Synopses & Reviews
Everyone has marveled at a spider web's ability to withstand ferocious rainstorms and howling wind. Now scientists are taking a cue from these durable spinners to craft an incredibly strong manmade spider silk.
The Spider Silk Scientists brings readers face to face with golden orb weaver spiders, as their silk is combined with goat's milk to weave a nearly indestructible fiber that doctors can use to repair or replace joints and ligaments in the human body. Learn how these rapid advancements in genetic medicine are saving and improving lives—all while raising crucial ethical concerns around the use of genetic material.
Readers are introduced to the field of genetics through the story of Randy Lewis, his work with golden orb weavers, his subsequent creation of artificial spider silk, and his ongoing quest to produce spider silk that can be used to save and improve lives.
The golden orb weaver is the largest web-making spider in the world and creates the largest web. It spins six types of silk. These traits lie in the spiders genes, which are the recipes for spider silk, the spiders themselves, and all living things.
Scientists are fascinated by spider silk because it is extremely strong and flexible. The strongest of the silks the spider produces, dragline silk, is pound for pound five times stronger than steel. It can stretch to 50 percent its length without breaking and then return to its original length. Possible uses for this strong and stretchy material include battle armor, parachute rope, and car airbags. And because spider silk is strong but not bulky, it could also be used inside the human body to hold broken bones and tendons in place as they heal.
Until recently, despite its impressive qualities, it was impossible to use spider silk for anything. It was simply too hard to come by. Unlike silk worms, spiders cannot be raised domestically. They are territorial and, when raised in close proximity, they tend to eat each other. And gathering spider silk in the wild is far too time consuming. Enter the goats. When golden orb spider DNA is injected into goats, scientists can extract the materials for this strong web from the goats' milk!
Readers will follow along as spider silk from Randys lab is tested by biomedical researchers for use in tendon therapy, bone repair, and ligament replacement! (The military is also interested in spider silk for body armor, parachute rope, and tethers connecting airplanes to aircraft carriers.)
A timely addition to the acclaimed Scientists in the Field series.
Review
"Move over, Spider-Man. . . . Abundant photographs and a lively narrative make the topic accessible and almost lighthearted, and Heos lays groundwork for readers with a basic introduction to DNA and gene theory."
and#8212;Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A complex, controversial topic, positively presented."
and#8212;School Library Journal
"Clear focus, careful explanztions with occasional repetition of denser information, and a wealth of color photographs make this title inviting and accessible. . . and the kissin'-cute goats should entice quite a few readers to explore this project further."
and#8212;Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Review
"Montgomery has a gift for scene-setting... She deftly weaves clear explanations and comparisons into the main text... Bishop's phenomenal photos show spiders mating, shedding their skin, even leaping through the air. It's enough to make Miss Muffet fall in love." Kirkus Reviews, Starred
"...this is a vivid look at an enthusiastic scientist energetically and happily at work, both in the field and in the lab, questioning, examining, testing, and making connections. A treat, even for arachnophobes." School Library Journal, Starred
"Bishop's photographs rise magnificently to the challenge of capturing earth-toned spiders amid earth-toned jungle surroundings, bringing the critters up-close and personal and offering a few of his trademark astonishing stop-action shots... This would liven up a science curriculum no end, and it might also convince young readers to go beyond the elemental pleasures of 'Ew, gross' to the more sophisticated appreciation of 'Wow, cool.'" The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Starred
This beautifully photographed book explains just about everything an elementary school student might want to know about this often misunderstood and maligned creature.
The Five Owls, Starred
Review
"Throughout the presentation, readers learn about the anatomy, development, and social behavior of honey bees, and observe the process of scientific investigation and its vital, real-world application. Appended are lists of recommended books, magazines, films, Web sites as well as a glossary and a source bibliography. A fascinating book from the Scientists in the Field series."and#8212;Booklist, starred review
"Not long after beekeepers encountered a devastating new problem in their hives in 2006, a team of bee scientists began working to discover the causes of colony collapse disorder (CCD), now attributed to a combination of factors possibly including pesticides, nutrition, mites and viruses...Harasimowicz's clear, beautifully reproduced photographs support and extend the text."and#8212;Kirkus, starred review
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Synopsis
An introduction to the field of genetics through the story of Randy Lewis and his work with golden orb weaver spiders andand#160;his subsequent creation of artificial spider silk that can be used to save and improve lives.
Synopsis
In
Stronger Than Steel, readers enter Randy Lewis' lab where they come face to face with golden orb weaver spiders, and transgenic alfalfa, silkworm silk, and goats, whose milk contains the proteins to spin spider silk--and to weave a nearly indestructible fiber. Learn how this amazing material might someday be used to repair or replace human ligaments and bones, improve body armor, strengthen parachute rope, and even tether an airplane to an aircraft carrier! Readers explore rapid advancements in the application of genetic medicine and their potential to save and improve lives while considering the crucial ethical concerns of genetic research. A timely addition to the acclaimed Scientists in the Field series.
Synopsis
Yellow blood, silk of steel, skeletons on the outside! These amazing attributes donand#8217;t belong to comic book characters or alien life forms, but to Earthand#8217;s biggest and hairiest spiders: tarantulas. Here you are invited to follow Sam Marshall, spider scientist extraordinaire (heand#8217;s never been bitten), as he explores the dense rainforest of French Guiana, knocking on the doors of tarantula burrows, trying to get a closer look at these incredible creatures. Youand#8217;ll also visit the largest comparative spider laboratory in Americaand#151;where close to five hundred live tarantulas sit in towers of stacked shoeboxes and plastic containers, waiting for their turn to dazzle and astound the scientists who study them.
Synopsis
THE HIVE DETECTIVES will be a science book for middle-grade readers in the Scientists in the Field series.and#160;Pulled straight from todayand#8217;s headlines: the disappearance of Americaand#8217;s honey bees.
Synopsis
Without honey bees the world would be a different place. There would be no honey, no beeswax for candles, and,and#160;worst of all, barely a fruit, nut, or vegetable to eat.and#160;So imagine beekeeper Dave Hackenburgand#8217;s horror when he discovered twenty million of his charges had vanished. Those missing bees became the first casualties of a mysterious scourge that continues to plague honey bee populations today. In
The Hive Detectives, Loree Griffin Burns profiles bee wranglers and bee scientists who have been working to understand colony collapse disorder, or CCD. In this dramatic and enlightening story, readers explore the lives of the fuzzy, buzzy insects and learn what might happen to us if they were gone.
About the Author
Sy Montgomery is an author,andnbsp;naturalist, newspaper columnist,andnbsp;scriptwriter, and radio commentator who writes award-winning books for children as well as adults. She lives in Hancock, New Hampshire.andnbsp;Visit her website at symontgomery.com. andnbsp;andnbsp;andnbsp;andnbsp; Syandnbsp;Montgomery and photographer Nic Bishop won theandnbsp;Sibert Medal in 2011andnbsp;for their collaborative work on Kakapo Rescue:andnbsp;Saving the World's Strangest Parrot,andnbsp;another Scientist in the Field title.andnbsp;andnbsp;