With a moo moo here, And a moo moo there, Here a moo, there a moo, Everywhere a moo moo. “Mom, will there be cows and pigs and chickens on the farm?” Home gardening isn’t quite as interesting to
Melody as the anticipation of getting up close and personal to cows and chickens and pigs. Her seven-year-old twin brother feels the same way. Waiting patiently for seeds to become yummy vegetables is not part of Mallory’s nature, and even waiting for lettuce seedlings to grow into salad material is too long. Better to dream about an adventure that’s only a week away. With an oink oink here, and an oink oink there, Here an oink…
Our main focus of BioFables is on illuminating STEM principles through entertaining stories. However, we need to emphasize that STEM knowledge and, especially, applying STEM in the real world require a balancing Humanities perspective. Science and Humanities represent the two sides of practical human learning, left-brain (analytical) and right-brain (creative).
This is why we are building several tools to help you determine the value of each BioFables book’s STEM and Humanities content in selecting which BioFables books to give to your young readers:
-
- Outline of all STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Knowledge Gateways, Subjects and Topics
- Outline of all Humanities Knowledge Gateways, Subjects and Topics
- Table of STEM and Humanities learning topics by Chapter
The first outline presents a summary of all the STEM Knowledge Gateways (or branches, if you prefer), Subjects and Topics occuring in E-I-E-I-Uh Oh. This will give you an overvew of the entire book’s STEM lessons that are woven into the E-I-E-I-Uh Oh story.
The second outline provides the same information for the Humanities lessons.
The table of STEM and Humanities places the combined learning topics into the specific chapter where it occurs. We’re in the process of updating each book’s topic reference tables. The table shows the breadth of each book’s content, identified by chapter. Subjects and topics of the middle column appear in bold, followed by abbreviated versions of their Knowledge Gateway(s) in parentheses. The table should be helpful in discussing each book as your children progress through the chapters. Follow the links for further investigation. Child-friendly sites appear in orange.
Want to make things even more interesting? Learn about taking the BioFables Challenge.
Please be aware that subjects and topics are unique to each book, so the following outlines do not reflect a complete list of subjects and topics within any category.
Thanks for your patience as we build these resources for you.
STEM Content Book 2: E-I-E-I Uh Oh
Branches and sub-branches in Book 2:
- Biology: Microbes/Bacteria; Plants; Animals; People
- Chemistry: Molecules; Elements; Forms; Functions
- Physics: Mechanics; Heat and Temperature
- Earth, Space Science: Astronomy; Geography; Geology; Environment
- Math: Symbols; Software
- Technology: Physics (Mechanics)
- Engineering: Math (Software)
Specific subjects and topics appear in the right column, next to their respective branches and sub-branches.
E-I-E-I-Uh Oh TABLE 1: STEM Content
| BRANCHES/SUB-BRANCHES | DEFINITIONS, SUBJECTS AND TOPICS |
| BIOLOGY | Life and living things |
| Microbes/Bacteria | Soil bacteria: used in antibiotics, cause of “after-rain” smell |
| Extremophiles: could a little boy be an extremophile? | |
| Plants | Planting a vegetable garden |
| Animals | It’s 4:30 AM. Time to milk the cows! Cow eyes, sausage ingredients |
| People | Declining eyesight: Often due to aging |
| CHEMISTRY | Substances, their structure, behavior, interactions |
| Elements | Hydrogen fuel: not as scary as it sounds |
| Molecules | Water: liquid that all of biology needs to live; comes from rain, groundwater |
| Forms | Dry ice is carbon dioxide in solid form; it doesn’t melt, but sublimes (goes from solid to gas form) |
| Functions | pH: Chemical condition of a solution, from 0 to 14 (H2O = 7, neutral) |
| PHYSICS | Properties and nature of matter and energy |
| Mechanics | Suction (partial vacuum) raises water to a higher level |
| Heat, Temperature | How cold is cold? Temperature of “dry ice” |
| Low temperature alert! Bare skin can stick to cold surfaces | |
| EARTH, SPACE SCIENCE |
Related to planet Earth and beyond |
| Astronomy | Above Earth: space, planets and stars, the universe |
| Stars, planets | Telling time by movement of stars in the sky |
| Geography | Continents, countries, oceans and other waters, and their features |
| Farming | Experiencing first-hand how a farm family practices agriculture (a fancy word for growing crops and raising animals for food) |
| Climate zones | Areas of the world defined by temperature and precipitation |
| Geology | Earth’s physical structure, substance, history, processes |
| Groundwater | Walk on a water table: underground water held in a layer of porous rock or other materials, called an aquifer |
| Geysers | Impact on groundwater depends on rain, rivers, other natural ways of replenishing eruption of water |
| Environment | Physical, chemical and biological conditions that impact people, animals, plants and microbes |
| Pollution |
Reducing harmful substances in cars: clean fuel |
| MATH | Numbers, quantities and analysis |
| Symbols | Marks take a lot less space than writing “greater than” and “less than” |
| Software | “Fuzzy logic” software is used in many products we use very day |
| TECHNOLOGY | Tools (products) and techniques using science |
| Physics: Mechanics | Get water out of the ground with a hand pump |
| ENGINEERING | Application of technology |
| Math: Software engineering |
Using computer science to improve or fix problems arising from programs and other information used by computers |
E-I-E-I-Uh Oh Humanities Content
Humanities Branches and sub-branches in E-I-Uh Oh:
- Society: Family Relationships; People Relationships; Farming Life
- Language: Word Derivations; Traditional Sayings
- Health: Exercise, Agility; Physical; Aging
- Arts: Writing; Play on Words; Story Telling; Drawing; Singing, Music; Creating, Building Things
- Life Skills: Gardening, Growing Thigs; Outdoors; Food; Mental Shortcuts; Household; Technology in its Place
- Work, Careers: Farmer; Food Chemist; Air Force Pilot (retired); Butcher
E-I-E-I-Uh Oh TABLE 2: Humanities Content
| BRANCHES/SUB-BRANCHES | SUBJECTS AND TOPICS |
| SOCIETY |
Community, Cluture, and People |
| Family Relationships |
Mom calls Grandpa Dad, even though he’s her husband’s father (affectionate terms of address) |
| Twins call Mom’s cousin and his wife uncle and aunt as terms of respect (polite terms of address with extended family) |
|
| How to read a family tree diagram |
|
| Everyone shares in doing household chores |
|
| Social Relationships |
Twins call local butcher Mr. Jake (polite terms of address with elders) |
| Farming Life |
Need to get up early to milk the cows |
| Robust farm-style midday meal, much from the “kitchen garden” |
|
| LANGUAGE | Means of communication |
| Word Derivations | Carpe diem: (Latin) seize the day, or “don’t let a good opportunity get away” |
| Aquifer: (Latin) aqui water and fer bearing, so water-bearing (rock or other material) | |
| Traditional Sayings | “Red sky in the morning…Red sky at night…” |
| “Star light, star bright, First star I see tonight…” | |
| HEALTH | Level of well-being |
| Exercise, Agility | Taking breaks on a long car trip |
| You’ve got to be quick to catch a chicken for dinner | |
| Physical | A day in the fresh air and sleepiness seem to go together |
| Short daytime naps help drowsiness from an early wake time | |
| Aging | Poor eyesight from cataracts, other conditions |
| ARTS | Creative skills and their expression |
| Writing | Dad composes a poem on the farm’s dark, star-splashed sky |
| Play on Words | Understanding the big picture of the night sky |
| Story Telling | What does a pail of milk have to do with the Milky Way? |
| Drawing | Mallory shows Uncle Frank his drawing on how a geyser works |
| Uncle Frank shows how an aquifer is like a big sponge that holds water | |
| Singing, Music | What do “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and “Baa, Baa Black Sheep” have in common? |
| Creating, Building Things | Creating a star map with stones and string |
| Taking a photo to preserve a memory | |
| LIFE SKILLS | Practical abilities for attending to everyday needs |
| Gardening, Growing Things | Understanding plant life cycles (and patience) to nutrition, and exercise to saving money and a whole lot more benefits |
| Outdoors | Discovering that the bacteria in the soil causes that “after rain smell” and learning of their uses in food and antibiotics |
| Making a fire for cooking | |
| Red sunrise sky: (rain…or wildfires in the west?) | |
| Telling time (and bedtime?) by the stars | |
| Food | Collecting eggs without upsetting the chickens, keeping eggs cool to avoid spoiling |
| Catching, preparing chicken for cooking | |
| How to milk a cow | |
| Making breakfast crepes | |
| Mental Shortcuts | Estimating, using rules of thumb and written symbols such as > (greater than) and < (less than) come in handy when you don’t need to be exact |
| Household | Organizing, putting things in their proper place |
| Technology in its Place | Foregoing apps to exercse mental agility |
| Observing and learning from nature rather than from a screen | |
| WORK/CAREERS; ROLE MODELS |
Productive activity to earn an income or give back to society |
| Farmer | Uncle Frank and Aunt Martha share their rural life with the Maloneys |
| Food Chemist | Dad explains that “dry ice” is colder than ice made from water |
| Air Force Pilot (retired) | Grandpa’s quick reflexes reflect his skills as a pilot |
| Butcher | Mr. Jake’s gift of cow eyeballs delights Mallory, makes Melody queasy |
E-I-E-I-Uh Oh Values/Behaviors Content
Values Branches and sub-branches in E-I-E-I-Uh Oh:
- Ethical/Moral: Honesty/Truth; Family Loyalty
- Emotional: Sense of Humor; Anticipation; Patience; Self-Satisfaction; Concern for Others; Serenity
- Mental: Calmly Assessing a Situation; Intuition
- Physical: Healthy Aging; Balance/Stability
- Learning/Knowledge/Skills: Acquiring Knowledge; Sharing Knowledge
- People: Respect; Generosity; Helping with Chores; Friendly Atmosphere; Hospitality
- Biosphere: Research; Pollution; Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle
E-I-E-I-Uh Oh TABLE 3: Values/Behaviors Content
| BRANCHES/SUB-BRANCHES | DEFINITIONS; SUBJECTS AND TOPICS |
| Ethical/Moral |
Internal character, beliefs |
| Honesty/Truth | Mallory sneaks into a really cold situation |
| Melody pretends she doesn’t know where her brother went | |
| The twins worry that Mr. Jake knows about Mallory’s sneaking into the meat locker | |
| Family Loyalty | Melody doesn’t snitch on her brother’s rash behavior |
| Emotional | Feelings, sentiment, intuition |
| Sense of Humor | Melody seizes a fun opportunity as she milks a cow |
| Mallory enjoys Grandpa’s “remains to be seen” comment about getting his eyes tested | |
| Anticipation | Mallory loves food, excited about seeds growing to edibles |
| Patience | “You IDGIT!” Melody uses a parent-friendly term of frustration with her brother |
| Self-Satisfaction | Mallory is proud to remember the name of the chemical inside the brown bottle under the sink |
| Concern for Others | Grandpa wonders about Melody’s rare resistance to heat |
| Grandpa reluctantly awakens the twins at 4 am to watch the cows being milked | |
| Serenity | Grandpa reminds Mallory that some things are meant to be temporary |
| Mental | Rational, theoretical, analytical thinking |
| Calmly Assessing a Situation | Mallory doesn’t lose his “cool” in the cold, dark meat locker |
| Intuition | Mallory figures out how to look at the “big picture” |
| Physical | Health, bodily strengh and movement |
| Healthy Aging | Grandpa Mike realizes that his aging body limits his time with his grandchildren |
| Balance/Stability | One thing Mallory seems to lack |
| Learning/Knowledge/Skills |
Pursuit and acquisition of understanding, wisdom, capabilities |
| Acquiring Knowledge | Want to get the most out of your planned veggie garden? Read the seed package labels! |
| Uncle Frank is curious about fuel cell cars | |
| Sharing Knowledge | Adults and children tell each other what they’ve learned |
| Uncle Frank demonstrates the wonders of a hand water pump | |
| Uncle Frank points out some wonders of the night sky | |
| People | Regard for, and relationships with, humankind |
| Respect | Melody and Mallory learn to address Mom’s cousin Frank Uncle and his wife Martha as Aunt |
| Wet feathers may be “icky” but baked chicken is yummy | |
| The Maloneys honor family war heros at the local cemetary on Memorial Day | |
| Mom chides Mallory for teasing Grandpa | |
| Generosity; Respect | Carefully-selected gifts delight the farm family hosts |
| Helping with Chores | Maloneys all pitch in at the family farm, demonstrating that “Many hands make light work” |
| Uncle Frank makes Sunday breakfast crêpes | |
| Friendly Atmosphere | The twins sense the kindness of the burley butcher |
| Hospitality | Aunt Martha invites the twins to spend several weeks on the farm to learn and to help out |
| Biosphere | Earth’s natural environment: living organisms, water, surface, subsurface, atmosphere |
| Research | How can hydrogen make the traditional road trip less polluting? |
| Dad reports on his road trip observations with the experimental car | |
| Pollution | New technology makes road trips more friendly to the environment |
| Light pollution doesn’t hide the stars on the farm | |
| Car pollution involves more than just fuel | |
| Reduce, Re-use, Recycle | Mom packs reusable utensils, wash cloths for the roadside picnic lunch on the way home |
E-I-E-I-Uh Oh Combined STEM, Humanities, Values/Behaviors Content
E-I-E-I-Uh Oh LIST 4: Combined STEM, Humanities and Values/Behaviors
Major Branches and Sub-branches Appearing in E-I-E-I-Uh Oh
| STEM | HUMANITIES | VALUES/BEHAVIORs |
|
BASIC
HYBRID
APPLIED
|
BASIC
HYBRID
APPLIED
|
BASIC
HYBRID
APPLIED
|
E-I-E-I-Uh Oh Table 4 is designed to be helpful in discussing each book as your children progress through the chapters.
The left column rows highlighted in light green show the Chapter number and the chapter’s pages; following the highlighted row is a quick chapter overview and occasional resource links to relevant sites for further investigation (links to child-friendly sites are in orange).
The right column rows highlighted in light green show the chapter’s title; following the highlighted row are the chapter’s major knowledge branches and sub-branches.
E-I-E-I-Uh Oh TABLE 4: STEM, Humanities, Values Content
| CHAPTER: Page Numbers; RESOURCE LINKS |
CHAPTER TITLES; SUBJECTS/TOPICS |
| Helpful Hints |
|
|
|
| Chapter 1: Pages 1-5 |
And Lettuce Seeds All in a Row |
|
Family trees and gardens grow a lot quieter than Yellowstone’s whooshing geysers, but all of them are natural wonders. |
|
| Chapter 2: Pages 6-9 | A Car of the Future? |
|
Even Rufus (woof) gets to go on a 300-mile test drive of an experimental “clean air” car while the rest of the Maloney family learn about the fuel cells that power it. |
|
| Chapter 3: Pages 10-15 | Down to Earth |
|
Seven-year-old Melody and Mallory explain to Aunt Martha what they learned about pH at Yellowstone, while Uncle Frank reveals what causes that nice “after-rain” smell. |
|
| Chapter 4: Pages 16-22 | Brrr! |
|
Mallory loves the cold, but getting trapped inside an icy meat locker? Could he be a cold-loving “extremophile” (on the other extreme that his sister discovered at Yellowstone? |
|
| Chapter 5: Pages 23-29 |
A Chicken in Every Pot |
| Mallory and Melody learn first-hand how chicken dinners start with catching chickens, not with a trip to the grocery store. And that you can pump water out of the ground instead of turning on a faucet.
What Is the Water Table? |
|
| Chapter 6: Pages 30-37 | A Farm Chore Turns Fun |
| Tradition and advanced technology are part of farm life, such as hand-milking cows the old fashioned way and steaming vegetables using a “fuzzy-logic” cooker. |
|
| Chapter 7: Pages 38-41 | Dark! |
| On a dark, clear night, you don’t need a compass to know which direction is north, or a watch to tell time. The twins enjoy Uncle Frank’s story about how the Milky Way came about. |
|
| Chapter 8: Pages 42-47 | Back to Familiar Life |
| The twins learn that “dry” ice isn’t ice at all, but it’s a lot colder than ice made from ordinary H2O. They also learn that Grandpa was an airplane pilot during his military days.
What Is Dry Ice? (Links, including child-friendly) |
|
| Next Adventure: Pages 48-52 |
|
| On a black mat, the twins arrange stones, then connect them with string, and sprinkle sugar to create a portion of the night sky’s BIG picture. |
|
