Seymour Simon's Blog, page 3
October 13, 2015
Video: Seymour at Relay Elementary School
Seymour Simon recently visited Relay Elementary School in Baltimore, Maryland. His visit was covered on the district’s website, BCPS News! Check out the videohere.
September 30, 2015
Writing about Global Warming
I had a nice note today from Isaiah, in Owings Mills MD, who wrote: "I really like the way you gather information about what scientists know about global warming."Thank you for letting me know that, Isaiah. It is a topic I am very concerned about, and I have written about it often. In fact, there are 29 articles aboutGlobal Warmingon my website. Click on this link to read the articles: http://www.seymoursimon.com/index.php... readers who may be new to my blog, on the left hand side of the page is an alphabetized list of topics (called "Labels"). You can see here that "Global Warming (29)" is on that list. And every topic is clickable. So all you have to do is click on the link, and you can read earlier articles on subjects that interest you.Thanks for stopping by my website. We love to see you here!
September 29, 2015
Water on Mars
Did you see the announcement from NASA (America’s space agency) this week about finding evidence of water on Mars? Scientists have long thought that there may have been water on this desert plant in the past, but images taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are extraordinary because they show evidence of water flowing today. Do you see the dark streaks in this image? These streaks are from the minerals left behind when briny (salty) water flows down the slopes in the Martian "summer." Why is this important for us? If there is liquid water on Mars, then it makes it much more possible that we can travel there to explore Mars ourselves. The rocket needed to carry astronauts on the year-long trip to Mars will be much lighter if it doesn’t have to carry water. There is currently no Mars mission planned…but I bet there will be soon.Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
March 27, 2015
Meet the Ili Pika
Look at this cute, tiny animal. It is called an Ili Pika (pronounced "illy PEEK-ah" or "Pika" for short) and it lives in the mountains in China. The pika is very small, measuring just 7 inches (20 centimeters) long. That is about the same length as a 3-year-old’s foot. The Ili Pika is an endangered species, with less than 1,000 known to be in existence. They live on rocky mountain slopes and eat the grasses there, but as global warming leads to rising temperatures, the mountain glaciers are shrinking, forcing the pikas to gradually retreat to mountain tops to find the cool moisture that nurtures the grasses that they eat. Ili Pikas also tend to live alone and they are not as vocal as other pika species. So if predators are near, Ili pikas are not able to call out and alert each other. Because of these threats, scientists in China are working to establish an organization to study and protect this animal. Some people think that this tiny animal inspired the famous Pokemon character, Pikachu. What do you think?
February 24, 2015
Colors in Nature
Even after all these years of writing science books for children, I’m still thrilled when I get a good review.This oneis particularly meaningful, because it’s from Kirkus (who are notoriously tough reviewers) and because it’s of a book that I co-authored with my wife, Liz Nealon.The narrated version of this eBook is part of ourStarWalk Kidsstreaming eBook collection. I hope that you will try it with your students.
October 31, 2014
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween from the misunderstood animals in my book ANIMALS NOBODY LOVES!
October 29, 2014
Seymour Simon’s New Halloween Book
Seymour Simon and Dennis Kendrick have teamed up again for a new "Silly Jokes and Riddles" book, and this one is perfect for Halloween! If you are a StarWalk Kids Media subscriber, thenarrated eBookis already in your collection. If not, it is available on bothAmazonandBN.com.
October 8, 2014
Writing Wednesday: Animals Affected by Climate Change
There was a disturbing story in the news last week, when a satellite survey discovered that 35,000 walruses had hauled themselves up on a beach in Alaska.In this aerial photo taken on Sept. 27, 2014, provided by NOAA, some 35,000 walruses gather on the shore near Point Lay, Alaska.(AP Photo/NOAA, Corey Accardo) Chadwick Jay, a research ecologist and leader of theU.S. Geological Survey’s Pacific walrus research program, said: "The area’s summer sea ice vanished by mid-September, leaving the walruses with nowhere in the Chukchi Sea to rest between their dives to the seafloor for food."These animals usually rest on ice floating in the ocean, but if there is no ice available, they head for land. This huge gathering, larger than any seen before, is most likely due to the loss of sea ice in the summer due to the warming climate.Since today is Writing Wednesday, we’ve decided to re-run a previous story about the effect of global warming on another Arctic animal, the polar bear.This week, we are asking you to read an excerpt from Seymour Simon’s book GLOBAL WARMING, research your own facts and explain in your own words the point that he is making. From GLOBAL WARMING, by Seymour Simon: Global warming has changed the feeding patterns and behaviors of polar bears, walruses, seals and whales. It may even impact their surval. Polar bears live only in the Arctic. They are completely dependent on the sea ice for all their life needs. In the winter, females give birth to cubs. The mother polar bear eats little or no food during the winter. As spring approaches, the bear family makes a run onto the sea ice to feed on seals, their main source of food. If the ice melts, their food supply will be cut off and this will impact their survival. Your assignment: Can you find facts to support what Seymour Simon is saying on this page? Use other books in your library, articles about global warming from Seymour’s blog, or other Internet sources to learn about the melting of the Arctic ice. Write a few paragraphs that use your own words and information that you have found to either argue for or against the idea that the survival of polar bears is threatened by the melting of the Arctic ice. When you are finished writing, click on the yellow "Comments" at the bottom of this post to enter your writing! Note to Educators: Today’s Writing Wednesday exercise is designed to use in support of CCSS Writing Anchor Standard #1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Halloween is in the Air!
Look at this great photograph that I just received from Tamie Williams, the School librarian at George Washington Carver Elementary School in Neosho, Missouri. Those are two of my books, and one by my friend and fellow StarWalk Kids author Caroline Arnold.Thanks for including me in your Halloween decorations, guys!
October 7, 2014
Autumn Leaves from Space!
Those of us who live in the Northeastern U.S. are very lucky in the Autumn, because the mix of deciduous trees in our forests and countryside make for a magnificent show as the leaves turn in August.The change is so distinct that it can even be seen from space! This is our Cool Photo of the Week, taken byNASA’s Terra satellite, which is orbiting about 438 miles (705 kilometers) above Earth. You can see the Great Lakes in this photo, along with the changing autumn leaves.Have you ever wondered why the leaves turn colors in the fall? Leaves stop producing chlorophyll when the days get shorter and the temperatures are colder. Chloropyll, which enables plants to turn sunlight into energy, has a green tint. So, when the chlorophyll is gone, the other colors in the leaves become visible. That’s why we see what is know as "fall colors."Photos: Mary Terriberry/Shutterstock, NASA
