Steve Pollock

The author Steve Pollock discusses poisonous sea creatures who use their stings to grasp food and defend themselves. This chapter narrates the different types of deadly sea creatures like starfish, sea anemone, stonefish, Australian blue-ringed octopus, Stingrays, and etc. I prefer this topic for the middle school students in science because the pictures of the sea creatures’ physical characteristics are really exciting and interesting for discovery learning. The picture of the Australian blue-ringed octopus highlights how to kill a creature , such as shrimp, with tentacles which can extend above 8inches. This poisonous animal can bite and murder a person within a few minutes. Stonefish, the most poisonous fish can kill the prey with their poisonous spines and can protect themselves from sharks using their spines. The morphological characteristics of jellyfish is known as the Portuguese man of war because of their polyp and 20-foot long tentacles that can trap small sea creatures. The harpoon of a cone snail shows how to handicap the prey by using their poisonous harpoon.
Overall this topic will create various discussions and explores discovery learning in the brain of youngsters.… (más)

Steve Pollock narrates about canine and feline killers. He highlights significant features of wildcats and dogs like the species of big cats, African hyenas, cheetahs, lions, and tigers. Strength, speed, and a broad view are the elements to be a successful killer. The pictures of a cheetah’s running speed is important for the high school students because it will help explain the evolutionary theory of cheetah’s speed in relation to its flexible backbone’s curve. It helps to brainstorm the idea of a cheetah’s mobility when I see a picture illustrating the tough pads on the paws which help lions to increase their speed. Steve Pollock differentiates the canine teeth of dogs, lions, etc. It’s a inquiry-based topic which is based on a huge research involving feline and canine animals. I appreciate the part where Pollock discusses how leopards kill their prey and sleep on top of tree branches because it is really important for discovery learning. Students should further research on how the stalking position and crouching position of a tiger helps to catch the prey because it indirectly highlights the gradual changes of locomotory movements.… (más)