Abstract

I conducted a project to get kids interested in science, connect literacy and science learning outcomes, and teach students about the path of protein synthesis in the cell. To do this, I wrote and illustrated my children’s book “The Big Sneeze”, published on Amazon KDP. The moral of the story is to cover your mouth when you sneeze and cough to avoid the spread of germs, while learning what really happens inside your cell when a germ invades. Key resources for the book were Procreate for my illustrations and a kindergarten and first grade teacher from Lemme Elementary School in Iowa City. I brought my final book to a kindergarten classroom and read it to the students. The students then cut, colored, and pasted key events in the story in the order of how they occurred using a supplemental worksheet I created. Thirteen of fifteen students correctly recalled the order of six key events in the story. Students loved reading the book and got to take a copy home. I got excellent feedback from parents. One shared that they read the book four times in one night when they brought it home. Another shared that their child told them the whole plot of the book without looking at it, a couple of days after the classroom event. This feedback is meaningful to me, and I believe reflects the success of my book and event. I hope to continue to share this project with more young scientists in the making.    

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