If you were an astronaut, aerospace engineer, or marine scientist, what would you wear to work?

That’s the fascinating focus of award-winning author Deborah Lee Rose‘s new STEM-themed book for children and young adults.

Available this fall, Scientists Get Dressed zooms in on why scientists wear such different clothing to perform a spacewalk or swim with whale sharks, test snow and ice on a frozen glacier, or collect hot lava from a burning volcano. It was inspired in part, Rose says, by the protective gloves that Beauty and the Beak coauthor Janie Veltkamp, an Idaho raptor biologist, wore when handling an injured bald eagle that received an engineered prosthetic beak. From space to the ocean, scientists’ work – and even their lives – can depend on what they wear, whether it’s a spacesuit, polar parka, swim fins, or camouflage. In other words, not everyone wears a lab coat!

Through stunning and engaging “you are there” photos – many of which have never been published before – and fun, fact-filled text, young readers meet real scientists and engineers and discover the challenges of what these scientists do, how they do it, and why it matters. “Kids of all ages love to role play by dressing up,” says Rose, who says that”the unique lens of what scientists wear” can “inspire and encourage kids to explore STEM in new ways, and to imagine themselves getting dressed for exciting, important work.”

Scientists Get Dressed spotlights a diversity of scientists suited up for jobs from research lab to rocky desert, sunlit forest canopy to dark bat caves, buzzing beehives to beyond Earth’s atmosphere. The book includes information from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology about how kids can get involved in citizen science projects and a Scientists’ Glove Challenge STEM activity that uses easy to obtain, inexpensive materials to help students experience hands-on (and gloves-on) how important scientists’ clothing and tools are to their work.

Filed under: Class Activities, For Teachers, K-12 Education News, Special Features, Web Resources

Tags: Aerospace, Aerospace Engineering, astronaut, Best STEM Books, Class Activities, Deborah Lee Rose, marine biology, polar research, Resources for Teachers, Scientists Get Dressed, Scientists' Glove Challenge, STEM education