News: Science Buddies Kits for Fall

Our STEM-centric Science Buddies Kits are ready to roll out for the Fall. SCLS-YS is now taking reservations for September through December! If you are interested in borrowing any of the kits please contact Patty at patty@suffolknet.org. Below are the descriptions of our eight kits!

AMAZING MAGNETS

See what sticks a magnet to metal! Explore your library to see what’s magnetic in the stacks or make pictures using magnetic boards and shapes.

SINK OR FLOAT

Don’t be afraid to splash around while you discover buoyancy and displacement. Make a boat of tin foil and see how long it will float or take everyday objects and see what happens when they are dropped in water!

COLORS & PATTERNS

Mix and match. Shine and stack. See how colors come together to create patterns and new shades!

COUNTING AND MEASURING

How much? How long? Don’t be afraid to count high, measure inches, centimeters, ½ and ¼ cups with this kit!

EASY ENGINEERING

Whether you are stacking a tower or building a bridge it all has to do with engineering! Work on your own bridges and see what they hold or make a marshmallow structure and see how high you can go!

NOTICING NATURE

Explore the science that lives all around you. Get up close and personal with a magnifying glass for bugs or binoculars for birds! Take notes and explore.

*NEW* KICKIN’ CHEMISTRY

Fast, slow, and bubbly reactions take place when you mix different substances in this chemic kit!

*NEW* SUPER SIMPLE MACHINES

Build and experiment with machines that make things go up, down, and far with ease.

News and Trends: Bookology Magazine

Today, I stumbled across a website for an online magazine that I had never heard of before: Bookology. Edited by YA author Marsha Qualey, the site is chock full of book talks, booklists, and lots of other really useful information for children's and YA librarians looking for quality literature to share with readers. And - it is timely and up to date. Case in point? The July 2015 issue features a great article on Gene Luen Yang and his graphic novel titles.

One of my favorite sections of the magazine is called "Skinny Dip." Yes, Skinny Dip. It is a monthly interview of quirky and quick questions posed to an author or illustrator. Check out the July 2015 Skinny Dip column with John Coy, author of "Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball."

So look around and tell us - what do you think of Bookology? Is it a helpful resource for program planning and collection development? 

Friday Night Science at East Northport

It was all about interactive science experiments at the East Northport Library this past Friday night. Families came together to get a little messy, use their brains, and of course have fun. Over forty people attended the program last week. The write-up that was used to describe the event said, "Come enjoy an evening of open-ended science exploration! Participants will visit hands-on learning stations that highlight a variety of scientific and mathematical concepts such as magnetism, sound, life cycles, and patterns." The librarians at East Northport used some of their own experiments as well as the experiments held in our circulating Science Buddies Kits. The library borrowed all six kits and said that an abundance of Skittles and Marshmallows were used. If I were there I may have had a few of these as a science snack! Congratulations on this great event!

Light Board

More Marshmallows!

Stacking Patterns

Marshmallow Structures 

DIY Playdough

If your library would like the reserve a Science Buddies Kit feel free to email me (derek@suffolknet.org) for kit descriptions and available dates. 

Common Core Book Connection

 

So often these days, students are coming to the library looking not only for non-fiction reads, but book pairings of a fiction title with a non-fiction title on the same topic. I recently finished reading The Traitor's Wife: The Woman Behind Benedict Arnold and the Plan to Betray America, by Allison Pataki for my book group. (I use the term book group loosely here, since we mostly seem to eat and talk about other topics more than the book at hand, but I digress.) Since I am so far removed from middle school history - I had completely forgotten how controversial a figure Benedict Arnold was. And, I had absolutely no idea that his wife may have been behind his defection to the British army and his betrayal of his country.

While The Traitor's Wife was written for adults, it is a perfect novel for high school students to read. The book is engaging and reads quite quickly, as it is mainly character and dialogue driven. It really gives a fascinating snapshot into a specific time frame of  United States history, especially how different daily life was back then. When I finished the book, I immediately thought it would be perfectly paired with the award winning Steve Sheinkin title, The Notorious Benedict Arnold. Both books are written clearly and crisply, and will hold the attention span of high school students looking for those "common core" titles.

Try displaying these two together in your YA section and send a picture to lisa@suffolknet.org! Let us know - did the books go out? Can you think of any other fiction/non-fiction pairing that would work well together? Comment below by the end of the month to get a surprise sent your way via the system bags!