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The 2018 INSTAR selections are books that teachers can use across grade levels to teach science standards and to integrate science with other content areas. Below are some of this year’s highlighted titles.
Vivid photographs will catch every reader’s eye in Living Things and Nonliving Things by Kevin Kurtz. Simple text poses questions for readers to consider about the qualities and traits of a variety of living and nonliving things. Teachers and parents will be pleased to find cross-curricular activities to help extend the lessons and expand children’s thinking about this topic.
Capturing the imagination of young readers through a bedtime story Laura Prudie Salas in If You Were the Moon uses the moon’s voice to share astronomy with young readers. The left side of the spread includes the moon’s conversation with a young girl which blames the moon for doing nothing. On the right side of the spread the moon shares through poetic text some of the many ways it helps Earth and its inhabitants.
Kate Messner authors another outstanding book in the series describing habitats in nature that are unseen. In Over and Under the Pond, readers learn about the surface and underwater worlds as a mother and her son travel by canoe across a mountain pond. Richard Neal’s colorful illustrations includes accurate detail for the pond’s flora and fauna and a color changing palette as day turns into evening.
Noted author Elizabeth Rusch weaves science concepts, historical context, and musical attributes in Music of Life: Bartolomeo Cristofori and The Invention of the Piano. With musical terms as headings and whimsical illustrations, this book about the invention of the piano will engage readers who are learning to play the piano as well as those who are captivated by the illustrations. Science content pertaining to sound can be easily highlighted during a read aloud of this text. Additional information about the remaining Cristofori pianos is included.
Jason Chin is able to convey the beauty and wonder of the Grand Canyon through current views and portrayals of geological history in Grand Canyon. With pages framed in additional visually-based content to augment the content in the storyline, Chin helps readers understand how the views of the Grand Canyon today are the result of geological changes over time.
Astronomer David Aguilar invites readers on a journey to visit his selection of the most interesting features of our solar system in the Seven Wonders of the Solar System. With digitized compilations of images and engaging text, Aguilar presents a compelling case for his selection of the seven most interesting aspects of our solar system.