Eyewitness Books: Astronomy / by Kristen Lippincott / Science Picture Book

Bibliographic Information: Lippincott, K. (2008). Eyewitness astronomy. New York, N.Y: DK Publishing.

Plot Description: From the publisher: "The most trusted nonfiction series on the market, Eyewitness Books provide an in-depth, comprehensive look at their subjects with a unique integration of words and pictures. The perfect guide to understanding the mysteries of the planets, stars, and universe, Eyewitness: Astronomy delves into the fascinating world of space, providing a comprehensive look at the discoveries and research that have transformed our understanding of the universe." Several topics are covered, including the ancient roots of astronomy, Copernicus, optics and observatories, spectroscopy, radio telescopes, space travel, and the Solar System and beyond.

Quantitative Reading Level: Lexile Level: 1110L

Qualitative Reading Analysis: As an introduction to the science of astronomy, this hardback volume is a great way of engaging young science students. That said, a certain amount of knowledge of scientific vocabulary and the natural world is necessary, as this book builds on a basic knowledge of the solar system. The book's structure is helpfully cohesive, with a large print table of contents and index. As with their other books, this DK Eyewitness book is colorful and compelling, each page featuring a full color variety of images, charts, and side panels that offer a realistic view into the history and science of astronomy. Text size varies from the oversized to the minute, with very little margin space left over, and reading level is quite technical, thereby requiring a 5th grade and up reading level. Scientific concepts are revealed planet by planet, and connected via photographs of space that indicate the relative distances and sizes of stars and planets in our Solar System. A fascinating read with multiple access points for both textual and visual readers.

Content Area: Science; Astronomy

Content Area Standard: CCSS Next Generation Science Standards for California Public Schools: Grade 5 
5-PS2-1.     Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.

5-ESS1-1. Support an argument that differences in the apparent brightness of the sun compared to other stars is due to their relative distances from Earth. 

ESS1.B.  Earth and the Solar System: The orbits of Earth around the sun and of the moon around Earth, together with the rotation of Earth about an axis between its North and South poles, cause observable patterns. These include day and night; daily changes in the length and direction of shadows; and different positions of the sun, moon, and stars at different times of the day, month, and year. 

California Common Core State Standards Connections: ELA/Literacy – Grade 5 

RI.5.1.a–d.    Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. (5-PS2-1),(5-ESS1-1).

Curriculum Suggestions: An excellent reference book for schools and homeschools, each page features a variety of photographs and illustrations. This volume would work well for science project research, comprehensive question and answer reading assignments, or group work in which students search for answers to question prompts. The history of astronomy is well covered, and would make a solid foundation for students studying the history of science and the early astronomers. The clear table of contents and index makes for a helpful reference guide as well.

Links to Supporting Digital Content:

Eyewitness DVD "Planets" 

DK Eyewitness New Atlas of the Solar System  While CD-Rom technology is rather dated, this is a 3-D tour of the solar system and provides a video reference companion to the Eyewitness Astronomy book.

Series Information: DK Eyewitness books cover a variety of topics for school students, and some come with CDs.

The Radioactive Boy Scout: The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade Nuclear Reactor / by Ken Silverstein: A Narrative Science Title for High School

Bibliographic Data: Silverstein, K. (2004). The radioactive boy scout: The true story of a boy and his backyard nuclear reactor. New York: Random House.

Plot Description:  This is the true story of David Hahn, a young boy who builds a nuclear reactor in his backyard shed in the Detroit suburbs. From the publisher: "While [David] was working on his Atomic Energy badge for the Boy Scouts, David’s obsessive attention turned to nuclear energy. Throwing caution to the wind, he plunged into a new project: building a model nuclear reactor in his backyard garden shed. Posing as a physics professor, David solicited information on reactor design from the U.S. government and from industry experts. Following blueprints he found in an outdated physics textbook, David cobbled together a crude device that threw off toxic levels of radiation. His wholly unsupervised project finally sparked an environmental emergency that put his town’s forty thousand suburbanites at risk. The EPA ended up burying his lab at a radioactive dumpsite in Utah. This offbeat account of ambition and, ultimately, hubris has the narrative energy of a first-rate thriller."

Quantitative Reading Level: Lexile Level: 1300L

Qualitative Reading Analysis: Written by journalist Ken Silverstein, this book is written in fluid, natural  language, sure to grab high school readers' attention. While the knowledge demands of scientific terminology and science history are best suited for upper grades, its narrative format still has the potential for teacher-guided reading for younger students in high school or even middle school. This is perhaps due to the journalistic tone, which defines and contextualizes these complex ideas for the reader. The author as first person narrator sets the story in its historical context and jumps between the story's events and the larger scientific/historical picture, clearly navigating between the two and preventing confusion. A table of contents lists each of the eight titles and subtitles, each chapter being approximately 20 pages long. The font is a readable medium point serif, with pages consisting of single spaced paragraphs surrounded by one inch margins. Notes for each chapter are listed in the back of the book for further reading of primary and secondary sources. Interesting descriptions of how nuclear science works, the history of radium use in the U.S., and descriptions of Superfund and the law enforcement response to David Hahn's backyard experiment will captivate high school readers and adults alike.

Content Area: Science, reading

Content Area Standard: CCSS for English Language Arts for Grades 11-12

3.Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters/archetypes are introduced and developed).

5.Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

CCSS Reading Standards for Informational Text for Grades 11-12

2. Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.

3. Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.

5. Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.

Curriculum Suggestions: This book would make an entertaining and informative introduction to either a nuclear science unit or a science history unit. The story focuses on a boy scout, thus providing a peer character for students to relate. Relevant assignments for this book could center on gifted children, science ethics, and could be paired with the similar nonfiction title, The Boy Who Played with Fusion.

Links to Supporting Digital Content: 

Season 6, Episode 6 of the Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum features the story of the "Radioactive Boy scout".

Editorial Reviews:
“Amazing . . . unsettling . . . should come with a warning: Don’t buy [this book] for any obsessive kids in the family. It might give them ideas.”

–Rocky Mountain News
“An astounding story . . . [Silverstein] has a novelist’s eye for meaningful detail and a historian’s touch for context.”
–The San Diego Union-Tribune“Alarming . . . The story fascinates from start to finish.”
–Outside
“Enthralling . . . [It] has the quirky pleasures of a Don DeLillo novel or an Errol Morris documentary. . . . An engaging portrait of a person whose life on America’s fringe also says something about mainstream America.”
–Minneapolis Star Tribune
“[Silverstein] does a fabulous job of letting David [Hahn’s] surrealistic story tell itself. . . . But what’s truly amazing is how far Hahn actually got in the construction of his crude nuclear reactor.”
–The Columbus Dispatch