Teenage Water Science Technician

posted by Paula Johanson
What was your first job, fresh out of school? Something in retail, perhaps.
Or if you're still in school, are you currently delivering newspapers or mowing lawns?
Guess what job teenager Quentin Rae of North Spirit Lake First Nation has, right after finishing high school... has anyone guessed Water Plant Operator? Good golly, there's science technician work in northern Ontario!

Ninteen-year-old Quentin Rae has been hired by his community to operate their new water treatment plant. He is monitoring and maintaining water quality with the assistance and support of Northern Chiefs Council (Keewatinook Okimakanak). The council is getting Quentin specialized training which will enable his community to have clean drinking water, after fourteen years of a Boil Water Advisory.

You can read about it all in the CBC news article at this link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/teen-first-nation-drinking-water-1.3563110?fbclid=IwAR261xzPfTv1MQp6hAaYnHM6I7khFUeS1qAAaCmTSJvwuKPut0W_-qjv0Zs

Book Review: When Planet Earth Was New

It’s hard to say a lot about a book that has only 300 words. It’s elegant. It’s simple. It’s a look at billions of years of Earth’s natural history in 16 images.

This picture book is made up of engaging stylized art accompanied by super-simple text with a touch of the poetic. I would love to have a little kid again to read this to. It is accurate, but accessible. Images are full of action. Gladstone wrote about complex things using words are short and common; though a parent might have to explain “evolve,” it is a common word. Sentences hover around 10 words.

“The earth cooled slowly — so slowly…”

While this book doesn’t have the resilience of a board book, I’d much rather have read this to my son than Goodnight Moon every night for four years, even before he knew what the words meant. We would look at all the scenes, talking about what is shown, how long a million is, whether humans rode dinosaurs (they didn’t, and the text makes it clear that the two creatures are separated by several pages). We would use the folio at the end to guide discovery of each image, making it a scavenger hunt as we spot more detail. A glossary and list of related websites would help me explain even more and guide that little learner where their curiosity leads.

Diemert created the art with ink, collage, and digital media. She made every image active and engaging and full of detail that kids will love to discover every single night. Even the spread showing a dinosaur skeleton in the desert has an active tiny creature kids can imagine a story for.

The book leaves us with a sense that though Earth’s journey was long, it’s not over. Little minds will wonder where it might lead, and they’ll repeat the poetic words making them part of the family lexicon.

Recommended for kids from 1 to 8.

by James Gladstone, illustrations by Katherine Diemert

36 pages, OwlKids Books

Images from the book reproduced with permission of OwlKids Books.

Announcing the Bigger, Better - and Fully Updated - Science Book List

By Claire Eamer

2014 Lane Anderson Award

About a year ago, we posted our first list of Canadian science-themed books for children. Our goal was to help teachers, librarians, science communicators, and parents find science resources home-grown in Canada.

It was a selection only, not a comprehensive list - just what we could do with too little time, too few hands, and no resources to speak of.

2012 Lane Anderson Award

Here we are a year later, and not much has changed in the time-hands-resources continuum - but the book list has changed. It's bigger, bolder, better organized - and UPDATED!

(Oops. Did I shout that? Well, it's worth shouting about.)

The list is still not comprehensive, but there are a lot of books in there. Including the prize-winners you see on this page. The books are listed by curricular topic, so you can search for books on your favourite subject or just browse happily.

2013 Lane Anderson Award

And the book list even has its own shiny new page on the Sci/Why website. Take note of the tab on the right, above, and keep an eye on that page for further news. Or you can just jump straight to the book list.

Please share the Science Book List link with everyone and anyone. And use the list. You're welcome to download and distribute it. Just acknowledge the source.

Happy Reading!