NONFICTION MINUTE
  • The Nonfiction Minute
    • Minutes to Browse July 1
    • Minutes to Browse
      • by Subject
        • English/Language Arts
        • Social Studies
        • STEM
        • Art
        • FCS/ Nutrition
        • Health & Wellness
        • Music
        • Research Skills
  • For Teachers
    • T2T Tutorial
  • AOC/Authors on Call
    • Class ACTS-Authors Collaborating with Teachers and Students
  • Print Collection
  • Contact Us
  • Help Us Out
  • Vicki Cobb's Blog
  • iNK Home
  • iNK Thinkers
  • Links for Nonfiction Minutes for the iNK Think Tank presentation
    • About
  • iNK Fall Launch books
  • Holiday
  • The Nonfiction Minute
    • Minutes to Browse July 1
    • Minutes to Browse
      • by Subject
        • English/Language Arts
        • Social Studies
        • STEM
        • Art
        • FCS/ Nutrition
        • Health & Wellness
        • Music
        • Research Skills
  • For Teachers
    • T2T Tutorial
  • AOC/Authors on Call
    • Class ACTS-Authors Collaborating with Teachers and Students
  • Print Collection
  • Contact Us
  • Help Us Out
  • Vicki Cobb's Blog
  • iNK Home
  • iNK Thinkers
  • Links for Nonfiction Minutes for the iNK Think Tank presentation
    • About
  • iNK Fall Launch books
  • Holiday

Tardigrades Make the Grade
Laurie Ann Thompson

Picture
Picture


Your students will love learning about these tough little critters!
English/Language Arts
Explore second person voice
Author Thompson’s writing style is relaxed and casual in this Minute - an effect due in large part to her choice of second person voice.  Help your students to notice that she is speaking directly to her reader, using the collective “you”. Contrast that with other Minutes that utilize the first or third person voice.  Aks your students to rewrite a portion of this minute changing the voice. How does it change the Minute?

STEM
Explore microscopes
Use this Minute to introduce or reinforce microscopy skills, including but not limited to “magnification, focus, single lens and compound microscopy, the parts of a compound microscope, simple slide making, substage and epi-illumination, simple use of polarization in microscopy, and seeing a variety of microscopic objects including sand, salt, sugar, hair, feathers, fibers, microscopic plant structures, and living microscopic animals.” Find ideas here.

Explore biomes
Author Thompson mentions several biomes where tardigrades can be found, and in truth, they can be found in all of Earth’s habitats.  Use this Minute to challenge students to create biome characteristic charts so they can see what these tardigrades are up against!

Explore scientific organization
How do you classify such a flexible and resilient creature?  In fact, how do you keep track of all different natures of like at all?  Like a library cataloguing its resources for easy access by is users, biologists must utilize an organizational system to catalog forms of life.  Tardigrades actually score their own phylla. Use this Minute to investigate the organizational systems of the animal and plant kingdoms. Challenge students to create an imaginary animal and then figure out how to classify it.

Explore inventions using nature - biomimicry
Nature provides a host of miraculous characteristics that consistently inform human creativity and invention.  Author Thompson speaks about the possibility of studying tardigrades to help solve potential human problems. Have your students investigate inventions and creative solutions that have come from natural inspiration.  Then invite them to take inspiration from the natural world and imagine what they could learn and invent. Share this to get them started!

Research Skills
Explore online science news resources
Good science news sources are abundant on the internet.  Have your students search for tardigrades and then record the resources where they find good information - places like BBC, Live Science, Exploratorium, and National Geographic might top your list.

​
© Karen Sterling, 2018 - May be used for educational purposes without written permission
The NONFICTION MINUTE, Authors on Call, and. the iNK Books & Media Store are  divisions of iNK THINK TANK INC.
​a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation. 
Picture
To return to the iNK Think Tank landing page click the icon or the link below. :
http://inkthinktank.org/

For more information or support, contact thoughts@inkthinktank.org

For Privacy Policy, go to
Privacy Policy

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
© COPYRIGHT the Nonfiction Minute 2020.-2022​.
  • The Nonfiction Minute
    • Minutes to Browse July 1
    • Minutes to Browse
      • by Subject
        • English/Language Arts
        • Social Studies
        • STEM
        • Art
        • FCS/ Nutrition
        • Health & Wellness
        • Music
        • Research Skills
  • For Teachers
    • T2T Tutorial
  • AOC/Authors on Call
    • Class ACTS-Authors Collaborating with Teachers and Students
  • Print Collection
  • Contact Us
  • Help Us Out
  • Vicki Cobb's Blog
  • iNK Home
  • iNK Thinkers
  • Links for Nonfiction Minutes for the iNK Think Tank presentation
    • About
  • iNK Fall Launch books
  • Holiday