Teaching Through Trade Books


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Since January 2003, NSTA's Journal, Science and Children, has featured a column titled Teaching Through Tradebooks. As column editor, it is my responsibility to help solicit and edit articles, write manuscripts and activities, and work with the managing editor on the monthly column. In recent months, Karen Ansberry and Emily Morgan have assisted with this column as well.

Listed below are the monthly topics and selected books highlighted in the column. If you are interested, please locate Science and Children in your local library or visit www.nsta.org to see about NSTA membership which provides you access to journals..

Below each book title is the title of the activity for each grade level as well.

Month/Year

Title

Book #1

Book #2

Jan 2003

Snowflake Science

Snowflake Bentley

Feb 2003

Science of Inventions

What is a Scientist?

Girls Think of Everything

Mar 2003

Seeing the Seasons

Sky Tree: Seeing Science Through Art

When the Root Children Wake Up

Apr 2003

Life Cycle Science

Waiting for Wings

May 2003

Weather Watchers

The Cloud Book

Weather Forecasting

Sep 2003

Dealing with Data

Hottest, Coldest, Highest Deepest

How Tall, How Short, How Far Away

Oct 2003

It's Pumpkin Time

Pumpkin Circle

The Pumpkin Book

Nov/Dec 2003

Differences and Diversity

My Brother Matthew

Our Brother Has Down's Syndrome

Jan 2004

Rock Wonderings

If You Find a Rock

Everybody Needs a Rock

Feb 2004

Water Wherever

The Snowy Day

The Drop in My Drink

Mar 2004

May the Force Be With You

Go, Go, Go

Why Doesn't the Earth Fall Up?

Apr 2004

Exploring Ecosystems

Under One Rock

Around One Cactus

May 2004

Sharpening Your Senses

My Five Senses

Knots On A Counting Rope

Summer 2004

Meet the Decomposers

Compost Critters

A Pill Bug's Life

Sep 2004

Celestial Studies

Moon Book

Anno's Sundial

Oct 2004

Fascinating Fossil Finds

If You are a Hunter of Fossils

Dragon in the Rocks

Nov 2004

A Season to Inquire

Four Seasons Make a Year

Autumn Across America

Jan 2005

Antarctic Adaptations

The Emperor's Egg

Penguins

Feb 2005

Talking Trees

Tell Me Tree

Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing the Trees

Mar 2005

Oil Spill

Prince William

Oil Spill

Apr 2005

What Happens to Seeds

How to Grow a Seed

Seeds and Seedlings

Summer 2005

Seasons by the Sun

Sunshine Makes the Seasons

Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights

Sep 05

What’s Up with Sinking

Who Sank the Boat

Ducky

Oct 05

Survival Skills

Animal Defenses

Beaks

Nov/Dec 05

From Sap to Syrup

Sugarbrush Spring

Winter Eyes:  Poems and Paintings

Jan 06

Crazy for Loco Beans

Lucas and His Loco Beans

A Monarch Butterfly’s Life

Feb 06

Exploring Your Environment

I Took a Walk

Secret Place

Mar 06

Science from the Heart

Hear Your Heart

The Heart:  Our Circulatory System

Apr 06

Wonderful, Wiggly Worms

Wiggling Worms at Work

Squirmy Wormy Composters

Jul 06

Imaginative Inventions

Imaginative Inventions

Professor Aesop's The Crow and the Pitcher

Sep 06

Kite Explorations

Catch the Wind

The Story of Kites

Oct 06

The Great Quake of 1906

Earthquakes

If You Lived at the Time of the Great San Francisco Earthquake

Nov 06

Moving My Body

What's Inside Me?: My Bones and Muscles

Movers and Shapers

Dec 06

Rock Solid Science

If You Find a Rock

Rocks: Hard, Soft, Smooth, Rough

Jan 07

Rocking Around the Rock Cycle

Let's Go Rock Collecting

The Rock Factory

Feb 07

Science Measures Up

Measuring Penny

How Short, How Tall How Far Away

Mar 07

If You Build It

Let's Try It Out with Towers and Bridges

Bridges: Amazing Structures to Design, Build and Test

Apr 07

Into the Woods

In the Woods - Who's Been Here?

The Woods Scientist

Jul 07

Down the Drain

A Cool Drink of Water

Down the Drain: Conserving Water

Sep 07

The Dirt on Soil

Dirt

A Handful of Dirt

Oct 07 Goind Wild with Graphs Giraffe Graphs Tiger Math
Nov 07 Words to the Wild Crawdad Creek Salamander Rain
Dec 07 Seeing and Sorting Seashells Seashells by the Seashore Seashells, Crabs and Seastars
Jan 08 A Closer Look You Can Use a Magnifying Glass Hidden Worlds
Feb 08 Seeing Stars Out and About at the Planetarium The Constellations: Stars and Stories
Mar 08 Roller Coasters Roller Coaster Roller Coaster
Apr 08 Taking Note of Natural Resources Weslandia Just a Dream
Jul 08 Growing a Garden Jack's Garden My Backyard Garden
Sept 08 Moon Phases and Models Phases of the Moon The Moon Book
Oct 08 Pumpkins!

Pumpkin Circle Pumpkin O-W-L (K-3)

How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?

Pumpkin Investigations(3-6)

Nov 08 It's About Time How Do You Know What Time It Is? On Time: From Seasons to Split Seconds
Dec 08 The Wonder of Water I Get Wet A Drop of Water
Jan 09 Communicating with Pictures and Precision A is for.....? Alphabet City
Feb 09 Secrets of Seeds Seeds Seeds
Mar 09 Pondering Popcorn The Popcorn Book Popcorn!
April/May 09 Sunrise/Sunset Day and Night Somewhere in the World Right Now.
July 09 Flower Power Planting a Rainbow The Reason for a Flower
Sep 09 A Habitat is a Home I See a Kookaburra The Salamander Room
Oct 09 Secrets of Flight Animals in Flight How People Learned to Fly
Nov 09 Discover Reading Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein Buzz Aldrin: Reaching for the Moon
Dec 09 Flick a Switch Why Should I Save Energy? Flick a Switch: How Electricity Gets to Your Home
Jan 10 Can You See Me Know? Red Eyes or Blue Feathers I See Animals Hiding

 

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