March 14, 2012

Welcome to Writing Wednesday! Last week we are asked you to read the "goat story" below and then tell us whether you thought it was true or false, and why. 

The answer is that this nonfiction story was only partly true. Some readers caught some of the errors, some caught most of the errors, no one got them all. Read below to see the corrected story.

The Goat Story: The word "goat" is thought to have come from an old Slavic English word meaning "to jump." You can see how the animal got its name when you look at this photograph of a baby goat playing in the snow.

Goats are one of the oldest domesticated species ("domesticated" means "wild" and unable to the animal has been tamed and is suited to live near and work with human beings). For centuries, people all over the world have kept goats for their milk, meat, hair and skins. Female goats are referred to as does or nannies, male goats as bucks or billies, and the babies are called kids. fawns.

Goats are naturally curious animals who will chew on just about anything to find out if it is good to eat - including tin cans and cardboard boxes! They are browsing animals, and while they will not actually eat an inedible material like a can, they will taste just about anything so that they can decide whether it is good to eat. Their razor sharp teeth allow them to demolish metal as if they were sharks.

Writing for Fun: If you feel like writing, make up a fiction story of no more than three paragraphs to tell us why the kid in this picture is jumping in the snow.

When you are finished, click on the yellow "Comments" at the bottom of this post to enter your writing. Have fun!

March 13, 2012

Today’s "Cool Photo of the Week" is of a 3-week old baby squirrel, wearing a tiny cast on her arm after falling out of a tree. A couple in England were cutting branches off a tree in their yard, when they realized that one of the branches contained a squirrel’s nest. They saw the injured baby squirrel on the ground and called Animal Rescue.  They took her in, put a cast on her arm, and have been feeding her special milk that is similar to what her mother would have fed her.

Photo: Tim Goode / Solent News & Photo Agency

March 7, 2012

Welcome to Writing Wednesday! Every week there is a new opportunity to publish your own creative writing on the Seymour Science blog. This week, we are asking you to read our "goat story" and decide whether you think it is true or false, and why.

The Goat Story: The word "goat" is thought to have come from an old Slavic word meaning "to jump." You can see how the animal got its name when you look at this photograph of a baby goat playing in the snow.

Goats are one of the oldest domesticated species ("domesticated" means "wild" and unable to live near human beings). For centuries, people all over the world have kept goats for their milk, meat, hair and skins. Female goats are referred to as does or nannies, male goats as bucks or billies, and the babies are called fawns.

Goats are naturally curious animals who will chew on just about anything to find out if it is good to eat - including tin cans and cardboard boxes! Their razor sharp teeth allow them to demolish metal as if they were sharks.

Your assignment: Read the information in these three paragraphs and tell us whether you think it is true or false (not true). And tell us your reasons for deciding.

When you are finished, click on the yellow "Comments" at the bottom of this post to enter your writing.

I have created a Guide called “Writing Exciting Nonfiction,” which you can download by clicking on this link. It outlines different techniques that I use in my writing, and includes many examples from my books. I have posted it so that you can use it with your students. Please let me know if it is helpful, and share any other feedback about how we can make this blog a productive tool for you to use in exploring and encouraging nonfiction writing with your students.

March 6, 2012

For today’s Cool Photo of the Week, we could not resist posting this adorable photograph of a Eurasian Red Squirrel. If you live in Europe or Asia, this is a common tree squirrel. Those of us who live here in North American are used to seeing its cousin, the Eastern Grey Squirrel. Our grey squirrels are bigger, and they don’t have these very cute ear-tufts!

March 5, 2012

I am going to visit a school in Menands, NY later this week, and in preparation for my visit, Ms. Sposito and her first grade class have been reading my books. What a nice surprise to find the lovely photographs and notes that they have been uploading today!

Abbi and Sabrina wrote: We loved your KILLER WHALES book Seymour Simon. We liked the part about the blowhole.  The picture of the pod looks like a group of whales huddling together to have a meeting. How did you get the photo under the water?

Toby and Varun are fans of AMAZING BATS: We like how you added all the facts about the different kinds of bats. How do you know this much about the gigantic flying fox?

Leilah and Mady learned some surprising things from BABY ANIMALS: We loved your Baby Animals book. We were amazed when we read that a humpback whale is 12 feet long at birth.  We were also surprised to find out that baby garter snakes don’t live with their mothers. 

Alicia, Roshni and Brody wrote: We read your book AMAZING BATS. We loved it! There were some parts we really liked. We thought it was disgusting but cool when we read that the ghost bat eats rats. We wondered, does the little brown bat’s stomach hurt when it eats 600 bugs an hour? We think it is silly to sleep upside down!

LaTrell and E-Sonne wrote: We loved your book KILLER WHALES. Whales are cool because they swim really fast and are so huge! We learned that killer whales eat fish. 

Jayden, Lyam and Alyssa liked the same book: We think the Killer Whale book was amazing! We did not know that whales can breathe on top of the water. We think it is cool that whales use flippers to steer and turn. How did you make the book? 

Alexa and Reem wrote: Hi Seymour Simon. We are glad that you are coming this week because we love your Seymour Simon books! We love to read your BABY ANIMALS book. We liked learning about ducklings. We hope you make more books. See you on Thursday. 

Aditi, Shafe, Alexis and Kamellia like BABY ANIMALS, also. They asked: How do you know so much about baby animals? We are so amazed by your books! We want people to read your books. We found out that baby animals are surviving all over the world. They are living things. Have a nice trip coming all the way to Menands. 

March 2, 2012

One of the really special things about being a children’s author is that you receive many letters and notes from readers who love your books. Yesterday I received a note that was so sweet and wonderful, I decided to publish it here for others to read. Thank you, Lilly in third grade!

Hi. i’m Lilly. I am nine and in third grade. I love your non-fiction books especially BIG CATS. My favorite animal is a big cat, it is the cheetah. I am kind of obsessed with cheetahs. I would love if you could answer some questions I ask you…what’s your favorite animal, How many pets do you own, What city do live in. Could you please send me a few pictures of animals. Have you ever encountered a cheetah? You are so inspiring to me… you inspire me to do what i love. You say we should protect wildlife which i agree. I have an acrostic just for you…

Spectacular

Eccentric

You have a beautiful heart

Marvelous

On my mind every time I see an animal

U r awesome

Rescuing animals in words

Somebody to know

Inspiring

Magnificent

One of my favorite authors

Notice how wonderful you are at writing

Thank you SO much for your lovely letter and wonderful acrostic. I’m so touched and pleased at what you wrote, Lilly. Cheetahs are great big cats and they are fascinating. I’ve only seen cheetahs in zoos and I’m afraid that I don’t have pictures of the animal to send to you. I only use photos of wild animals that are taken in the wild (not in zoos) in my books, so I get the photos from scientists who study the animals in nature.

I’m not sure I have a single favorite wild animal, but I do enjoy reading and writing about them. The first book I wrote and that was published when I was an adult was a book about animal behavior and I’ve written dozens of books about all kinds of animals since then. 

I live near New York City, and although I don’t have pets any more, I do miss my dog Nova and my two cats, Mittens and Newty Fruity. In fact, I have been reading about aquariums all week. I always used to keep and breed fish, and I think I’m going to start again because I miss it!

Thank you, again, Lilly, for making my day very happy, indeed. 

February 28, 2012

Today’s "Cool Photo of the Week" shows the caretaker at a crocodile breeding center in Nepal brushing the teeth of a narrow snouted crocodile. This endangered species is bred in captivity and released into the wild once they can live on their own.

Photo: Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters

February 8, 2012

Welcome to Writing Wednesday! Every week there is a new opportunity to publish your own creative writing on the Seymour Science blog. This week, we are asking you to use your writing to convince people to support an important cause.

The Problem: 2012 is one of Alaska’s snowiest winters ever. 92 inches of snow have already fallen in Anchorage, Alaska - that’s 18 inches more than they usually get in a whole year! And there are still ten weeks of winter left.

The snow is so deep that moose - the largest deer on Earth - are using plowed highways and railroad tracks to get around. This is dangerous, and they are being hit by trains and cars in record numbers. Although the moose is not officially endangered, the population is much smaller because of hunting and other human activities.

The Alaska Moose Agency wants the governor to declare a "Moose Emergency," so that they can get permission to clear trees and cut paths to give the moose safe pathways to walk on.

Your Assignment: Imagine that you are part of the Alaska Moose Agency, and you are making posters to hang up all around town, asking for a Moose Emergency. The poster can’t have too many words on it, or it will be too hard to read. So, you must argue your case, and make people care about saving the moose…..in 50 words or less.

Tips to Make Your Writing Powerful:

o   Set the scene by appealing to your reader’s senses and imagination.

o   Include descriptive details to help to convince the reader that your cause is important.

o   Use strong verbs to get your reader to take action.

Give it your best shot. When you are finished writing, click on the yellow "Comments" at the bottom of this post to enter your writing.

Photo: Donna Dewhurst

I have created a Guide called “Writing Exciting Nonfiction,” which you can download by clicking on this link. It outlines different techniques that I use in my writing, and includes many examples from my books. I have posted it so that you can use it with your students. Please let me know if it is helpful, and share any other feedback about how we can make this blog a productive tool for you to use in exploring and encouraging nonfiction writing with your students.

January 17, 2012

The cool photo of the week is….a white penguin! This unusual white Chinstrap penguin was spotted by a naturalist onboard a ship off Antarctica’s Aitcho Islands. This is a leucistic (pronounced lew-SIS-tic) penguin, which means that it has less than the normal amount of pigment, or coloration, in its skin and feathers.

It is a fairly rare sight, since the penguin’s black and white coloring serves as camouflage. When it is fishing, a penguin’s black back makes it blend in with the dark waters below, protecting it from predators avove. Similarly, its white belly makes it blend in with the sky when viewed by predators from below. That is a common survival mechanism among many animals (think about birds in the sky, or fish with light-colored bellies and darker colors on top). And that is why it is so rare to see a leucistic penguin. Since their coloration does not protect them, fewer survive to breed, resulting in very few among the general population. 

Photo: David Stephens / Lindblad Expeditions

January 11, 2012

Welcome to Writing Wednesday! Every Wednesday you can publish your own creative writing on the Seymour Science blog.

Writing Wednesday has two simple rules: 

1. Give us the best you’ve got in 5 minutes. That’s right - five minutes of creative writing. Think of it as a word extravaganza to warm up your brain for the rest of the day!
2. Tell us your first name, the name of your school, and how old you are.

This is one of the new species they found. It is called a VAMPIRE SQUID, and it lives in Monterey Bay, off the coast of Northern California. Click the "Comments" button below and take five minutes to write about what you see in this photograph. Use descriptive words and strong verbs to describe the animal and the dark waters where it lives. You could use a comparison to help your reader imagine this creature….or appeal to the reader’s emotions to set the scene (how does it make you feel when you look at a Vampire Squid?).

What you write is up to you. Have fun with it!

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