I’ve compiled print and web resources as well as hands-on activities that may be useful for teachers using my books in their classrooms. Click on the title of a book to view the respective resource pages. If you know of additional relevant resources, please feel free to let me know; I’d be happy to include them here.
Additional materials and activities related to my books can be found at the TeachingBooks website. There are some great resources there, folks, so check them out!
The Hive Detectives
↑The Making of THE HIVE DETECTIVES
The research trips I took while preparing to write THE HIVE DETECTIVES can be found on the Research Trips page of my website. There are hundreds of photographs and paragraphs of commentary that will give student writers a sense for the research that went into the creation of the book. Click here to view these resources.
Students and teachers can learn about the people and stories that shaped the book by reading a series of blog posts I wrote in 2010.
Hands-on Activities for Students
The coolest activity, of course, would be to keep bee hives on your school property. You’d be helping the bees and your local environment, providing a great on-site learning experience, and producing honey. Obviously this option isn’t for every school. It requires a goodly amount of space as well a parent or staff member with a passion for bees who is willing to monitor and care for the hives. There are schools that do it, though, and I’d be happy to put you in touch with a few if you’d like to know more. Contact me at lgb (at) loreeburns (dot) com.
Local beekeeping organizations often support educators by sending beekeepers into classrooms, sometimes with an observation hive in tow. Most states have such organizations; search the internet to find one near you.
Even if you can’t keep honey bee hives on your school grounds, you can probably observe bees on your property during the warmer months. Check out your flowering plants, bushes and trees to see if local pollinators are visiting, then bring your students along for some up close encounters. You might also consider getting your classroom involved in The Great Sunflower Project, a simple citizen science project aimed at better understanding native bee populations. There are additional honey bee citizen science projects listed in the Web Resources section below. Be sure to check them out
Finally, the Xerces Society maintains a great page of pollinator resources on their website, including instructions for making simple artificial nesting sites for various native bees. These nests can often be studied after the bees have abandoned them. For more information, and for links to sites with similar resources, visit the Xerces Society’s Pollinator Resource Center and click on your region of the country.
Books with Related Themes
There are lots of great books for young people (and not-so-young people, too) that touch on the themes explored in THE HIVE DETECTIVES. Here’s an annotated list. Enjoy!
THE BEE TREE, by Patricia Polacco (Putnam & Grosset, 1993)
Picture book fiction that will have readers researching the nearly-lost art of beelining!
HONEYBEES, by Deborah Heiligman (National Geographic, 2002)
A picture book introduction to the honey bee and its life.
THE BUZZ ON BEES: WHY ARE THEY DISAPPEARING, by Shelley Rotner and Anne Woodhull (Holiday House, 2010)
This picture book for young children gives a good introduction to the important role honey bees play in human agriculture.
REGARDING THE BEES, by Kate Klise and M. Sarah Klise (Harcourt, 2007)
A middle-grade epistolary novel chock full of bee humor.
CLARENCE COCHRAN, A HUMAN BOY, by William Loizeaux (FSG, 2009)
A novel that let’s readers get buggy.
OPERATION REDWOOD, by S. Terrell French (Amulet, 2009)
An eco-adventure in which a few dedicated kids save a redwood forest.
SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT, by C.C. Payne (Eerdmans, 2008)
A middle-grade novel about a girl with an unreasonable fear of bees.
CLAN APIS, by Jay Hosler (Active Synapse, 2000)
This graphic novel BUZZES!
HONEY BEES: TALES FROM THE HIVE, by Stephen Buchmann (Delacorte, 2010)
This history of bees and honey is written especially for young adults.
THE ORCHARD, by Adele Crocket Robertson (Dial Press, 2005)
Robertson died before this memoir of the Depression years she spent working to save the family apple orchard was published. This is a book for older teens and adult readers.
FRUITLESS FALL: THE COLLAPSE OF THE HONEY BEE AND THE COMING AGRICULTURAL CRISIS, by Rowan Jacobsen (Bloomsbury, 2008)
This book is written for adults, and is an excellent resource on the CCD crisis.
THE BACKYARD BEEKEEPER, by Kim Flottum (Quarry Books, 2005)
Written for an adult audience, this is a great book for beginner beekeepers. THE BACKYARD BEEKEEPER’S HONEY HANDBOOK, a companion of sorts, is pretty sweet, too.
Web Resources
The Discover Life website has a wonderful collection of bee resources, from photographs to identification guides and beyond.
Discover Life is also home to information on the citizen science project known as Bee Hunt. Other bee-themed citizen science projects include:
The Feral Bee Project
The Xerces Society Bumblebee Project
The BeespotterProject (Note: this project is for Illinois residents only.)
Haagen-Dazs has created a website to keep bee lovers and ice cream consumers aware of honey bee health issues. The site includes free, downloadable educational tools for teachers and parents. It’s called Help the Honeybees, and its worth a look. Whatever you do, don’t miss these public service announcements on the site:
Do The Honey Bee
Bee Dance Krumpin
The Worcester County Beekeepers Association is the oldest beekeeping association in the country, and its current members were a huge help to me as I wrote THE HIVE DETECTIVES. (Thank you Worcester County Beekeepers!) There are similar beekeeping organizations in most states; use the internet to find the ones near you.
Tracking Trash
↑The Making of TRACKING TRASH
The research trips I took while preparing to write TRACKING TRASH can be found on the Research Trips page of my website. There are hundreds of photographs and paragraphs of commentary that will give student writers a sense for the research that went into the creation of the book.
Students and teachers can learn about the people and stories that shaped the book by reading a series of blog posts I wrote in 2007.
Hands-on Activities for Students
Teachers often ask me for ideas about hands-on activities they can do with their students while reading TRACKING TRASH or when preparing for a visit from me. My favorite recommendation is to get students involved in The Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup. This annual beach cleanup is held every September in over 75 countries around the world, including most states in the USA. Finding cleanups near you is as easy as visiting The Ocean Conservancy’s ICC website.
Another great resource for hands-on activities is OCEAN CURRENTS, MARINE SCIENCE ACTIVITIES FOR GRADES 5-8, a teacher’s guide from Lawrence Hall of Science. You can order this book through your local independent bookseller or directly from the publisher.
Books with Related Themes
There are lots of great books for young people (and not-so-young people, too) that touch on the themes explored in TRACKING TRASH. Here’s an annotated list. Enjoy!
10 LITTLE RUBBER DUCKS, by Eric Carle (HarperCollins, 2005)
A picture book for your youngest readers; the book uses the ducky spill story to explore the concept of ordinal numbers.
DUCKY, by Eve Bunting (Clarion, 1997)
A fictionalized picture book account of the tub toy spill.
PETE PUFFIN’S WILD RIDE, by Libby Halton (Alaska Geographic Association, 2008)
The protagonist of this fictional picture book drops a favorite toy overboard while cruising in Alaska, and readers follow the adventures of the toy as it makes its way through the ocean.
DEXTER’S JOURNEY, by Chris d’Lacey (Crabtree, 2002)
This fictionalized ducky spill story is perfect for emerging readers.
TRASH ACTION, by Ann Love and Jane Drake, Illustrated by Mark Thurman
This nonfiction title for middle graders takes a fresh look at garbage.
SECRETS OF A CIVIL WAR SUBMARINE: SOLVING THE MYSTERIES OF THE H.L. HUNLEY, by Sally M. Walker (Carolrhoda, 2005)
Award-winning nonfiction for upper elementary and middle grade students with an interest in the ocean and scientists who study it.
SHIPWRECKS: EXPLORING SUNKEN CITIES BENEATH THE SEA, by Mary Cerullo (Dutton, 2009)
A non-fiction book for upper elementary/middle-grade readers who are intrigued with other aspects of ocean science.
FLUSH, by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf, 2005)
Eco-fiction for older middle-grade readers.
WHO REALLY KILLED COCK ROBIN, by Jean Craighead George (HarperTrophy, 1992)
More eco-fiction for middle-grade readers.
20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, by Jules Verne
A classic adventure novel set in the depths of the world ocean. What would Captain Nemo see through the windows of his Nautilus today?
THE HIGHEST TIDE, by Jim Lynch (Blomsbury, 2006)
A novel for adults and young adults that touches on issues of ocean pollution.
FLOTAMETRICS AND THE FLOATING WORLD, by Curtis Ebbesmeyer and Eric Scigliano (Collins, 2009)
An autobiography of Dr. Curt Ebbesmeyer, the star of TRACKING TRASH.
Web Resources
Dr. Curt Ebbesmeyer’s Beachcomber Alert!
NASA on Curt Ebbesmeyer and ocean motion
Algalita Marine Research Foundation
Captain Charles Moore on the Colbert Report
* This documentary is stunning and speaks to the difficult-to-grasp concept that the garbage patch is not, in fact, an island of trash. It is a massive ocean area of accumulated plastic pollution the travesty of which is difficult to share in a single photograph or sound byte. PLEASE NOTE, however, that this documentary contains very strong language (lots of it, unfortunately) and adult themes that are not appropriate for younger students. I highly recommend teachers and parents preview the complete documentary before sharing it with students.