Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed The Seas (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
Ocean Sunlight tries to cover too many hard concepts and vocabulary...energy from the sun, photosynthesis, molecules, carbon dioxide, the food chain, phytoplankton, oxygen, zooplankton, marine snow, mucus, carcasses, bacteria, etc. It was a confusing book. The illustrations are beautiful, but do not clearly illustrate the concepts. There are detailed notes at the end of the book further explaining the concepts. This book could supplement a science unit about any of these subjects. I would use it in 3rd grade and above. Author and illustrator Molly Bang, known for her vibrant illustrations, dips her paintbrush and prose into the ocean with this picturebook style non-fiction work. Misleadingly titled "Ocean Sunlight", this book is mostly about the food chain and life cycle of plants and animals on land and in the sea. Sunlight itself tells the story of how all living things get their energy from it.Overall the book is a bit disjointed and does not flow well. Readers are bumped from land into sea, talking about photosynthesis to trying to comprehend numbers in the octrillions. Informational back matter helps with basic knowledge of scientific concepts in the book.Useful in classrooms with teacher interaction, but not recommended for one on one reading.
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