Elementary Library

A book about the rich ecosystem that springs up around the death of a whale in the deep sea

Discussion prompts: ●​ What is the main idea of this book? Where does it take place? ●​ What does the author mean when she says the death of a whale is the end of one story, but the beginning of another? ●​ How does this book illustrate the “circle of life”? ●​ What are the stages of a whale fall? How does one stage lead into the next? ●​ What is a bone-eating zombie worm? How is it important? ●​ Why do you think whale falls are a recent discovery? How can scientists study them? The Iguanadon’s Horn: How Artists and Scientists Put A Dinosaur Back Together Again and Again…and Again by Sean Rubin (567.914 RUB) Ever since mysterious bones were found in 1822, scientists and artists have tried to figure out what the creature they came from looked like. But it seems that every time they've made up their minds, someone makes a new discovery, and they have to start all over. That's only fair, though--after all, it's how knowledge advances! . . . traces the process of defining--and redefining--the dinosaur called Iguanodon

Discussion prompts: ●​ What does “science is a process” mean to you? ●​ How is failure important in the scientific process? ●​ How do you deal with failure? ●​ What can bones tell us? What can’t they tell us?

Sakamoto’s Swim Club: How a Teacher Led an Unlikely Team to Victory by Julie Abery (797.2 ABE) Simple rhymes and illustrations inspired by the sugar plantations of 1930s Maui combine in the lesser-known story of a dedicated science teacher, Soichi Sakamoto, who used innovative techniques to coach his Hawaiian swimming team all the way to the Olympics. Discussion prompts: ●​ Why did the author choose a poetry format to tell this story? ●​ What challenges did the swimmers face? How did their teacher help them overcome those challenges? ●​ What do you do when you are faced with a challenge?

142