Author/Illustrator: James M. Deem
Plot Summary: Page after page of fascinating details about bodies preserved in ice and revealed due to melting glaciers and global warming. Beginning with the glaciers of the European Alps, a couple is out climbing and discovers a body that after radiocarbon testing turns out to be the oldest human mummy every found that was preserved by freezing. He was 5,300 years old and lived during the copper age. Complete with graphic photographs, the book travels the globe with equally interesting, and detailed, accounts of dead bodies found in ice along with picturesque photos, maps and other artifacts.
Comments: I understand why I keep seeing this book on lists. It is the perfect, modern, non-fiction book. The photos are breathtaking, the pictures gory, the text reads like a short story rather than a boring, textbook and the subject matter is fascinating. This book would also be suitable for adults - it is almost a coffee table book. The last chapter addresses the issue of global warming and its serious implications. Entrepreneurs want to open a giant restaurant on Little Matterhorn in Switzerland so that tourists will keep coming even after the snow disappears - sad, but true.
Extensions:
1. Base a lesson in the media center on authors including James M. Deem. Use this Scavenger Hunt template from his website. I would adapt it for younger grades but this could be a good way to help students learn how to use the OPAC.
2. This book highlights various areas of the globe where global warming is causing ice to melt. Assign pairs or groups of students a geographic area on which to do more research. Their findings will be presented in a public service announcement that could be made in to a video podcast.
3.
Themes/keywords: glaciers, ice mummies, Otzi,
Age/Reading Level: Interest level - 5th grade and up; ATOS - 8.3; Follett - 8.6; Lexile - 1180
Standards:
S7CS10(similar standards for 4 - 8) Students will enhance reading in all curriculum areas by:
a. Reading in All Curriculum Areas
• Read a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books per year from a variety of subject disciplines and participate in discussions related to curricular learning in all areas
Grade: 9,10,11,12
Description: SB4 Students will assess the dependence of all organisms on one another and the flow of energy and matter within their ecosystems.
Elements:a. Investigate the relationships among organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems, and biomes.
b. Explain the flow of matter and energy through ecosystems by
d. Assess and explain human activities that influence and modify the environment such as global warming, population growth, pesticide use, and water and power consumption.
e. Relate plant adaptations, including tropisms, to the ability to survive stressful environmental conditions.
f. Relate animal adaptations, including behaviors, to the ability to survive stressful environmental conditions.
b. Explain the flow of matter and energy through ecosystems by
- Arranging components of a food chain according to energy flow.
- Comparing the quantity of energy in the steps of an energy pyramid
- Explaining the need for cycling of major nutrients (C, O, H, N, P).
d. Assess and explain human activities that influence and modify the environment such as global warming, population growth, pesticide use, and water and power consumption.
e. Relate plant adaptations, including tropisms, to the ability to survive stressful environmental conditions.
f. Relate animal adaptations, including behaviors, to the ability to survive stressful environmental conditions.
Publisher's Info: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 2008
ISBN-13: 978-0-618-80045-2
ISBN-10: 0-618-80045-X
Awards/Review Sources:
Wilson's Children 07/01/09 | School Library Journal starred 12/01/08 |
| Library Media Connection starred 05/01/09 | Kirkus Review starred 10/15/08 |
| Booklist 12/01/08 | Horn Book 04/01/09 |
| Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 12/01/08 | Science Books & Films (A.A.A.S.) 03/01/09 |
A National Science Teachers Association recommendation - http://www.nsta.org/recommends/ViewProduct.aspx?ProductID=19057
Genre/Dewey: Nonfiction; 599.9
Websites:
Author's website
On page 54 in the book, there are a number of websites that expand on the topics in the book. There is also an excellent bibliography.
Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network
Notes for Booktalk:
An interesting book about developing study skills for college - http://www.jamesmdeem.com/books.ssip.htm
Vocabulary:
Comments