How the Piloses Evolved Skinny Noses

by Deb Kelemen, The Child Cognition Lab

Overview

The piloses are a busy species, spending their days snuffling up the millibugs that keep them healthy and strong. But as the climate grows hotter, the millibugs disappear into deep underground tunnels. What happens to piloses who can no longer reach the millibugs? And what happens to the pilose species over time? Journey with these engaging creatures as they introduce children to the amazing mechanism of natural selection. 
 
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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781943431267
Publisher:	Tumblehome, Inc.
Publication date:	06/01/2017
Series:	Evolving Minds
Pages:	28
Sales rank:	53,320
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	710L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

Deb Kelemen is a parent, child development researcher and educator with a passion for understanding children’s beliefs about the natural world and addressing their common science misconceptions. A Fellow of the Association for Psychological Sciences, she is Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University where she directs the Child Cognition Lab: home to the Evolving Minds Project, a National Science Foundation-funded group that develops educational materials to support early science learning. She loves to talk about children, nature and STEM education and speaks regularly in workshops, schools and universities. 

Editorial Reviews

"Children can be taught basic natural selection using a picture-storybook intervention." —Kelemen, D., Emmons, N.A., Seston Schillaci, R. & Ganea, P. (2014).



"A delightful way of telling one of the greatest stories ever told, evolution by natural selection, and a lovely contribution to the pressing challenge of enhancing scientific literacy at all ages." —Steven Pinker, author, How the Mind Works


“Research shows that this brilliant book can help even young children understand evolution by natural selection. Teaching children about evolution when they’re young ensures that they’ll really ‘get it’ when they’re older. Nothing in science education could possibly be more important than helping children to understand the ideas at the heart of all of biology.” —Alison Gopnik, author, The Scientist in the Crib


“This is a gem. Beautifully illustrated and written with clarity and grace, this picture book is the perfect introduction to the idea at the core of modern biology—natural selection. A 'must have' for any parent or teacher interested in truly nurturing the scientific curiosity of young children." —Paul Bloom, author, Just Babies and Descartes’ Baby


"The underlying science is sound and presented in a thoroughly 'kid friendly' picture book format, making it an ideal and highly recommended addition to family, elementary school, and community library collections." —Children's Bookwatch, Midwest Book Review, July 2017

From the Publisher

07/01/2017
Gr 3 Up—Kelemen's story is a device to help children understand Darwin's theory of natural selection. The narrative follows the fictional piloses species throughout several generations, showing why certain piloses had more successful offspring than others. Because piloses found their food—milli bugs—underground, the piloses with longer and skinnier noses were able to find more food by sticking their trunks further into the ground. Piloses with wider and shorter trunks were unable to reach as many milli bugs, produced fewer offspring, and eventually became weak and died. The simple text and illustrations make the advanced topic of natural selection easily comprehensible to kids. Kelemen also uses repetition to reinforce concepts. The author has taken some liberties here. Although the real biological order of Pilosa includes anteaters and sloths, there is no species called piloses. The artwork is gentle but lacks energy or appeal. Overall, the story does a fine job of connecting the ideas of good genes or traits, the effect of the environment on reproduction, and the heritability of these traits. VERDICT Recommended for basic evolution units or as a general addition to a science curriculum. Use in conjunction with other adaptation stories such as Jean Craighead George's Galápagos George.—Kristin Unruh, Siersma Elementary School, Warren, MI

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