Looking for inspiring books that not only are good stories that build literacy skills but accurately depict complex STEM content?

Check out the National Science Teachers Association’s 2019 Best STEM Books!

Responding to continued calls from teachers for just such a “best books” list, NSTA invited a unique collaboration several years ago with three other groups to help set the standard: the American Society for Engineering Educators (ASEE), the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA), and the mathematics representatives from the Society of Elementary Presidential Awardees (SEPA).

The list of 24 books was chosen by volunteer educators identified in collaboration with the Children’s Book Council. Click HERE to see the criteria for selecting a book.

The 2019 roster includes tales of technology, such as the development of NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover and a history of Google, and biographies of women like Komodo Dragon  researcher Joan Proctor, Navy engineer Raye Montague, and mathematician Sophie Germain, who defied sexism and racism to become innovators in their fields. Other works illuminate coral reefs, the comeback of the American chestnut tree, and the daring effort to build the first trans-Atlantic telecommunications cable.

Image from Joan Proctor, Dragon Doctor: The Woman Who Loved Reptiles,  by Patricia Valdez

Seek tips for teaching STEM through literature? ASEE engineering educators have research-proven curriculum and tips! Check out PictureSTEM, Purdue University’s early grades engineering-through-literacy curriculum project. Or search for papers presented at the ASEE Annual Conference such as this 2011 Texas Tech’s paper: Introducing Engineering to Young Children Through Early STEM Literacy.

Doing a bridge-design activity? Check out eGFI Teachers’ Building Bridges to Literacy with titles sure to spark your students’ imaginations! Click HERE for the 2017 Best STEM books line-up featuring ASEE Pre-college Division past chair Pamela Lottero-Perdue, professor and director of the Integrated STEM Instructional Leadership (PreK-6) Post Baccalaureate Certificate Program at Towson University in Maryland.

Happy reading!

Filed under: K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features

Tags: Dragon Doctor, Lucy Proctor, NSTA Best STEM Books 2019, STEM education, Teacher Resources