How Does Math Guide Our Ships to Sea? by George Christoph (video)

Bibliographic Information:

How Does Math Guide Our Ships at Sea?  Prod. George Christoph.  YouTube. TED-Ed, 11 Oct. 2012. Web. < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGCUm_jWtt4&gt;.

Plot Description: This short animated clip from TED-Ed discusses the earliest development of the mathematical function known as the logarithm in the 16^th century as a response to the problem of navigation on the open sea.  Some of the key scientists at the time are discussed, including John Bird, John Harrison and John Napier, all of whom grappled with how to calculate longitude for navigating ships away from the shoreline.

Quantitative Reading Level: N/A

Qualitative Reading Analysis: Information is presented in a moderately complex format.  The purpose is the inform the viewer about the invention of logarithms and about the collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines to achieve this key mathematical development.  As a mathematical topic, it is by nature abstract and involves specialized language.  However, the narrative and animation of the video supplement understanding and give the topic an accessible, real-world context.  The viewer does not need to grasp the concept of logarithm or even algebraic function to appreciate that they are mathematical tools that solve problems in the world.

Content Area: Mathematics, History

Content Area Standard(s):

CCSS for Mathematics, HSF.LE.A.4: For exponential models, express as a logarithm the solution to ab^ct = d where a, c, and dare numbers and the base b is 2, 10, or e; evaluate the logarithm using technology.

Curriculum Suggestions:  Logarithms are a notoriously difficult concept for the average math student, as they have a significantly different appearance than the more familiar functions algebra students will study prior.  This video offers an engaging narrative about the practical application of problem solving skills to a real world dilemma – potentially useful in a mathematics or history course.  It would also pair well with a reading of the narrative nonfiction book Longitude by Dava Sobel for an in depth look at the problem of longitude at that time and the cross-pollination of disciplines that led to its solution.

Supporting Digital Content: Longitude – The Feature Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9dso7ATlSk&list=PLB54E811068734C56&index=1

Mama Built a Little Nest by Jennifer Ward

Bibliographic Information:

Ward, Jennifer. Mama Built a Little Nest. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2014. Print.

Plot Description: This picture book features rhymes paired with informational text describing a selection of birds and their diverse nesting behaviors, including the materials they are composed of and places they are found in nature.  Each bird and nest is beautifully illustrated with paper-cut collage in bold colors and shapes.  Finally, the author relates the concept of nest back to the home of the young reader.  The book also contains and author note for the reader describing her love of birds and the rich diversity observable in the different species.

Quantitative Reading Level: RL 2.5

Qualitative Reading Analysis: This text is only slightly complex, with simple ideas and pictures that support readers in understanding the descriptions of the text.  The language is moderately complex for the second grade level, using mostly familiar language with some academic tone.  The purpose is transparent throughout the text as a description of nests and their variety, and readers need very little background knowledge to follow along.

Content Area: Biology/Life Sciences

Content Area Standard(s):

CA State Biology/Life Sciences Standards Grades K-2: Life Sciences 2) Plants and animals meet their needs in different ways.

CCSS for Reading Information, Grade 1: 3) Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text; 6) Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text; Grade 2: 1) Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text; 6) Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.

Curriculum Suggestions:  Mama Built a Little Nest is an appropriate book to use for basic life science lessons related to animals and their habitats, as well as for practice reading and understanding informational texts.  The rhymes composing half of the book are very accessible for young independent readers and may serve as a bridge to comprehension of the expository parts that accompany them.

Supporting Digital Content:

BBC Video on Weaver nests: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6svAIgEnFvw

The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan

Bibliographic Information:

Pollan, Michael. The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s Eye View of the World. New York: Random House, 2002. Print

Plot Description: In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan examines the history of four plants – apple, tulip, marijuana and potato – and their co-evolutionary development with humans over time, primarily through the desires they arouse in us.  Pollan makes the provocative case that our experiences with sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control in response to these plants demonstrate the “complex reciprocal relationship” that we share.

Quantitative Reading Level: Lexile 1350

Qualitative Reading Analysis: This informational text is very complex and particularly suitable for high level readers.  A range of ideas are presented in support of Pollan’s central theme, with his historical analysis and contemporary narrative interwoven in a thoughtful but challenging way.  He regularly employs both figurative language and subject-specific vocabulary.  Although this book is written for a general audience, the reader would benefit from some basic knowledge of biology and ecology.

Content Area: Biology/Life Sciences; Agriculture; Botany; Ecology; Reading, Informational Text

Content Area Standard(s):

CA State Biology/Life Sciences Standards Grades 9-12: Cell Biology 1 – The fundamental life processes of plants and animals depend on a variety of chemical reactions that occur in specialized areas of the organism’s cells; Genetics 2 – Mutation and sexual reproduction lead to genetic variation in a population; 4 – Genes are a set of instructions encoded in the DNA sequence of each organism that specify the sequence of amino acids in proteins characteristic of that organism; 5 – The genetic composition of cells can be altered by incorporation of exogenous DNA into the cells; Ecology 6 – Stability in an ecosystem is a balance between competing effects.

CCSS for Reading Informational Text, Grades 11-12: 1) Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. 2) Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.  3) Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text. 5) Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging. 6) Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.

Curriculum Suggestions:  This book would be an excellent supplementary read for an AP science class, as well as an English class exploring complex expository texts at the Junior or Senior level, in excerpt or read completely.  It is also great independent reading for a highly-developed readers interested in science, botany or gardening.

Supporting Digital Content:

The True Cost of Food (Sierra Club) video: http://content.sierraclub.org/creative-archive/video/2012/05/true-cost-food

PBS Video on Thee Botany of Desire: http://video.pbs.org/video/1283872815/

Personal Thoughts: Though this typically book is classified in the sciences, it beautifully examines these plants through lenses of social and natural history, philosophy, the politics of food and agriculture, mythology, memoir and more.  This is the kind of inter-disciplinary, complex but finely narrated reading that I hope all students grow to appreciate.