ages. In Bartholomew and the Oobleck, Dr. Suess incorporates elements of scientific theory in a fun story about a King who tries to change the weather. One day the King of Didd decides he is bored with the usual rain, snow, sun and fog that falls from the sky, he desires something more. He orders his magicians to create something else to fall from the sky and they decide to create Oobleck. The magicians announce,

“‘Won’t look like rain. Won’t look like snow.
Won’t look like fog. That’s all we know.
We just can’t tell you anymore.
We’ve never made oobleck before.’“

This little poem by the magicians lays out some the principals of physical science by comparing unknown and known substances and trying to understand what the new form of matter is. More of this demonstration in observation surfaces later in the story when all the oobleck does fall from the sky and sticks to everything, creating a gooey, green mess. The oobleck starts clogging up bird’s nests and instruments, it forces its way indoors through cracks and open windows. The Captain even tries tasting some and finds the oobleck makes him ill. All the while Bartholomew is trying to find the king to fix the problem. In the end, all the king has to do for the oobleck to go away, is publicly apologize. As soon as he says, “I’m sorry” the oobleck disappears, the sun comes out and the whole town is returned to peace.

Curriculum Connections
This book by Dr. Seuss can be used to initiate conversation in scientific theory, observation and the idea of matter. After discussing matter and how to classify it, the class could make oobleck themselves to study and experiment with. It can also be taken a different route and used to talk about the weather, why we have weather, what the seasons are, what normally falls from the sky. Bartholomew and the Oobleck satisfies SOLs in grades K-1 for observation and properties of matter (K.1, K.4, 1.1, 1.3) and grade 2 if you bring in the topic of weather (2.1, 2.6).

Additional Resources

• For more information on Dr. Suess and his books, check out Suessville.
• Make your own Oobleck and read about some interesting discussion questions.
• Teacher Vision also has some great internet resources including a weather word search and venn diagram printable.

Book: Bartholomew and the Oobleck
Author: Dr. Seuss
Illustrator: Dr. Seuss
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 1949
Pages: 56 pages
Grades: K-2
ISBN: 978-0394800752

Jessica Jenkins' book Thinking about Colors is an excellent book teaching young readers about basic colors and on what objects they can find them.  The illustrations are very rare and look similar to those of someone grades 2 or 3. However, there are a few pages that are used to transition between colors that are much more sophisticated than those that are used to discuss the individual colors.

This book by Jessica Jenkins takes the reader through the new paint set that Simon received.  "Look, everybody! I've got a new paint box. Come with me and I'll show you the colors€¦ (2)."  He takes the reader through each color, giving different example of objects for each color.  Each color gives somewhere between four and six examples.  The examples are of where the reader my see that particular color.  "Green is for returning empty bottles (so they can be recycled) (12)."  Some of the language being used appears to be a little too advanced for the average first grade or kindergarten student.  However, a lot of the language in this book can inform a young reader of certain objects in the world.  "But red is also the color of the Red Cross, a group that helps rescue people all over the world in emergencies (4)."  Thinking about Colors also shows the different shades that there are of each color.  The two pages discussing the color blue show shades ranging from: cornflower blue to royal blue to arctic blue and indigo blue.  The different shades at the top of each section help the reader expand their knowledge of each color.  The book ends with all of Simon's friends saying what their favorite color is and explaining it to the group.  As everyone is speaking, Denise brings their attention to what Simon is doing.  Simon is painting a picture with his new paint box and it says "The End (38)."

Curriculum Connections
This book can help students' expand their awareness of different colors in their every day lives.  This book relates directly to SOL K.4a (understand that the position, motion, and physical properties of an object can be described) because of the different variations that it gives for each color and the different examples that it uses to give the reader a visual.

Additional Activities

• Try this website if you would like to print coloring pages for students.
• Try this website if you would like to have students create their own individual birthday signs.

Book: Thinking about Colors
Author: Jessica Jenkins
Publisher: Dutton Children Books
Publication Date: 1992
Pages: 32 pages
Grades: K-3^rd
ISBN: 0525449086

How much does light affect us?  Light is essential to life on Earth and it is constantly moving, even though we can’t see it.  In Neil Ardley’s book The Science Book of Life, students explore a few facts about light and then experiment with the activities in the book.  Activities include shadow play, reflection of light, making a kaleidoscope, optical illusions, and constructing a box camera.

All living things need light to live.  Plants need light to grow.  Without plants, all life on Earth would cease because animals feed on plants or on other animals that feed on plants.

The activities in this book vary in level, so it is appropriate for many elementary grades.  Younger students can begin with learning about shadows and the manipulation of light, while older students may explore something more challenging, such as building a box camera.

Curriculum Connections
This book could be used throughout elementary school to teach various levels about light’s function and properties.  In Virginia, The Science Book of Light can be used in connection with SOL 5.3 where students explore the characteristics of visible light and its behavior.   Students learn about reflection and refraction of light and may use activities in The Science Book of Light such as ‘Seeing Double’ to test or confirm the facts with which they are presented.
Additional Resources

• Here are directions for students to make their own Sun-Clock.
• This  activity from The Franklin Institute helps students explore that white light is made of colors.
• This website from the ProTeacher Community lists the ‘rules of light’ and also links to activities involving bending light, mirrors, and images.

Book: The Science Book of Light
Author: Neil Ardley
Art Editors: Anita Ruddel and Peter Bailey
Publisher: Gulliver Books,  Harcourt Brace & Company
Publication Date: 1991
Pages: 29 pages
Grades: 2-5
ISBN: 0-15-200577-3

Ever wonder how temperature can turn hot chocolate into chocolate milk and then again into a chocolate Popsicle?   How about why a squishy beach ball can expand to it’s full size on a hot, summer day?  Philip Balestrino helps explain these basic concepts in a very simple and fun way in the text Hot as an Ice Cube. Although this text was written in 1971, it still succeeds in introducing a rudimentary understanding of how heat affects temperature as well as how temperature affects molecules.  The book follows a young boy and his pet dog to different locations, such as the boy’s kitchen and the beach, and shows how “everything in the world has heat in it.” The boy uses simple explanations that kids can easily relate to.  For instance, when explaining what has heat he says:

 “The coffee my brother drinks for breakfast has a lot of heat in it.  Sometimes it is hot enough to burn    you.  My sister’s bottle of milk has heat in it too.  It is warm, but not as hot as my big brother’s coffee.  There is the same amount of milk in my glass and in the baby’s bottle, but her milk has more heat in it.”

After explaining what heat is, the little boy explains what happens when you heat something and why the temperature increases.  The book then goes into an explanation about molecules.  He uses examples that kids would find interesting, such as “there are more molecules in one grain of sand than there are grains of sand on the whole beach” and “the molecules of a sizzling hot dog move faster than they do when the hot dog has just come from the freezer.” The language is very simple and easy for students to read on their own.  In addition, Balestrino offers a few experiments that students can replicate to gain a better understanding of heat.  One of which is dropping some ice cubes into a glass of  warm lemonade and seeing what happens.  The book also shows how the properties of temperature can affect the world around us by explaining that sidewalks have spaces between the squares so that the sidewalks don’t crack when they expand in the heat.

Curriculum Connections 
This book, although very simple, provides an easy way to introduce ideas of heat, temperature, and molecules to young students.  Although not extremely scientific, it offers basic understandings of these three concepts and applies them to the world around us.  In Virginia, this text would be a great introduction to Science Standards of Learning  about processes involved with changes in matter from one state to another (2.3) and concepts about molecules and the effect of heat on the states of matter (5.4).

Additional Resources

• Changing state is a fun, interactive website kids can use to understand temperature.
• Here’s a lesson plan that includes experiments students can do or observe to see how temperature affects movement of molecules!

Book: Hot as an Ice Cube
Author: Philip Balestrino
Illustrator: Tomie dePaola
Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s 
Publication Date: 1971
Pages: 33 pages
Grades: 2-5
ISBN: 069040415

Robert E. Wells is a fantastic author of children’s literature.  He’s written many educational books such as How Do You Lift a Lion, Can You Count To a Googol, What’s Faster Than a Speeding Cheetah and What’s Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew?. All these books use an abundant amount of vocabulary and have detailed pictures to help students understand what is being read to them.

How Do You Lift a Lion teaches how to use the simple machines; the lever, the wheel and the pulley.  There are wonderful pictures which provide a visual to the sometimes complex vocabulary used in the book. There is also arrows which point out the exact vocabulary used to a picture. For example

The main part of a lever is a bar or rod which balances, or pivots, on a fulcrum. If the force side is longer than the load side, you will have leverage. Leverage adds force to your own strength. With a force side this long,  you could lift a lion.

Although this page uses a lot of vocabulary that students may not understand, there are arrows which point out what the load side is, what the fulcrum is and what a force side is. Allowing students to physically see what each of the vocabulary words look like allows them to visually understand the basic understanding of a lever, wheel, and pulley.

Curriculum Connections
This book could be used as an introduction to a lesson on simple machines and or a review on the different types of simple machines and their make up. How Do You Lift a Lion, teaches about the lever, wheel, and pulley and their functions. This covers the Force, Motion, and Energy Virginia SOL 3.2.

Additional Resources

• Moving Along With Simple Machines is a wonderful sight with great ideas a pictures for a lesson deal with simple machines and their functions.
• Pieces of Science gives so many great activities along with actual work sheets for fun, interesting and interactive activities dealing with simple machines.
• This WebQuest is a wonderful idea to have students explore simple machines by using technology. Incorporating technology into your lesson will allow students to get familiar with technology and the benefits that can come from the computer.

Book: How Do You Lift a Lion
Author/Illustrator: Robert E. Wells
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Publication Date: 1996
Pages: 32 pages
Grades: 2-4
ISBN: 0807534218

Have you ever looked at a part of an object, tried to guess what it was, and been fooled?  Even using all the clues provided, this can been a difficult task.  Using beautiful photographs and this technique, Tana Hoban takes the reader on a visual adventure in her book Just Look.

Just Look is a book for the imagination.  Without the use of text, Hoban creates a beautiful story, simply with the use of photographs.  The book features nine distinct objects, each with its own shape, color, and texture. The key objects photographed include:

• a penguin
• a toy sailboat
• a rabbit
• a bulldozer
• a giraffe
• the Eiffel Tower
• a pelican
• a cantaloupe
• a horse

Hoban does not simply display these photographs.  Instead she gradually gives visual clues to uncover the object.  First she begins with a black page that has a 2-inch die-cut center.  The hole provides a peak of the photograph on the next page.  Then she follows this photograph with a wide view of the object in its environment.  For example, the first page shows black and white spots that are similar to the coat of a cow.  However, as the reader flips to the next page, Hoban reveals that these black and white spots are actually the feathers of a penguin.  On the following page, she zooms out the photograph even more, showing a pack of seventeen penguins.  The level of difficulty varies among the photographs, ranging from the easily recognized hide of a giraffe, to the disguised bolt of a bullzozer’s wheel.  Just Look will have children glued to the photographs, thinking about what they see!

Curriculum Connections
This book is great to teach students that physical properties can be used to help describe matter.  Students can focus on the color, shape, and texture of the pictures to help them predict what the author is showing in the die-cut.  It would be a great idea to compare and contrast each of the photographs.  The featured animals, building, and objects could serve as a basis for a classification exercise that focuses on the physical characteristics of each type of matter.   In Virginia, this book works well with the K.4 SOL.

Additional Resources

•  The Utah Education Network provides a great lesson plan called “What it is, What it isn’t.”  Resources such as Instructional Procedures, Extensions, and Assessment Plans are also available on this site!
• Are you looking for similar books like Just Look? Check out this site for additional books by Tana Hoban!
• Relate this book to a visual arts lesson that focuses on texture and patterns.  Lesson plan #7 on this site is based off of Tana Hoban’s Just Look.

Book: Just Look
Author/Illustrator: Tana Hoban
Publisher: Greenwillow Brooks
Publication Date: 1996
Pages: 38 pages
Grades: K-1
ISBN: 0688140416

Have you ever wondered how we hear sounds? Sounds All Around, written by Wendy Pfeffer and illustrated by Holly Keller, explains how sounds from vibrating objects make tiny bones in our ears vibrate to hear sound.

The book Sounds All Around begins by listing various sounds that young children often make and hear: “Snap your fingers. Clap your hands. Whistle! Clatter some pans. You’re making sounds!” It then explains that that each of these common actions creates sound waves that vibrate through the air. This causes tiny bones in our ears to vibrate, allowing us to hear sounds. Readers will also learn how both people and animals use sounds to communicate and bats use echolocation to find food and avoid running into objects in total darkness. In addition, there are several other interesting facts throughout the book, including that some animals, such as snakes, don’t have ears: “A snake has no ears. To hear, it puts its head on the ground. A bone in its head feels the sound vibrations.”

This book also includes several hands-on-activities related to sound for students to do after reading, such as making a tissue box guitar, listening to sounds travel through a string telephone, and playing a sounds matching game. The activities are clearly explained and could easily be completed in an elementary school classroom.

Curriculum Connections
This book would be a great resource for introducing a science lesson related to sound for Kindergarten, 1st, or 2nd graders. In Virginia, this book and the activities listed at the end relate to 1st grade science SOL 1.2b, which states that students will understand that objects vibrate to produce sound.

Additional Resources

• The A to Z Teacher Stuff website contains an Eggs Filled with Sound lesson plan, in which students use their sense of hearing to guess what objects are inside the eggs.
• The A to Z Teacher Stuff also provides 17 experiments related to sound and its application to animals, musical instruments, and communication.
• The PBS Kids website provides explanations of several sounds experiments for kids to do at home or at school, including a glass xylophone, string telephone, and super sounding drums.

Book: Sounds All Around
Author: Wendy Pfeffer
Illustrator: Holly Keller
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: 1999
Pages: 32 pages
Grades: K-2
ISBN: 0-06-027711-4