STEM Explorers
Dive into brains, sharks, birds, ocean zones, and windmills — five books that turn curious kids into scientists and inventors.
Targeted Learning Goal
Students will investigate how observation and experimentation help us understand the natural world and solve real problems.
Standards Connections
- ELA: RI.K-5.1 — Ask and answer questions about key details in informational text
- ELA: RI.K-5.3 — Describe connections between scientific ideas
- ELA: RI.K-5.7 — Use illustrations to understand scientific concepts
- ELA: SL.K-5.1 — Participate in collaborative conversations about STEM topics
- Science: ETS1 — Engineering Design
- Science: LS1 — From Molecules to Organisms
- SEL: Responsible Decision-Making — Apply scientific thinking to real-world problems
Books in This Unit
27 titles — each with a full lesson plan.
Wonder & Discovery
Peculiar Primates
by Debra Kempf Shumaker
3 learning goals · 45 minutes
Citizen Scientists
Sharks Unhooked: The Adventures of Cristina Zenato, Underwater Ranger
by Patricia Newman
3 learning goals · 50 minutes
Science & Discovery
Machines That Think!
by Don Brown
4 learning goals · 45-60 minutes
Science & Discovery
Keep It Clean!
by Don Brown
4 learning goals · 45-60 minutes
Wonder & Discovery
Freaky, Funky Fish
by Debra Kempf Shumaker
3 learning goals · 50 minutes
Science & Discovery
It's About Time!
by Don Brown
4 learning goals · 45 minutes (plus outdoor observation time)
Curiosity & Discovery
Mind vs. Machine
by Steve Sheinkin and Maurice Ashley
4 learning goals · 45 minutes
Science & Discovery
Rocket to the Moon!
by Don Brown
4 learning goals · 45-60 minutes
Curiosity & Discovery
A Riddle of Eels
by Nicholas Day & Corey R. Tabor
3 learning goals · 40 minutes
Discovery & Paleontology
A Dinosaur Named Ruth: How Ruth Mason Discovered Fossils in Her Own Backyard
by Julia March
4 learning goals · 50 minutes
Curiosity & Problem Solving
Gabby Torres Knows What You Did
by Angela Dominguez
4 learning goals · 45 minutes
Paleontology & Natural History
Stuck! The Story of La Brea Tar Pits
by Joyce Uglow
4 learning goals · 60 minutes, or two 30-minute sessions
Connection & Wonder
You and I Are Stars and Night
by Kate Hosford
4 learning goals · 45 minutes
Curiosity & Courage
The Misfits: A Sea Monster Conundrum
by Lisa Yee, art by Dan Santat
3 learning goals · 60 minutes
Science & Curiosity
Club Microbe
by Elise Gravel
4 learning goals · 40 minutes
Science & Discovery
Winged Wonders: Solving the Monarch Migration Mystery
by Meeg Pincus
4 learning goals · 45–50 minutes
Curiosity & Perspective
The Whole HOLE Story
by Vivian McInerny
4 learning goals · 40–45 minutes
Brainpower
Brains! Not Just a Zombie Snack
by Stacy McAnulty
2 learning goals · 40 minutes
Curiosity & Discovery
A Horse Named Jack
by Linda Vander Heyden
5 learning goals · 45 minutes
Wonder & Celebration
Fireworks
by Matthew Burgess, pictures by Cátia Chien
4 learning goals · 35 minutes
Ocean Science & Ecology
If You Went to the Bottom of the Ocean
by Brooke McIntyre
3 learning goals · 50 minutes
Nature & Science
Light as a Feather: Fifteen Phenomenal North American Birds
by Will Hillenbrand
3 learning goals · 45 minutes
Patience & Wonder
To See an Owl
by Matthew Cordell
4 learning goals · 40 minutes
Curiosity & Wonder
Being a Cat
by Maria Gianferrari
4 learning goals · 35 minutes
Science & Discovery
All Charged Up!
by Don Brown
4 learning goals · 45-60 minutes
Science & Discovery
A Shot in the Arm!
by Don Brown
3 learning goals · 45-60 minutes
Friendship & Poetry
A Horse Named Jack
by Linda Vander Heyden
4 learning goals · 35 minutes