Science Teaching Literature

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Science Teaching Literature

Science Teaching Literature

The common thread of all the books on the CRS science book list is good writing and accurate science content.   The list is intended to assist teachers in selecting a few quality, well-reviewed, age-appropriate books for a given science topic.   These books may be used as fundamental parts of a science unit or as enrichment to a unit. 

To Change a Planet (book cover)
Elementary-Level Literature for Climate Change

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Sites Where You Can Find Great Science Literature Connections
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Science News Websites
and Magazines
for Kids
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Favorite TK - 5th grade books in video format

Grades PK/TK


Grades K-2


Grades 3-5

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You Belong:
Stories of
Black Scientists

Children love imagining themselves... to be princesses, superheroes, and star athletes. We want to help them see themselves as scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. 

CRS has compiled a list of picture books about Black Scientists that can help them imagine themselves doing science. 

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You Belong:
Stories of Asian & Pacific Islanders Scientist

Children love imagining themselves... to be princesses, superheroes, and star athletes. We want to help them see themselves as scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. 

CRS has compiled a list of picture books about Asian & Pacific Islanders Scientists that can help them imagine themselves doing science. 

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You Belong:
Stories of
Latinx Scientists

Children love imagining themselves... to be princesses, superheroes, and star athletes. We want to help them see themselves as scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. 

CRS has compiled a list of picture books about Latinx Scientists that can help them imagine themselves doing science. 

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You Belong:
Stories of
Native American Scientists

Children love imagining themselves... to be princesses, superheroes, and star athletes. We want to help them see themselves as scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. 

CRS has compiled a list of picture books about Native American Scientists that can help them imagine themselves doing science. 

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You Belong:
Stories of
Female Scientists

Children love imagining themselves... to be princesses, superheroes, and star athletes. We want to help them see themselves as scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. 

CRS has compiled a list of picture books about Female Scientists that can help them imagine themselves doing science. 

A Mighty Girl Blog has a list of 60 picture books about female scientists and engineers
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K-2
Engineering
  • Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building by Christy Hale
  • Baby Loves Aerospace Engineering! by Ruth Spiro
  • Galimoto by Karen Lynn Williams
  • Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty
  • Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty
  • Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Rubin,  Illustrated by Daniel Salmieri
  • The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
  • Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming, Illustrated by G. Brian Karas
  • Engineering Books – from historical to technical to those for the layman
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3-5
Engineering
  • The Soda Bottle School by Laura Kutner
  • The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
  • Calling all Minds by Temple Grandin
  • How We Got To Now by Steven Johnson
  • Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters by Andrea Beaty
  • Ada Twist's Big Project Book for Stellar Scientists
  • Iggy Peck's Big Project Book for Amazing Architects
  • Rosie Revere's Big Project Book for Bold Engineers
  • Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Rubin,  Illustrated by Daniel Salmieri
  • The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
  • Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming, Illustrated by G. Brian Karas
  • Engineering Books – from historical to technical to those for the layman
 

Our K-5 grade level lists below are a starting place for looking for
books to complement your science units.

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Earth Science

  • Where the River Begins by Thomas Locker
  • Mud by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Lauren Stringer
  • Feel the Wind by Arthur Dorros
  • Green Eyes by A. Birnbaum
  • The Cloud Book: Words and Pictures by Tomie dePaola
  • Sunshine Makes the Seasons (Let's Read and Find Out Science Series) by Giulio Maestro
  • Baby Loves Green Energy by Ruth Spiro

Life Science

  • Aardvarks, Disembark! by Ann Jonas
  • I See Animals Hiding by Jim Arnosky
  • Why Is a Frog Not a Toad? Discovering the Difference Between Animal Look-A-likes by Q. L. Pearce
  • Animal Opposites: Quick and Slow Animals by Barbara Behm
  • In the Snow: Who’s Been Here by Lindsay Barrett George
  • Are You an Ant? by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries
  • Are You a Grasshopper? by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries
  • Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears by Leo & Diane Dillon
  • Little Brother Moose by James Kasperson, Illustrations by Karlyn Holman
  • My Five Senses by Aliki
  • Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner, Illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal
  • Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature Joyce Sidman, Illustrated by Beth Krommes
  • The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps by Jeanette Winter

Physical Science

  • Move It!: Motion, Forces and You by Adrienne Mason
  • How Machines Work: Zoo Break by David Macaulay
  • Motion: Push, Pull, Fast, and Slow by Darlene Ruth
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Earth Science

  • Swift Walker: A Space Adventure by Verlyn Tarlton
  • Rivers of Sunlight: How the Sun Moves Water Around the Earth by Molly Bang
  • Water by Adrienne Soutter-Perrot
  • Round The Garden by Omri Glaser
  • One Plastic Bag by Miranda Paul
  • Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa by Jeanette Winter
  • What Does it Mean to be Green? by Rana DiOrio

Life Science

  • Eyes by Stephen Savage
  • What Color Is Camouflage? by Carolyn Otto
  • Where are the Night Animals? by Mary Ann Fraser
  • Chipmunk Song by Joanne Ryder
  • Alejandro's Gift by Richard E. Albert
  • Wild in the City by Jan Thornhill
  • Whose Teeth are These? by Wayne Lynch
  • The Best Beak in Boonaroo Bay by Narelle Oliver
  • Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
  • Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
  • A Field of Sunflowers by Neil Johnson
  • At This Very Moment by Jim Arnosky
  • About Habitats: Grasslands by Cathryn Sill, Illustrated by John Sill
  • The Honeybee Man by Lela Nargi, Illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker
  • Time for a Bath by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

Physical Science

  • Solids, Liquids and Gases by Louise Usborne
  • Solids, Liquids and Gases by The Ontario Science Center
  • What Is the World Made Of? All About Solids, Liquids, and Gases by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
  • Stage 2 Sadie and the Snowman by Allen Morgan
  • It Could Still Be Water by Allan Fowler
  • Change It! Solids, Liquids, Gases, and You by Adrienne Mason
  • Touch It! Materials, matter, and You by Adrienne Mason
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Earth Science

  • Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor
  • Rocks in His Head by Carol Otis Hurst
  • And Still the Turtle Watched by Sheila MacGill-Callahan
  • The Big Rock by Bruce Hiscock
  • Sand by Ellen J. Prager
  • Rare Treasure: Mary Anning and her Remarkable Discoveries by Don Brown
  • Dinosaur Discovery: Everything You Need to Be a Paleontologist by Chris McGowan. Illustrated by Erica Lyn Schmidt
  • Thomas the T. Rex: The Journey of a Young Dinosaur to Los Angeles by Michael Smith. Illustrated by Gayle Garner Roski
  • Orion, the Hunter by Necia Apfel
  • Follow the Drinking Gourd by F.N. Monjo
  • The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen
  • You are Stardust by Elin Kelsey

Life Science

  • Tale of a Tadpole by Karen Wallace
  • Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni
  • Crab Moon by Ruth Horowitz
  • Salamander Rain: A Lake and Pond Journal by Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini
  • Birds Build Nests by Yvonne Winer, Illustrated by Tony Oliver
  • Animal Families series (12 books total, various authors)
  • Butterflies Fly by Yvonne Winer, Illustrated by Karen Lloyd-Jones
  • Grandmother Oak by Allison Dagit
  • Someday A Tree by Bunting
  • The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
  • Caterpillars by Marilyn Singer
  • Butterflies by Seymour Simon
  • How Did That Get In My Lunchbox? The Story of Food by Chris Butterworth, Illustrated by Lucia Gaggiotti
  • Meadowlands: A Wetland Survival Story by Thomas F. Yezerski
  • Polar Bears by Mark Newman
  • The Voyage of Turtle Rex by Kurt Cyrus

Physical Science

  • Simple Machines by The Ontario Science Center
  • How Do You Lift A Lion? by Robert E. Wells
  • Marta’s Magnets by Wendy Pfeffer
  • What Makes a Magnet? by Franklyn Mansfield Branley
  • What Charlie Heard by Mordicai Gerstein
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Earth Science

  • The Meteorologist In Me by Brittney Shipp
  • Clouds (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science) by Anne Rockwell
  • Groundhog Weather School by Joan Holub
  • The Boy Who Grew a Forest: The true Story of Jadav Payeng by Sophia Ghotz
  • The Earth Book by Todd Parr
  • Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
  • The Riverbank by Charles Darwin Illustrated by Fabian Negrin
  • The Rainbow Weaver/Tejedora Del Arcoiris by Linda Elovitz Marshall
  • The Kids Book of Weather Forecasting by Mark Breen et al

Life Science

  • The Search for the Missing Bones (The Magic School Bus Chapter Book, No. 2) by Eva Moore and Ted Enik
  • The Best Beak in Boonaroo Bay by Narelle Oliver
  • What do You do When Something Wants to Eat You? by Steve Jenkins
  • Ever Heard of an Aardwolf? A Miscellany of Uncommon Animals by Madeline Moser, Barry Moser (Ills.)
  • Welcome to the Ice House by Jane Yolen
  • Salamander Rain: A Lake and Pond Journal by Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini
Expand for additional titles
  • Project Puffin: How We Brought Puffins Back to Egg Rock by Stephen W. Kress, Pete
  • Salmansohn by National Audubon Society
  • Birds Build Nests by Yvonne Winer, illustrated by Tony Oliver
  • I Was All Thumbs by Bernard Waber
  • Extremely Weird Endangered Species by Sarah Lovett
  • I Wonder Why the Dodo is Dead by Andy Charman
  • About Hummingbirds: A Guide for Children by Cathryn Sill. Illustrated by John Sill
  • A Butterfly is Patient by Dianna Hutts Aston. Illustrated by Sylvia Long
  • After the Kill by Darrin Lunde, Illustrated by Catherine Stock=
  • At the Sea Floor Café: Odd Ocean Critter Poems by Leslie Bulion, Illustrated by Leslie Evans
  • Can We Save The Tiger? by Martin Jenkins, Illustrated by Vicky White
  • Bug Shots: The Good, the Bad, and the Bugly by Alexandra Siy, Illustrated by Dennis Kunkel.
  • Butterfly Tree by Sandra Markle, Illustrated by Leslie Wu.
  • Coral Reefs by Jason Chin
  • Desert Elephants by Helen Cowcher
  • Even an Octopus Needs a Home by Irene Kelly
  • Family Pack by Sandra Markle, Illustrated by Alan Marks
  • Hatch! by Roxie Munro
  • Planting the Wild Garden by Kathryn O. Galbraith, Illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin
  • Star of the Sea: A Day in the Life of a Starfish by Janet Halfmann, Illustrated by Joan Paley
  • The Manatee Scientists: Saving Vulnerable Species, by Peter Lourie, Illustrated with photographs
  • The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs: A Scientific Mystery by Sandra Markle
  • First Garden: The White House Garden and How It Grew by Robbin Gourley
  • Far From Shore: Chronicles of an Open Ocean Voyage by Sophie Webb
  • For the Birds: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson by Peggy Thomas, Illustrated by Laura Jacques
  • Friends: True Stories of Extraordinary Animal Friendships by Catherine Thimmesh, Illustrated with photographs
  • Polar Bear: Shrinking Ice by Stephen Person, Illustrated with full-color photographs
  • What’s for Dinner? Quirky, Squirmy Poems from the Animal World by Katherine B. Hauth, Illustrated by David Clark.
  • Eco Dogs by Judith Bauer Stamper, Illustrated with full-color photographs
  • The Elephant Scientist by Caitlin O'Connell and Donna M. Jackson, Illustrated with photographs by Caitlin O'Connell and Timothy Rodwell

Physical Science

  • Sea Soup: Phytoplankton by Mary Cerullo
  • Day Light, Night Light by Franklyn Branley
  • Energy Island by Allan Drummond.
  • Magnet Max by Monica Hughes
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Earth Science

  • Stone Wall Secrets by Kristine and Robert Thorson, Illustrated by Gustav Moore
  • A Rock is Lively by Dianna Hutts Aston, Sylvia Long
  • Twister Trouble by The Magic School Bus
  • Our Patchwork Planet: The Story of Plate Tectonics by Helen Roney Sattler
  • The Big Rock by Bruce Hiscock
  • Earthsteps: A Rock's Journey Through Time by Diane Nelson Spickert
  • Greta and the Giants by Zoe Tucker
  • What Shapes the Land by Bobbie Kalman

Life Science

  • Pass the Energy Please! By Barbara Shaw McKinney, Illustrated by Chad Wallace
  • Crawdad Creek by Scott Russell Sanders
  • Summer Ice: Life Along the Antarctic Peninsula by Bruce McMillan
  • What's A Penguin Doing In A Place Like This? By Miriam Schlein
  • Giant Germ (The Magic School Bus Chapter Book) by Eva Moore, Joanna Cole, et al.
  • Germs Make Me Sick! by Melvin Berger
  • Olivia’s Birds: Saving the Gulf by Olivia Bouler

Physical Science

  • The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip by Joanna Cole , Bruce Degan, et al.
  • The Shocking Truth about Energy by Loreen Leedy
  • Newton and Me by Lynn Mayer
  • How does sound change? Light and sound waves close up by Robin Johnson
  • On a Beam of Light: A story of Albert Einstein by Rachel Bloom
  • Ada Twist and the Perilous Pants by Andrea Beaty
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Earth Science

  • Big Blue Ocean by Bill Nye
  • The Big Storm by Bruce Hiscook
  • Spring After Spring: How Rachel Carson Inspired the Environmental Movement
  • How The Weather Works: A Hands-On Guide to Our Changing Climate by Christiane Dorion, Illustrated by Beverley Young
  • Tornado! The Story Behind These Twisting, Turning, Spinning, and Spiraling Storms by Judith Bloom Fradin and Dennis Brindell Fradin
  • One Well: The Story of Water on Earth by Rochelle Strauss (Ill. Rosemary Woods)
  • Swift Walker: A Space Adventure by Verlyn Tarlton
  • Mae Jemison (You Should Meet) by Laurie Calkhoven
  • The Magic School Bus Wet All Over: A Book About The Water Cycle by Pat Relf and Carolyn Bracken
  • Mario and the Hole in the Sky: How a Chemist Saved Our Planet by Elizabeth Rusch

Life Science/Energy

  • Cells Are Us by Fran, Dr. Balkwill, Mic Rolph
  • Animal Eyes by Beth Fielding.
  • Plagues: the Microscopic Battlefield by Falynn Koch
  • Germ Stories by Arthur Kornberg
  • Inheritance of Traits: Why is My Dog Bigger Than Your Dog? by Jen Green
  • If Sharks Disappeared by Lily Williams

Physical Science

  • Chemical Chaos by Nick Arnold
  • Atoms and Molecules by P. Roxbee-Cox
  • Carbon (the Elements, Group One) by Niles Sparrow
  • Gravity by Jason Chin
  • Energy: Physical Science for Kids
  • Then and Now: A Journey Through the History of Machines by Santiago Beascoa

Community Resources for Science
1611 San Pablo Avenue, Suite 10 B
Berkeley, CA 94702

 

Phone: (510) 527-5212
Fax: (510) 527-5216
Email: community@crscience.org
EIN: 94-3262587

 

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The mission of CRS is to empower teachers and STEM professionals serving schools in historically marginalized communities to activate TK-8 students’ curiosity about the world, foster critical thinking, and inspire children to imagine future career pathways. We envision a community of educators, scientists, families and partners working together to build school cultures that equip all children to explore the world around them and build the skills needed to become innovators, problem solvers, environmental stewards, life-long learners and leaders. CRS leads a dynamic network, fostering relationships and collaborations that leverage expertise and resources to transform science teaching and learning toward greater equity, opportunity, and success for all students.

 

Our goal is simple: help teachers give students more opportunities to “do science” – to ask questions, test ideas, get their hands on real science activities. We need to inspire the next generation of thinkers, makers, problem solvers, and leaders!