STEAM Tales The Wizard of Oz is not a word-for-word retelling of the classic book by L. Frank Baum. Nor is it a twisted version of the Yellow Brick that changes the tone and heart of the story in favor of accentuating certain characters. This is a truncated version of The Wizard of Oz text that inserts four instances of science, and two STEAM activities for kids to do in each chapter. It’s not as far-fetched or as uninteresting as you might think, let’s take a look at an example.
Chapter 3 of the book picks up with our trio well on the yellow-brick road. The woods are getting dense and a lion comes roaring out of the thicket. The lion pushes the Scarecrow down to the bricks with ease and extends his claws out to the Tin Man, but fails to scratch him. After making amends with the group, the Lion joins them on their journey and even has them hang onto his back, while he jumps over a gorge that’s missing a bridge.
Because Lion wasn’t able to scratch the Tin Man we’re introduced to Mohs Hardness Scale on a separate page within this chapter. It’s presented on a stand-alone page that illustrates examples of various elements that are set against their level. We can easily see that a fingernail is around a 2.5 on Mohs Hardness Scale and not near strong enough to mark up the Tin Man.
The bridge in question is covered in two ways. The first one is a page on bridge design and examples of which bridge types are effective for different geographical instances. The truss is good for longer, heavy loads, whereas the arch style is for longer distances with loads that aren’t too heavy. There are four other bridge designs, all of which will lead young readers to ponder if they’ve seen that particular style After you read about bridges you’ll be able to make a primitive one using the step-by-step directions using the engineering project that concludes that chapter.
There’s also a very simple art project where budding STEAM students can make a lion collage. This 13-page chapter has six-and-a-half pages of The Wizard of Oz story, with the rest of its pages consisting of illustrations or STEAM interactivity. The text of the story is written at a level that’s a great read-along for those third graders and can be done independently by fourth or fifth-grade students.
As a teacher who wants elementary ages to be curious about STEAM I love this book. It shows how elements of STEAM are all around us, even when we’re not thinking about them. Granted, kids can think about bridges or water current on their own. The manner in which the STEAM angles are presented in the book are logical and helps motivate curiosity that otherwise might continue its slumber.
The Wicked Witch melted when Dorothy threw water on her. What’s the melting point of chocolate? Why is knowing the melting points of various substances important?
The Wicked Witch uses a whistle so that her slaves will come to help her. How does sound travel from one place to another? The Wizard uses trickery, including throwing his voice so that people think something that isn’t. What exactly is a ventriloquist?
STEAM Tales The Wizard of Oz is an activity book that’s disguised as a chapter book. Its colored pages are loaded with illustrations and is effortless to look at or thumb through. All but two of the crafts can be accomplished with basic materials that are in every elementary school house. Kids may know the tale of The Wizard of Oz, but they probably haven’t thought about the STEAM angles that are in the story. Those same angles are in most stories and any chance that kids get the opportunity to realize why STEAM matters is awesome. Because of the book’s format, it’s going to be aimed at those elementary-aged students. While the content can be enjoyed and learned from by anyone, the approach and lessons within are aligned with upper elementary lessons.
STEAM Tales The Wizard of Oz is by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Katie Dicker with illustrations by Gustavo Mazali, and is available on Welbeck Children’s Books.
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