Sea Soup: Phytoplankton [Hardcover]

Mary M. Cerullo (Author), Bill Curtsinger (Photographer)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

A teaspoon of sea water can hold a soupy serving of a million phytoplankton! These tiny floating plants come in thousands of amazing variations. Invisible to the naked eye, phytoplankton are the source of our atmosphere, our climate, our ocean food chain, much of our oil supply, and more. Theyre also food for zooplankton, tiny animals that often look like weird life forms from outer space.

In this volume (another volume: Sea Soup: Zooplankton will be available in Fall 2000), Mary Cerullos text answers intriguing questions about these tiny drifters that have shaped our world, while Bill Curtsingers extraordinary photomicroscopy serves up tantalizing images of this sea soup. Many of the photos for this book were taken at Maines Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science and the Darling Marine Center, using an Axiophot 2 research microscope donated by Carl Zeiss, Inc.

This book has an accompanying teacher's guide: Sea Soup Teachers Guide: Discovering the Watery World of Phytoplankton and Zooplankton

AWARD -- Notable Books for Children, 1999 Smithsonian

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-Outstanding full-color photo-microscopy dominates this slim volume on the microscopic plants at the bottom of the ocean food chain. The clearly presented information is not available in another single volume for this audience. However, the organization is somewhat disjointed. The main questions are superimposed on photographs covering double-page spreads. The answers are provided in dense print and illustrated with small photographs on the next spread. The language is scientific, and while terms such as "zooxanthellaes" and "dinoflagellates" are defined in context, the text can be challenging to students unfamiliar with marine biology. Created in conjunction with the Gulf of Maine Aquarium, this book covers career information and encourages young people to explore the research concerns of the future. A teacher's guide explores how this book can be utilized with the National Science Education Standards. Many related facts are offered for curious readers, such as the inclusion of information on the phenomenon known as a red tide.
Nora Jane Natke, Hooked on Books, Hollywood, FL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This attractive book introduces children to an area of biology they may know little about: the world of phytoplankton, plants so tiny that a million can fit in a teaspoon of sea water and so numerous that they produce half the world's oxygen. Each section of the book answers a question, such as "Are they plants or are they animals?" "How did tiny phytoplankton help build the largest structures on earth?" and "How do we know so much about things most of us have never seen?" The pages are bright with Bill Curtsinger's colorful photographs, including many enlarged and amazingly clear shots of phytoplankton seen through the microscope. A paperback companion, Betsy T. Stevens' Sea Soup: Teacher's Guide ($9.95, 0-88448-209-X), provides background information and several activities for each of the eight questions explored. A good introduction to an often-overlooked subject. Carolyn Phelan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Tilbury House Publishers (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0884482081
• ISBN-13: 978-0884482086
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 9.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #840,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #71 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Botany

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