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Insects
Bial, Raymond, A Handful of
Dirt, Walker and Co., 2000. Grades 3-6
Introduces dirt dwellers, from the tiniest protozoans
through myriad invertebrates, to the mammals and reptiles whose
burrows aerate the earth, all depicted in large, sharp, full-color
photos. The author includes basic instructions for setting up
a home compost heap.
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Buchmann, Stephen, Honey Bees: Letters from the Hive, Delacorte, 2010. (Young Adult)
Enter a beehive - one part nursery, one part honey factory, one part queen bee sanctum - then fly through backyard gardens, open fields and deserts where wildflowers bloom. Hailed for their hard work and harmonious society, bees make possible life on earth as we know it. The fundamental link between bees and humans reaches beyond biology to our environment and our culture: bees have long played important roles in art, religion, literature and medicine - and, of course, the kitchen.
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Burnie, David, Plant (DK Eywitness Books), DK Children, 2004. (Grades 4-6)
Real-life photographs of flowers, fruits, seeds, leaves and more offer an "eyewitness" view of the natural history of plant anatomy and growth. See where a seed develops, what the inside of a plant stem looks like, how a flower attracts insects, what a plant's reproductive organs look like and how a dandelion spreads its seeds. Learn how plants defend themselves, why flowers are brightly colored, how a plant can climb, why some plants feed on insects and why some plants have no seeds.
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Burns, Loree Griffin, and Ellen
Harasimowicz, Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe, Houghton
Mifflin, 2010. (Grades 5 and Above)
In this volume from the "Scientists in the Field" series,
Burns takes up the case of a die-off of millions of honey bees
in 2006. A commercial beekeeper explains that our food supply
depends on the bees. Beekeepers transport hives to Florida and
California to help pollinate fruit trees. The mystery of the
disappearing bees is not solved here, but the potential risk
is clear.
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Cole, Joanna, and Bruce Degen, The
Magic School Bus: Inside a Beehive, Scholastic, 1998.
(Grades K-3)
Ms. Frizzle introduces her class to the insect
kingdom via an excursion through a honeybee hive. Garbed in bee
costumes complete with antennae, and sprayed with the proper
pheromones, the students are accepted by the workers and allowed
to perform such chores as foraging for nectar and pollen, building
honeycombs, making honey, and feeding larvae. They also have
the opportunity to observe typical honeybee behavior.
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Ehlert, Lois, Waiting
for Wings,
Harcourt, 2001. (Grades preK-2)
"Out in the fields, eggs are hidden from
view, / clinging to leaves with butterfly glue. / Soon caterpillars
hatch. They creep and chew. / Each one knows what it must do." As
the gentle rhyme unfolds, we turn the small, partial pages that
form the larger spread of fabulous foliage in this lush, oversized
book. Before our eyes, the eggs turn to caterpillars, the caterpillars
to cases, the cases to lovely butterflies. "They pump their
wings, get ready to fly, then hungry butterflies head for the
sky." The colors become increasingly dazzling, each butterfly
springing to life with Ehlert's color-soaked cut-paper magic.
Several pages of background material conclude the book, labeling
different kinds of butterflies at different stages of development,
from the buckeye butterfly to the painted lady to the monarch.
A "Butterfly Information" page clearly labels butterfly
anatomy and answers basic question about these fascinating fluttery
insects, a "Flower Identification" page showcases butterfly-attracting
flowers such as the purple coneflower (echinacea), phlox, and
lantana, and the last page offers a few pointers on growing a
butterfly garden.
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Gibbons, Gail, The Honey Makers,
HarperCollins, 2000. (Grades 2-6)
Explains bee social structure and roles, pollination, honey making,
beekeeping, and harvesting honey. Also includes a beekeeper's
diary and fast facts.
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Greenaway, Theresa, The Big
Book of Bugs, DK, 2000. (Grades 4-6)
An up-close and personal book for young entomologists
and all curious kids who are fascinated with bugs. Look right
into a spider's eye and get tangled in its web! Marvel at the
stunning pictures of teeny tiny creepy crawlies blown up to extraordinary
sizes. Engaging annotations provide buggy facts and figures.
Larger than life photographs of creepy crawlies include locusts,
caterpillars, beetles, flies, grasshoppers, ants, praying mantis,
and more!
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Halfmann, Janet, Plant Tricksters (Watts Library), Children's, 2004. (Grades 4-6)
Introduces various plants that use unusual defense mechanisms to survive.
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Hopkinson, Deborah, and Jen Corace, The Humblebee
Hunter, Hyperion, 2010. (Grades PreK-3)
The story of Charles Darwin's children and the way they helped
him with his research by collecting specimens for him and making
observations. For example, his daughter Henryetta counted the
number of flowers a "humblebee," or bumblebee could visit
in a minute. (21)
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Kelly, Irene, It's a Butterfly's Life, Holiday House,
2007. (Grades 1-5)
Colorful and accurate illustrations depict a
wide array of different butterflies and moths, their caterpillars,
eggs and even the chrysalis of some. The book discusses what
and how butterflies eat and behave, their life cycles, mating,
metamorphosis, anatomy, predators and camouflage. Includes examples
of plants the butterflies like to visit and other facts.
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Polacco, Patricia, The Bee
Tree, Putnam, 1998. (Grades K-3)
Mary Ellen would rather be "outdoors running
and playing" than indoors with a book. Sympathetic to her
feelings, her grandfather suggests that they find a bee tree.
Mary Ellen and Grampa chase a pollen-laden bee to its far-off
hive, picking up curious neighbors and passers-by along the way.
Before long the original pair becomes a "thundering stampede
of goats, buggies, people and bikes" in search of honey.
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Pringle, Laurence, and Bob Marshall, An
Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly, Scholastic,
2000. (Grades 4-7)
Written as a story, following the life cycle
of a female caterpillar from an egg laid in a Massachusetts hayfield
to her death in an Arkansas pasture many months and a fantastic
migration later. The narrative is scientifically sound and includes
information from the most recent research. The oversized book
includes realistic, full-color paintings of Monarchs in all stages
of their development and their habitats. Colorful sidebars and
a variety of maps are accompanied by informative captions. Following
the body of the work are chapters on protecting the remaining
winter refuges and on raising Monarchs at home or in the classroom.
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Sandved, Kjell B., The Butterfly
Alphabet, Scholastic, 1999. (Grades 4-6)
A world-renowned nature photographer presents
photographs of butterflies from throughout the world, using close-up
views of wing designs that look like letters of the alphabet.
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Silverstein, Alvin, and Virginia B. Silverstein, and Laura Silberstein Nunn, Symbiosis (Science Concepts, Second Series), 21st Century, 2007.
The book covers mutualism, commensualism, parasitism and gives numberous examples of these important partnerships. Further chapters cover the symbiotic relationship that humans have with animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms.
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Souza, DM, Freaky
Flowers, Franklin Watts, 2002.
(Grades 4-7)
The book begins with a short course in botany
that stresses vocabulary and processes. Subsequent chapters discuss
different ways plants attract pollinators through colors, odors,
and habitats. The last chapter acts as a warning that many plants
are endangered because their pollinators are threatened, emphasizing
the balance of nature. Small sidebars offer
interesting bits of trivia about similar plants.
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Stetson, Emily, and J. Susan Cole Stone, Kids' Easy-to-Create Wildlife Habitats, Williamson, 2004. (Grades 4-6)
How to observe and support wildlife around your home, school and community. Discusses the characteristics of different animals and qualities that make their habitats suitable for them. Introduces common animals, their habitats and the foods that attract them. Activities and projects include preparing a feast for a butterfly, exploring a rotting log and making a compost pile.
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Turner, Ann, Grasshopper Summer, Macmillan,
2000. (Grades 4-7)
After the Civil War, Sam's father decides that he's had enough
of the overworked Kentucky bottomland that he has farmed for
his in-laws. He takes his family by wagon to the Dakota Territory,
where land is as cheap as the cost of settling it. Sam can't
get accustomed to the big sky in Nebraska, but he and his brother
Billy gradually learn to like their new surroundings. It is only
when a swarm of grasshoppers drops out of the sky and devours
their first crop that Sam realizes that although his own family
is staying on, the price of settling a new land, for some folks,
is just too high. Turner deftly balances tranquil scenes (the
family's pitching in to build the sod house) with terrifying
ones (the grasshoppers eat anything green, even the green stripes
of a woman's dress--while she is still wearing it). |
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension
Service, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the
Oklahoma State Department of Education. |
