Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion

Burns, Loree Griffin. Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion. 2007. 58pp. Lexile 1200

No one expects a scientist's research project to come about because a mother sends a newspaper clipping to her son.  Yet that’s what happened to oceanographer Curt Ebbesmeyer in 1990.  The newspaper article described hundreds of Nike sneakers washing up on Pacific shores.  Two years later, thousands of rubber duckies did the same.  The items had spilled out of shipping containers that went overboard from ships during bad weather.  Ebbesmeyer realized that the spilled items offered a unique way to study ocean currents.  He enlisted volunteers to collect the items along the U.S. and Canadian Pacific shore, recording the place and date.  Ebbesmeyer’s study expanded beyond ocean currents to issues of trash clogging the Pacific.  This excellent entry in the Scientists in the Field series shows readers the work of an ocean scientist while also imparting information about ocean currents and environmental problems. Color photographs, maps, and useful diagrams supplement the text, which is followed by a glossary, notes, and lists of further reading and websites.  Booktalk this with sneakers and rubber duckies to draw in readers.

Reading Std #1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and implicitly, citing specific textual evidence to support conclusions drawn from it.  Burns contends that the problem of trash in the oceans is larger than generally recognized, which she presents through the work of a scientist.  Have students summarize content and cite explicit and implied evidence for that thread in the book.  This would be an excellent jumping-off point for more research, including an update on the topic since the book was published in 2007.

Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon


Sheinkin, Steve. Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon. 2012. 266pp. Lexile 920.
 

During World War II, the U.S. raced Germany to build an atomic bomb.  Germany needed a heavy water plant in Nazi-occupied Norway to succeed so resistance fighters in Norway, backed by the British, schemed to destroy the plant.  Meanwhile the Soviets, knowing they couldn't catch up, sought to steal the technology from the Americans.  In a skillful narrative, Sheinkin plays these three stories off of each other, ratcheting up the suspense in each of them.  He draws a striking picture of Robert Oppenheimer and his team of physicists at Los Alamos who, unknown to them, had spies for the Soviets in their midst.  Their excitement over their research and especially testing the bomb contrasts with their increasing concern about its consequences. The attempts at sabotage by the Norwegians will have readers on the edge of their seats.  A real sense of drama, grounded in rich details and quotes, pervades this must-read nonfiction on one of the most important topics of our time. Winner of the Sibert Award and the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction. A Newbery Honor Book and one of five National Book Award Finalists.  Bibliography, source notes, index. 

Reading Std #3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.  The development and interaction of the three main threads are key to this book's effectiveness.  Have students analyze how and why Sheinkin combined them.  They can also look at how Oppenheimer changes over the course of the book.  Another possible topic to track is the morality of building and using the bomb, which emerges as a theme with arguments on both sides.