A Coral Reef Food Chain

 

A Coral Reef Food Chain : A Who-Eats-What Adventure in the Caribbean Sea

Follow That Food Chain series

by Rebecca Hogue Wojahn & Donald Wojahn 

Lerner, 2010

ISBN # 0-8225-7611-2

Nonfiction, grades 3-6

“This coral reef lies hidden in the warm, shallow water just off the shore of a Caribbean island. From the beach, waves gently roll over calm water. But duck your head under the waves, and you’ll see an underwater jungle full of life.”

This new food chain book from the series Follow That Food Chain allows the reader to create a food chain by choosing the next link in the food chain and then following that organism to the page listed. This particular book is especially good because it includes so many invertebrates and other varied species that are not well-known to children within the complex ecosystem of a coral reef. Animals such as fan worms, corals, sawfish, parrotfish, moray eels, nudibranchs, and sea urchins are among the consumers, with the producers and well-explained phytoplankton included in the chain information. Decomposers and their job in the chain are also included.

The sidebars add additional sections of information and the value or relationship of some of the organisms are explained. The main text highlights the unfamiliar words that are in the glossary. Bright photos and diagrams of specific connections forming a food web from the chains allow the reader to picture the connections of the organisms they’ve just read about. The book also contains a further reading section, a bibliography, and an index.

I’ve blogged on the temperate forest food chain book in this series, but this one has so many invertebrates I wanted to highlight  it. Food chains are important parts of the science curriculum, and these books provide an excellent way of teaching both organisms and the complex ideas within a food web.

Activity 1

Create your own food chain by following one of your choosing from the book. Make a diagram to show the energy flow.

Activity 2

Look through the book and find the invertebrates. Choose one invertebrate and look it up. Find out in which group it is classified according to the phylum, class, or order. Then find other animals in each group.

For more information about food chains and definitions, see this site.

This site has good information about the energy flow within a food chain.

Lovely coral reef and organism pictures

My previous blog on temperate forests is here. Go to my website and click on links in the toolbar to see my TLA presentation that includes a lesson on food chains.

Other books:

Ecosystems – Life in a Coral Reef by Hayley Haugen

Jump Into Science: Coral Reefs by Sylvia Earle

National Science Standard: organisms and environments

 Book provided by Lerner

*What Darwin Saw

*What Darwin Saw: The Journey That Changed the World

by Rosalyn Schanzer

National Geographic Children’s Books, 2009

ISBN #978-1426303968

Grades 3-6 and up

48 pages

Nonfiction PB

*Nominated for the Cybils award in the NF PB cagegory.

“Even though Darwin has never been much of a student, he is destined to become one of the greatest scientists in history. And why is that? It is because Darwin’s astonishing discoveries will forever change the way people think about our planet and every single thing that lives here.”

“Darwin’s great adventure will last four years, ten months, and two days. It will affect everything he does for the rest of his life.”

A twenty-two year old Charles Darwin jumped at the chance to travel around the world as a naturalist-companion to the captain of the ship The Beagle, and the voyage that ensued opened his eyes to questions that would change the face of science for years to come. Written from the perspective of Darwin’s early years and his journey on The Beagle, Schanzer details his notes and explorations in short snippets of text and graphic-style illustrations in vibrant acrylics that show the path and documents the discoveries he found as the Beagle sailed from Europe to South America and on around past Australia and Africa.

The art is gorgeous and fits the youthful air of Darwin as well as documenting his finds. The text, found in sections, divisions, and bubbles, is reader friendly and chock full of fascinating information. As a former science teacher, I enjoyed learning things I never knew about this intrepid explorer and gentleman. Back matter includes a wealth of information that asks hard questions and provides a tree of life diagram, along with more fascinating details.

In the 200^th year anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150^th year anniversary of the publication of his On the Origin of the Species, controversy over his conclusions is still very much alive, but there is no disputing the wealth of information he uncovered. No matter what your beliefs are, this book is one that should be read.

Activity 1

Choose one of the animals from the book that Darwin saw and create a graphic organizer to illustrate the variety of species that are in that animal group.

Activity 2 This activity is based on Darwin’s information about the volcanoes he saw on the trip.

Look up shield volcanoes and stratovolcanoes. Compare the two in their formation and eruptions. Find the meaning of these volcanoe related terms.

pyroclastic flows, lahars, subduction zone, ring of fire, tephra, pahoehoe, low viscosity, fissure eruptions, calderas

Information about stratovolcanoes can be found here. 

Information about shield volcanoes can be found here.

 

Visit Rosalyn Schanzer’s site to find out more about this author/illustrator.

For more details about the book, visit this site.

This page has links for all sorts of information about volcanoes.

National Science Standard: Science as a human endeavor; Nature of science, History of science

 

Although I preferred What Darwin Saw over this book, it also contains good information.

One Beetle Too Many by Kathryn Laskey and illustrated by Matthew Trueman

*The Frog Scientist

The Frog Scientist

Scientists in the Field Series

By Pamela Turner

Photos by Andy Comins

Houghton Mifflin, 2009

ISBN  #978-0618717163

Nonfiction

Ages 9-12

64 pages

*The Frog Scientist is nominated for a Cybil award in middle grade/ YA nonfiction.

 “Tyrone didn’t worry about chemicals in the water when he was younger. He just liked to wade in it. ‘My neighborhood was near a swamp full of frogs, snapping turtles, and snakes,’ recalls Tyrone. ‘My interest in them started when I was four or five. I tell kids, if there is something you like doing, stick with it!’”

     Starting with a lively, early morning frog-catching session with his students and own son and ending with questions about the impact pollution has on humans, this book traces the work and research Harvard graduate Tyrone Hayes has done with frogs and environmental pollution.     

     Studying the effect of pesticides on frogs, atrazine in particular, he has documented the fragility and changes in the frog population resulting from pollution in our environment. His research following the scientific method is clearly shown in the text and photos and allows the scientific process to come to life.

     Beautiful photographs of the frogs, his students, and his experiments follow the text and add fascinating documentation to the book’s information. A glossary, page of featured toads and frogs, a website list of further information, and an index make up the back matter. This is a book that unfolds its information and provides fascinating detail about field biology and practical applications. The book is exceptional.

Activity 1

For the younger students, look at the pictures from the book and discuss the differences they see among all the frogs and toads. An explanation of the difference between frogs and toads can be found on p.53.

Activity 2

Using the photograph on p.23, discuss the life cycle of the frog and the meaning of amphibian on p.13. Use the life cycle to illustrate why amphibian is a good choice of names for this group of animals.

Activity 3

For older students, design a hypothetical experiment following the scientific method that might involve frogs. Since most districts have a no harm policy for live animals, don’t actually carry out the experiment. Plan and make predictions to familiarize the students with the designing of the experimental process.

The Frog Scientist was nominated for a Cybils award.

Learn more about frogs here.

See this summary about the significance of frogs in the environment.

This site has great links for elementary age students.

Read more about Tyrone Hayes.

National Science Standard: organisms and their environment

 

Book provided by publisher after author contacted me.

Redwoods

Redwoods

By Jason Chin

Illustrated by Jason Chin

Neal Porter Books/Roaring Brook Press, 2009

ISBN #1596434309

PB

Ages 4-8

“Redwoods have shallow root systems that travel more than one hundred feet from the tree. They help the trees stand, and they need all the help they can get because…

they are the tallest living things on the planet. Redwoods regularly grow to be more than 200 feet tall.”

     As young boy waits for the subway, he picks up a book and suddenly is transported into the world of redwoods. He experiences the redwoods through the art as the text relates the factual information. Packed with fascinating facts, this mix of nonfiction and fantasy conveys the information in a natural progression from the start of time to the role in the rain forest to the tallest living tree. Upon his return, he races off, leaving the book for the next adventurer.

     The book ends with additional information and an author’s note. While I’m not usually a fan of mixing fiction and nonfiction, this book had such fascinating information that I continued reading, and then reread it. Children will likely find the book appealing, but care should be taken to point out the fictional aspects of the story.

Activity 1

Look up information about temperate rain forests. Identify the layers found in all rain forests. (emergent, canopy, understory, forest floor)

This site has information about the layers of a rainforest and excellent links.

Enchanted learning has basic facts about rainforests in general.

Experience the rainforest in pictures.

Activity 2

Look up the average height of three trees in your area. Create a bar graph to compare the heights of those trees with that of the tallest redwood.

Another book about redwoods:

The Ever-Living Tree: The Life and Times of a Coast Redwood by Linda Vieira and Christopher Canyon 

 Redwood Links

Visit this site for more useful information about redwood trees.

• Save the Redwoods League
• Redwood National & State Parks
• Humboldt State University: Redwood Forest Ecology
• Sequoia Sempervirens Wikipedia Entry

Take a  Photo tour

Fuse 8 Production also has a review and links to other blog reviews

National Science Standard: organisms and their environment

Review copy from TWU Librarian’s Choices Best 100 Books Committee from publishers

Cover It With Green

Wangari’s Trees of Peace

By Jeanette Winter

Harcourt, 2008

ISBN #978-0-15-206545-4

Nonfiction picture book

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Based on the true story of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, this simply worded picture book tells of the power of one woman who made a difference in the environment of her native Kenya. After returning home from studying in the United States, she sees now barren land where trees were cut to make room for new buildings. Starting with nine seedlings, she encourages the women throughout the villages and they in turn plant more trees, until the land is barren no more.

 

Wangari thinks about the barren land. I can begin to replace some of the lost trees here in my own backyard—one tree at a time. She starts by planting nine seedlings.

 

 Activity 1

Ask the students if they’ve heard about global warming. Discuss greenhouse gases and why and how they warm the earth.  

Explain that these greenhouse gases trap energy in the atmosphere and make the Earth warmer.  

Discuss climate changes that are taking place and the impact it can have on habitats. Examples might include rising sea levels, loss of ice in Antarctica and the Arctic, or climate change might have effects on crops that can grow.

 Use the book to define reforestation and discuss how replenishing trees can reduce global warming.  how we can help.

 

Take this global warming quiz.

 

Activity 2

Define reforestation. Review photosynthesis and remind the students about the use of carbon dioxide by plants to make energy in the form of food. Then define the greenhouse effect and discuss how reforestation like that shown in the book can help restore balance to the natural system.

Reforestation is the restocking of existing forests and woodlands which have been depleted, with native tree stock.

Greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere due to certain gases trapping the sun’s energy. These atmospheric gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane. We need them to keep all the Earth’s heat from escaping, because we need some heat. They are called greenhouse gases because of how they keep the world warm. 

 

Global warming is the average increase of the Earth’s temperature due to the addition of more green house gases. These additional gases can cause a change in the climate

 

Photosynthesis is the process where green plants make carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water using light as the source of energy, and release oxygen as a waste by-product.

 

For more, see the carbon cycle and the carbon cycle game.

 

Another book about saving a tree is The Tree, by Dana Lyons.

 

 

 

 

 

IT’S ECO-FRIENDLY

 

10 THINGS I CAN DO TO HELP MY WORLD

By Melanie Walsh

Candlewick Press, 2008

ISBN #978-0-7636-4144-3

Nonfiction picture book

 

I remember…to turn off the light when I leave the room

 Turning off lights and using more efficient lightbulbs saves valuable energy.

 

Made from 100% recycled paper, this open-the-flap style book names ten easy things children can do to help our world. Ranging from turning off lights to recycling, the list of ten is written in an easy to understand format with a specific reason or fact stating why that is included with the art. Each double page spread has a large illustration with the fact written on the art and the page turn creates additional interest with its irregularly cut size. Simple and to the point, this book gives a list that is timely for any study of our environment and its future.

 

Activity 1

Make a class list chart and write the 10 activities across the top. Have your students check off which of the earth saving tips they do during a study of the environment or ecology. See if each student can do all 10 suggestions.

 

Activity 2

Choose one resource and brainstorm ways the students can cut down on their use. You might suggest resources such as water, energy, or paper goods. Have them keep track of how many times in a day (or week) they use that resource. Next have them list ways they could use less of that resource. Look at this example of how to pack a waste-free lunch and use it as a guide.

 

Another eco-friendly book is Journey for the Planet: A Kid’s Five Week Adventure to Create an Earth-friendly Life by David Gershon.

 

National Science Standard: Types of resources