We have an interesting selection of science-related books for this week's Reading Challenge in the theme of "Science and Mathematics". Deb (who is quite fond of bamboo) found a book about bamboo, Special Guest Reviewer Theresa Petray read a novel in which the main character has cancer and a deep love of science, and Sharon read about a drop that went plop.
Deb King read Bamboo: The plant and its uses edited by Walter Liese and Michael Köhl.
If you are
lucky enough to research bamboo for any of your assignments, this is the book
for you. If, like me, you are fascinated by bamboo, this is the book for you.
And really, what’s not to love about bamboo? Bamboo is used for food, medicine,
musical instruments and building products to mention only a few. This book
covers all this and so much more. Each
chapter presents a different aspect of bamboo according to a scientist.
Here are some things I read in this book:
Bamboo is native to all continents except Antarctica and Europe. (It’s not in the book, but in Queensland, Neololeba atra, Iron Range bamboo, is found in pockets around the Iron Ranges, Cape York Peninsula.)
There are over 1,250 species of woody bamboo. Of these, there is a short list of species most useful for cultivation. These are described in terms of distribution, life cycle, propagation and uses and value. Our Iron Range bamboo is not among them.
There are about 31.5 million hectares of bamboo forests in the world, representing around 1% of total global forest area. The below ground biomass of bamboo is 31- 43% of total biomass, depending on the species.
Bamboos do not flower annually. Tropical bamboo species flower about every 15–60 years. Most bamboos are monocarpic, (they flower and fruit once then die). When coupled with a gregarious flowering habit, (where all populations of a particular species flower at the same time), this can result in disastrous loss of income and food for local communities. Famine and diseases are also reported where mass flowering has occurred, and the resulting seeds have led to rat plagues.
Author I haven't read before, non-fiction, eBook
Zac & Mia is a young adult novel about two
teenagers with cancer. Because they are both 17 when they receive their
diagnoses, they find themselves in the adult cancer ward, and are obviously
drawn together as the ‘young ones’. However, the first challenge of their
friendship is that Zac is in total isolation following a bone marrow
transplant. They overcome that, and several other stumbling blocks, and the
book follows their friendship as they fight cancer and deal with everything
life throws at them.
Sharon Bryan read The Drop Goes Plop: A First Look at the Water Cycle by Sam Godwin and Simone Abel.
Among the many interesting things you can find in the Curriculum Collection, we also have some "Big Book" editions of illustrated books, for reading stories to large groups of children.
One of the "Big Books" we have is The Drop Goes Plop, an introduction to the water cycle. Godwin and Abel have taken a story-within-a-story approach to this concept. A baby seagull and it's mother (who is, for some reason, wearing sunglasses and 80s legwarmers while carrying around a telescope) are talking about clouds, and the mama bird decides to tell her chick all about the water cycle by following the life of a single drop of water as it goes from cloud to reservoir to treatment plant to some kid's shower to sewer to sea to cloud (with a few other stops along the way).
I'm a huge fan of the water cycle. It may seem like a strange thing to say, but it gives me comfort. Whenever I see my neighbours using their reticulated sprinkler system while it's raining ("you can override the automated system, dangit!" *shakes fist*) I just remind myself that we're not losing the water from the planet - just the dam (which is bad enough, I guess).
This book might very well be a fine way to introduce the water cycle to a group of small children gathered around your feet for a story telling session (if you can get past the leg warmers).
Author I haven't read before, non-fiction(ish), c551.48 DRO
Deb King read Bamboo: The plant and its uses edited by Walter Liese and Michael Köhl.
Here are some things I read in this book:
Bamboo is native to all continents except Antarctica and Europe. (It’s not in the book, but in Queensland, Neololeba atra, Iron Range bamboo, is found in pockets around the Iron Ranges, Cape York Peninsula.)
There are over 1,250 species of woody bamboo. Of these, there is a short list of species most useful for cultivation. These are described in terms of distribution, life cycle, propagation and uses and value. Our Iron Range bamboo is not among them.
There are about 31.5 million hectares of bamboo forests in the world, representing around 1% of total global forest area. The below ground biomass of bamboo is 31- 43% of total biomass, depending on the species.
Bamboos do not flower annually. Tropical bamboo species flower about every 15–60 years. Most bamboos are monocarpic, (they flower and fruit once then die). When coupled with a gregarious flowering habit, (where all populations of a particular species flower at the same time), this can result in disastrous loss of income and food for local communities. Famine and diseases are also reported where mass flowering has occurred, and the resulting seeds have led to rat plagues.
Author I haven't read before, non-fiction, eBook
Theresa Petray read Zac & Mia, by A.J. Betts.
Zac describes himself as someone who believes in science. He
knows the survival statistics for everyone on the ward, getting annoyed with
Mia for not appreciating her luck at having a survivable cancer. Mia, on the
other hand, believes in ghosts and doesn’t think getting cancer is lucky at
all, even if it could be worse!
Zac & Mia is a quick, emotional read. It’s
told from the perspective of the two protagonists, and one of its strengths is
the way the characters develop, and the relationships they have with each other
and with their family and friends.
Fiction, Australian author, author-I-haven’t-read-before. Check your local library for copies.
Sharon Bryan read The Drop Goes Plop: A First Look at the Water Cycle by Sam Godwin and Simone Abel.
One of the "Big Books" we have is The Drop Goes Plop, an introduction to the water cycle. Godwin and Abel have taken a story-within-a-story approach to this concept. A baby seagull and it's mother (who is, for some reason, wearing sunglasses and 80s legwarmers while carrying around a telescope) are talking about clouds, and the mama bird decides to tell her chick all about the water cycle by following the life of a single drop of water as it goes from cloud to reservoir to treatment plant to some kid's shower to sewer to sea to cloud (with a few other stops along the way).
I'm a huge fan of the water cycle. It may seem like a strange thing to say, but it gives me comfort. Whenever I see my neighbours using their reticulated sprinkler system while it's raining ("you can override the automated system, dangit!" *shakes fist*) I just remind myself that we're not losing the water from the planet - just the dam (which is bad enough, I guess).
This book might very well be a fine way to introduce the water cycle to a group of small children gathered around your feet for a story telling session (if you can get past the leg warmers).
Author I haven't read before, non-fiction(ish), c551.48 DRO
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