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Trade books or children’s books can be excellent supplements to K-6 science activities or concepts. Primary teachers who teach classification will find The Button Box an interesting and colorful story book for encouraging classification skills. Who Eats What? is a must for understanding food webs and food chains. Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax is a natural for environmental activities and issues. Out of the Ocean will help children make sense of objects found at the seashore. And the Kid’s Paper Airplane Book will lead to experimentation and an understanding of aerodynamics. Following are but a few trade books and related science topics or activities.
| Book | Science Activity/Concept | Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?
We’re the Same, We’re Different
The Best Smelling Alphabet Book Ever
Plant a Rainbow
Daddy, Would You Love Me If…?
The Icky, Sticky Frog
The Button Box
The Very Lonely Firefly
The Dandelion Seed
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel
Everybody Needs a Rock
Zoo in the Sky
The Wartville Wizard
The World of Small
Dear Mr. Blueberry
Hide and Snake
Milo’s Great Invention
Creatures That Glow
Invisible Bugs and Other Creatures That Live Within You
Barn Owls
Samuel Todd’s Book of Great Inventions
A River Ran Wild
Batteries, Bulbs, and Wires
| Sound
Human Inheritance
Senses
Color/Seeds/Gardens
Penguins
Frog Tongues
Classification
Courtship in Fireflies
Plants/Seeds
Technology/Recycling
Rocks
Constellations
Pollution/Recycling
Magnifiers/Microscopes
Whale Studies
Camouflage
Inventions
Deep Ocean Animals
Microscopes/ Tiny Organisms
Owl Pellets
Technology
Pollution/Ecology
Electricity
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Of course, there are literally hundreds and hundreds of trade books available that can easily be related to science…but where do you find them? First, most teachers have their own collections of books, so review what you have. Next, your school library is likely a wonderful source of science-related books. And, the good news is that most librarians are willing to order books for teacher use—with library money. Bookstores are another excellent source of children’s books, and great for browsing. And don’t forget the Internet. Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, and Borders.com provide excellent information on children’s books, even out-of–print ones. Finally, a unique source of ideas for trade books is the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) journal Science and Children. NSTA teams up with the Children’s Book Council to publish “Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children,” usually in each year’s March issue . Forty to fifty outstanding science-related books are selected, featured, and described.
Trade books can be used to introduce science lessons, reinforce concepts and activities within lessons, and extend learning beyond lessons and beyond the classroom. They can also help teachers to provide for individual differences in reading and spark interest among children. If you are already using trade books to supplement science lessons…great! If you aren’t, give it a try…and observe you student’s reactions. You won’t be disappointed. Try a trade book! |
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