Children's Books

As many school's do not have any sort of official science curriculum, it is our duty as teachers to find a way to incorporate this important subject matter into other content areas. Children's literature is a great way to do this. Many children's books are already focused on science and others are just waiting to have it pulled out of them. Here is a list and children's books and ways to connect them to science:

• I Saw a Bullfrog by Ellen Stern: This book is great play on words and shows what animals would look like if they actually were two animals mixed together. At the end of the book, there is real information about all the animals discussed throughout the book. A great follow up activity would be to have students create their own animal mixture. However, the features and facts about their animals would have to be accurate. 
• What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page: This is a guessing book. It shows different parts of animals on each page and students would guess what animal the part belonged to. The answers follow each guessing page. This book could be used in discussing the five senses, animals biology, or environment (i.e. fish do not have ears because they live under water). 
• Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw: This book is great for teaching force and motion.
• Coyote and the Sky: How the Sun, Moon, and Stars Began by Emmett Garcia: A great book to accompany a moon lesson. It is written by a member of the Santa Ana tribe and tells the story of how their culture believes the sun, the moon, and the stars came to be.