Finch Discoveries: An Inspiring Tale of Adaptation to a Changing Environment

Wallis, Ginger

ISBN 10: 0984766227 / ISBN 13: 9780984766222

Published by Dancing Journey Press, 2013

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 20447134-n

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Finch Discoveries: An Inspiring Tale of Adaptation to a Changing Environment
• Publisher: Dancing Journey Press
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0984766227
• ISBN 13: 9780984766222
• Binding: Soft cover
• Illustrator: Dodson, Bert
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

In Finch Discoveries Ginger Wallis demonstrates how compelling science can be! She brings to life for young readers adaptation by rapid natural selection, one of the most important discoveries arising from Peter and Rosemary Grant and their colleagues’ decades-long research with finches. Wallis takes us from hatching to breeding, through extremes of drought and rainfall, and from individuals to populations to help us understand the importance of slight variations in beak size, and of novel behaviors, for reproduction and survival. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in nature and the rules that govern all creatures. We need far more books like this to help young readers internalize the excitement and importance of science. Based on true events, the story takes the reader on two interconnected journeys, one of Adelita, a ground finch trying to survive in an ever-changing landscape, and the second, the scientific research of Peter and Rosemary Grant and their colleagues. The book is for kids, parents, grandparents, and teachers.

About the Author

Ginger Wallis taught environmental education for over eighteen years in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. She currently teaches seventh grade biology in Hanover, NH and shared this story with her students for years before writing this book, her second. She is also the author of A Gentle and Curious Path (Dancing Journey Press, 2010). Bert Dodson is a painter, teacher, author and illustrator. He has illustrated over 80 books for children. He is the author of Keys To Drawing (North Light Books, 1985), and Keys to Drawing with Imagination. He co-authored, with noted biologist, Mahlon Hoagland, The Way Life Works (Times Books, 1995) and Intimate Strangers; The Story of Unseen Life on Earth (ASM Press, 1999, Needam, et a.). He and his wife, Zelma, live in Vermont.