This is the fifth post in my new blog series, Picture Book Science Lessons. Each post contains a favorite picture book for teaching science concepts and activity ideas to accompany the book.
Topics: oceans, scientists, ecology, Earth Day
Literacy: literary nonfiction, biography
Focus: First of all, I must say the illustrations in this book are phenomenal. We learn about Jacques Cousteau an inquisitive young boy with a lot of dreams. We hear how Cousteau’s interest in diving developed. Over time, he became an expert, explorer, and filmmaker. This is an inspirational science picture book!
Title: Manfish by Jennifer Berne
Response Pages
After reading the text, write about Jacques Cousteau’s childhood and adulthood. Then, write why he is an important person in history and how his childhood impacted him as an adult.
Explorer Project
Cousteau’s rallying cry, in English, was, “We must go and see for ourselves.” Brainstorm different places students may want to explore. I recommend mentioning Mt. Everest, the Great Barrier Reef, Antarctica, the Amazon Rainforest, and the Mariana Trench. These places are some of the least explored in the world. Students choose a location and research it using the internet, books, and magazines.
Brainstorm the steps students may need to take to explore these places. In the film strip sections, students draw themselves now and in the future taking steps to exploration and what they may see on their trips!
As a separate piece, students write a report about the locations they chose.
I plan to turn this into a TpT resource in time for Earth Day to give your students a chance to explore some of Earth’s natural wonders!
Download the Printables
You can download the free Manfish printables here. Have fun!
More Resources
Check out this fun science notebook unit on TpT.
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