My Maple Tree is targeted for the elementary age child and takes the reader through the changes a maple tree makes throughout the four seasons. This is the story of the life cycle of a maple tree. In the spring, a maple tree seed sprouts, takes root, and then the sapling that emerges from the seed reaches toward the sky. The sapling grows through the summer and eventually becomes a mature tree with a full canopy of green leaves. In the autumn, the maple tree's leaves become brilliant scarlet. Soon, the scarlet leaves begin to fall. Before long, the tree is bare and seems ready for the winter snows. The tree might look dead, but it revives as the next spring arrives. It is then when the tree brings forth new green leaves. Not long after, new seeds begin to form and emerge from the branches: the beginning of the life of new maple trees. The seeds drop from the tree and begin their own journeys to find places to take root and begin the living cycle all over again. The book illustrates these changes in the life of the maple tree using actual-colored photographs for each stage of the tree's life cycle. Each photograph is accompanied by a rhyme narrative (poetic prose) that speaks to what is being shown in the photograph. My Maple Tree can easily be paired with other books about other kinds of trees or plants, as well as books about persons who have interacted with trees. At the end of the book is a listing of National Science Education Standards (NGSS) that can be applied to the book if used for educational purposes in the classroom.
Kevin wrote this book about a maple tree in the yard of his home. The tree started when a seed fell into a flowerpot on his daughter's balcony.Soon, the seed sprouted and grew into a small sapling. Kevin and his daughter took the sapling and transplanted it to Kevin's front yard where they nurtured it and helped it grow into a strong small tree. Years later, the tree had grown large and provided wonderful shade for the house, and showered the area with its own seeds to populate the area with even more maple trees that everyone could enjoy.
Kevin Finson is a retired professor of science education. He taught 34 years at the college level, two at the high school level, and five at the middle school level. He is an earth scientist by training, but also has taught physical, life, and other sciences (as well as teaching on instructional theory and program evaluation). He is a vocal proponent of inquiry learning and teaching. Kevin has a sense of humor and really likes puns and shaggy dog stories. When at the university, he hosted an annual holiday party featuring a shaggy dog story contest. Since his retirement, he started to write children's books for his grandchildren. During his working career, Kevin was heavily involved in service to professional science education associations and maintained a consistent publication record that included the publication of eight books, some chapters and monographs, and a host of refereed (peer-reviewed) journal articles. Most of his professional academic publication focus has been on science for students with disabilities and on students' perceptions about scientists and visual data.
