Awards

Reviews

Every child enjoys learning about animals, nature etc. This book/guide combo is sure to have their attention, in a matter of moments. Pass The Energy, Please shares natures way of passing energy from one animal to the next, through the food chain. This is done in a warm way, so children are not getting mad at one animal for eating another etc (*smile*) It also shares the intricate design of each animal which makes them a prime candidate as a predator on the animals they prey on. Full of beautiful, full color pictures, every child will enjoy reading or hearing this story read to them.

THEN! When you combine this great book, with their wonderful teacher’s guide to go with it … you have a winning combo that is sure to instruct your child(ren) in nature’s way of handling overpopulation, food for all creatures and life on planet earth. This guide has enough lessons for a 2 week thematic unit. It has reproducibles, for you to hand out to your students and many thought provoking lessons as you go.

This teacher’s guide has the following categories:

Letter to teachers Introduction : The why’s and hows of
- Multiple intelligences
- Benchmark standards
- Skills for living
- Center approach for living

Lesson plan Multiple Intelligence Centers
- Owl pellets (naturalist)
- A seedy activity (naturalist)
- Eye witness (intrapersonal)
- Animal interview (intrapersonal)
- Dinners and diners (bodily-kinesthetic)
- Create a food chain (interpersonal)
- Sounds good (musical – rhythmic)
- Animal cinquains (verbal-linguistic)
- Paper chains (visual-spatial)
- Pyramid power (visual-spatial)
- Weight & see (logical-mathematical)
- Creature features (logical-mathematical)

Teacher background information Multiple intelligences subcapacities How to teach the eight intelligences Resources

This is a great set for both the student and the teacher. There is much benefit to be had for both, as you both discover new information and ideas that will benefit your teaching as well as their learning. Highly suggested material and at an easy price to afford!

— Education Clearinghouse – www.educationclearinghouse.org (December 2002)

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(Combined review of Pass the Energy Please! and A Drop Around the World.)

Teacher, writer and poet Barbara McKinney has written two books which attempt to bring some beauty and art to science lessons.

. . . In Pass the Energy Please!, Ms. McKinney . . . uses poetry to describe how energy is captured and transferred from one organism to another at various trophic levels. Once again, the illustrations are superb and the contents are entirely adequate for the children ages 6 to 12. Like her previous book, this one has a teacher’s guide available (separately). . . . Both books succeed in slowly and cumulatively making the points that the author intends. She manages to present things just as they are. As a former elementary and middle school teacher, I found these two books would make a nice addition to a creative and challenging curriculum. In addition, parents of young children would enjoy using these books as a good source to create a story or to simply add to child’s bookshelf.

— NABT (National Assoc. of Biology Teachers)
Reviewed by Jose Vazquez – Univ. of Illinois at Chicago

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This rhyming book explains the food chain and how nature’s creatures “pass the energy” by becoming one another’s food source. The story’s hero is the green plant, upon which all other creatures depend. A teacher’s guide is available.

— Learning (Fall 2000)