Science Writing
I LOVE science. I always have. In high school when my friends were reading teen romance novels, I was reading Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time. When my friends were excited because someone had brought the latest issue of Tiger Beat to school, I was excited because I’d discovered that the appendix of my physics book explained the theory of relativity. My friends hung posters of Duran Duran and Bon Jovi on their bedroom walls. I hung a poster of Albert Einstein on mine.
I felt a ZAP—the thrill of unlocking a secret of the universe—when I learned how a rainbow forms, or why a water bug can stand on a pond’s surface, or why if you travel into space at close to the speed of light and come back an hour later, everyone you left behind will have grown old. I still get that feeling when I learn a scientific secret. But the best part is that now I don’t have to keep it to myself. I write for terrific science magazines and book publishers that give me the chance to share the excitement with kids and teens.
Since 2003, I’ve been writing for Science World, a classroom magazine published by Scholastic for students in grades 6-10. Sometimes I also write for Scholastic’s grades 3-6 science magazine, SuperScience. The fun thing about these magazines is that, even though they’re top-notch teaching tools that accurately explain scientific concepts, the focus is always on a great story. How is an engineer using physics to solve the mystery of a missing Leonardo da Vinci mural? Read the article from the February 20, 2010, issue of Science World. Why is a scientist breeding what he calls “the most dangerous animal in the world”? Find out by reading the article published in the March 21, 2011, issue.
I’ve written around 200 articles and interviewed nearly 250 people for Scholastic. Most of the newer articles aren’t posted online (unless you have access to databases such as EBSCOhost), but you’ll find links to some of the older ones below.
Some of my other books and magazine articles involve science, and you can read about those elsewhere on this site. For instance, all of my reference books are science-based. It’s a great feeling when I get an e-mail from a kid who used one of these books to research a term paper or other class assignment.
Did I mention that I love science?
Science World (grades 6-10)
- “Game On!” (May 14, 2012)
- “Fuel Fight” (April 13, 2012)
- “Big-Hearted Snakes” (March 26, 2012)
- “The Ice Man” (February 13, 2012)
- “Can Art Save the Sea?” (January 21, 2012)
- “Substitute Student” (December 5, 2011)
- “Mississippi on the Move” (October 17, 2011)
- “Hope for the Devil?” (September 26, 2011)
- “Stunning Species” (May 9, 2011)
- “How to Cool Earth” (April 4, 2011)
- “Germ Warfare” (March 21, 2011)
- “Swallowed by a Sinkhole” (December 6, 2010)
- “Singing Sensations” (November 8, 2010)
- “Animal Vision Revealed” (September 27, 2010)
- “Leap From Space” (September 6, 2010)
- “A Dangerous Race” (May 8, 2010)
- “Lights, Camera, Action!” (April 19, 2010)
- “Art Sleuth” (February 20, 2010)
- “One Zany Device” (February 1, 2010)
- “Secrets of Silk” (October 26, 2009)
- “Smashing Pumpkins” (October 26, 2009)
- “Biting Back” (September 7, 2009)
- “Farm-Fresh Perspective” (April 20, 2009)
- “DNA Detective” (March 16, 2009)
- “Animal Oceanographers” (February 23, 2009)
- “Kings of the Strings” (February 2, 2009)
- “Wild Pets” (November 10, 2008)
- “High-School Heroes” (October 6, 2008)
- “Submerged City” (September 1, 2008)
- “Monkey See, Monkey Do” (March 31, 2008)
- “Building the World’s Biggest Wheel” (February 18, 2008)
- “Dangerous Obsession” (November 12, 2007)
- “Hanging Out at a Bat Hospital” (October 22, 2007)
- “The Case of the Disappearing Bees” (September 3, 2007)
- “Together Forever?” (April 2, 2007)
- “Orangutans in Peril” (February 5, 2007)
- “What Makes a Bully Tick?” (October 23, 2006)
- “Bird Flu: The Facts You Need to Know” (September 4, 2006)
- “Flooded!” (October 24, 2005)
- “Night Fright” (October 24, 2005)
- “The Incredible Bulk” (March 28, 2005)
- “Tomorrow’s Weather” (April 5, 2004)
Winner of the 2004 Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Magazine Merit Award for Nonfiction - “Holy Cow! What Now?” (March 8, 2004)
SuperScience (grades 3-6)