Sunday, September 6, 2020

Nothing Stopped Sophie : the Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain by Cheryl Bardoe. 2018

Count on the Women
Inspiration Book:
Nothing stopped Sophie : the story of unshakable mathematician Sophie Germain by Bardoe, Cheryl  — Little, Brown and Company, 2018. 510.92; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.0. A biography of Sophie Germain, who grew up during the French Revolution and followed her dream of studying mathematics, becoming the first woman to win a grand prize from the Royal Academy of Sciences and changing the world with her discoveries.
Rationale: One summer when I was an undergraduate, studying for my American Institutions major for teaching, I joined my mother who was attending a summer session at a local university. She had been a teacher and was determined to complete her degree before I did. The course I took was Representative American Biographies. I had always had an interest in biographies, but after that course, my interest grew. Once I started teaching and then became a librarian, I always try to include units on biographies. In my early library days it was a February unit when we studied the presidents and students learned about individual and collected biographies and autobiographies. As the years went on and my interest in the people who made history increased, I began suggesting and sharing biographies to teachers that fit within one of their units.
I like challenges and frequently promote books and the library and media and computers to the least interested in books, research and libraries. I have won over all of the supportive teachers (art, music, P.E.) and am currently working on math teachers. And, biographies of mathematicians fit right into my scheme to promote books to the unbookish. I promote biographies with the middle school teachers during their unit on careers and encourage them to have students read a biography of a person whole followed their career choice. 
Grades 5-8--Numbers, Numbers, Numbers
I hand deliver biographies of mathematicians to the middle school math teachers on a monthly basis. Picture books are often very saleable because they can be read and discussed, usually within fifteen minutes, thus not “interfering” with the important math topic of the day. Sometimes the math teachers will even give me the opportunity to read the book to the class. 
The movie Hidden Figures and the related books were an initial springboard. Since then, numerous picture books about mathematicians, especially female mathematicians, have been published. I have enough books to share one a month. All of them have won awards and are listed below in the bibliography. It’s that bibliography with teaching resources that make up this My Books Alive entry. 
Challenge yourself to find resistant math  teachers and promote the books in the bibliography, perhaps also using an idea from the teaching resources listed below many of the titles. You might share them in the order of presentation because the readability of the books advances. Several mathematicians have more than one title (Katherine Johnson and Ada Lovelace). You may not have all the titles about one person--that’s expected, but if you do read one book to one grade, a more advanced book to another grade. I’m looking forward to having some good picture biographies of male mathematicians, too. 
ADDITIONAL NSTA OUTSTANDING SCIENCE TRADE BOOKS : Computer programmers & Mathematicians
Instructions not included : how a team of women coded the future by Brown, Tami Lewis  — Disney/Hyperion, 2019 004; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.4. The nonfiction story of a team of women innovators, Jean Jennings Bartik, Kay McNulty Mauchly, and Betty Snyder Holberton, who programmed early computer ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer. NSTA 2020
Game Kit (The Algorithm Game) from Tami Lewis Brown https://www.brownanddunn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Algorithm-Game.pdf
Margaret and the Moon : how Margaret Hamilton saved the first lunar landing by Robbins, Dean — Alfred A. Knopf, 2017 : 629.45; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.8. "Introduces the woman mathematician whose childhood love of numbers led to her prestigious education and contributions at NASA while explaining how her handwritten codes proved essential throughout numerous space missions. NSTA 2018.
The girl with a mind for math : the story of Raye Montague (Amazing Scientists) by Mosca, Julia Finley — The Innovation Press, 2018 620.0082; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.1. A brief rhyming account of the childhood and work of United States Naval Engineer, Raye Montague who had to deal with prejudices and racial inequality to create the first computer generated rough draft of a U.S. Naval ship and also was the first female program manager of ships in the United States Navy. NSTA 2019
Counting on Katherine : how Katherine Johnson saved Apollo 13 by Becker, Helaine — Henry Holt and Company, 2018. 510.92; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.3. As a child, Katherine Johnson loved to count. She counted the steps on the road, the number of stars in the sky, the number of dishes and spoons she washed in the kitchen sink. Boundless, curious, and excited by calculations, young Katherine longed to know as much as she could about math, about the universe. From Katherine's early beginnings as a gifted student to her heroic accomplishments as a prominent mathematician at NASA, this is the story of a ground-breaking American icon who not only calculated the course of moon landings but, in turn, saved lives. NFD, Mathical Awards, NSSTB, NSTA 2019.
Educator’s Guide from Vermont Department of Libraries https://libraries.vermont.gov/sites/libraries/files/RCeduguide19-20.pdf#page=13



Ada Byron Lovelace and the thinking machine by Wallmark, Laurie  — Creston Books, LLC, 2015 510; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.4. Ada Lovelace, the daughter of the famous romantic poet, Lord Byron, develops her creativity through science and math. When she meets Charles Babbage, the inventor of the first mechanical computer. Ada understands the machine better than anyone else and writes the world's first computer program in order to demonstrate its capabilities. NFD, NSTA List 2016.

Ada Lovelace, poet of science : the first computer programmer by Stanley, Diane — Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, 2016. Dewey: 510.92; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.0. A ... look at Ada Lovelace, the pioneering computer programmer and the daughter of the poet Lord Byron. CBshelf, NSTA 2017, WI & IN

Nothing stopped Sophie : the story of unshakable mathematician Sophie Germain by Bardoe, Cheryl  — Little, Brown and Company, 2018. 510.92; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.0. A biography of Sophie Germain, who grew up during the French Revolution and followed her dream of studying mathematics, becoming the first woman to win a grand prize from the Royal Academy of Sciences and changing the world with her discoveries.




Math’s Hidden Women (NOVA) 
Who says women can't be computer programmers? : the story of Ada Lovelaceby Stone, Tanya Lee — Christy Ottaviano Books, Henry Holt and Company, 2018. 510; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.1. Known as 'The Enchantress of Numbers' by many inventors and mathematicians of the 19th century, Ada Lovelace is recognized today as history's first computer programmer. Her work was an inspiration to such famous minds as Charles Babbage and Alan Turing. This is her story.
Ada's ideas : the story of Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmerby Robinson, Fiona  — Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2016. 510.92; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.3. A picture book biography of mathematician Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer. Titlewave, Freeman, NSSTB 2017, NSTA 2017.


Audiobook Excerpt narrated by Rosalyn Landor (2:01min.) https://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=13445
Video Book Trailer from Fiona Robinson https://www.teachingbooks.net/booktrailer.cgi?id=3884
Hedy Lamarr's double life by Wallmark, Laurie  — Sterling Children's Books, 2019 791.45; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.2.  Explores the story of Hedy Lamarr's life as she became an actress and invented a communications system during WWII. NSTA 2020
A computer called Katherine : how Katherine Johnson helped put America on the moon by Slade, Suzanne — Little, Brown and Company, 2019. 510; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.3. Tells the story of Katherine Johnson, NASA mathmatician who helped put the first man on the moon. Titlewave. NSTA 2020.
Audiobook Excerpt narrated by Jeanette Illidg (5:00 min.) https://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=18065
Hidden figures : the true story of four black women and the space race by Shetterly, Margot Lee — Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2018. 510; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.5. Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as -human computers- used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space. This book brings to life the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, four African-American women who lived through the civil rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality, and whose work forever changed the face of NASA and the country. NSSTB 2019, NSTA 2019, CCBC 2019
Counting the stars by Cline-Ransome, Lesa — Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2019 510.92; Int Lvl: K-3. "The story of Katherine Johnson, an African American mathematician whose work was critical to the first US space flight. NSTA 2020
Audiobook Excerpt narrated by Bahni Turpin (5:00 min.) https://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=17713
Also check out this My Books Alive entry for Counting on Katherine and Hidden Figures https://www.mybooksalive.com/search?q=johnson+katherine

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