Before After Reading Activities Before Reading Building Academic Vocabulary and Background Knowledge Before reading a book it is important to tap into what your child or students already know about the topic This will help them develop their vocabulary increase their reading comprehension and make connections across the curriculum Content Area Vocabulary Read the list What do these words mean 1 Look at the cover of the book What will this book be about 2 What do you already know about the topic 3 Let's study the Table of Contents What will you learn about in the book's chapters 4 What would you like to learn about this topic Do you think you might learn about it from this book Why or why not 5 Use a reading journal to write about your knowledge of this topic Record what you already know about the topic and what you hope to learn about the topic 6 Read the book 7 In your reading journal record what you learned about the topic and your response to the book 8 After reading the book complete the activities below biomimicry denticles dermal electrode fractal heliotropism hydropower kinetic tubercles turbine turbulence After Reading Comprehension and Extension Activity After reading the book work on the following questions with your child or students in order to check their level of reading comprehension and content mastery 1 What has nature taught us about how to generate store and save energy Summarize 2 Since we already have energy why would scientists want to learn about energy from nature Infer 3 How can biomimicry in energy conservation help us deal with climate change Asking Questions 4 What plant or animal would you study to learn more about how nature uses energy Text to Self Connection 5 How could nature help conserve energy in your school or home Infer Extension Activity Find out where energy you use is coming from where it is stored and how it is distributed Come up with ideas on how you could collect store and save energy that are inspired by nature
Table of Contents Introduction 4 Solar Energy 9 Wind Energy 13 Hydropower and Water Collection 24 Energy Conservation 36 Glossary 46 Index 47 Show What You Know 47 Further Reading 47 48 About the Author
4 Introduction A scientist named Radwanul Siddique studied a deep black rose butterfly He discovered that the butterfly got its dark color by trapping and absorbing light through tiny holes in its wings black rose butterfly
Solar cells the components in a solar panel are designed to do the same thing His team built a solar panel inspired by the rose butterfly wing's unique structure Tiny holes allowed the solar panel to collect more light from the sun This new feature made the panel much more efficient than a traditional design Butterfly wings also inspired the use of thin film solar cells which proved to be more efficient and easier to make than the thick solar cells used in other solar panels 5
