EAST HARTFORD, Conn., Aug. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — TheBeamer LLC announces that The Race to the big bang won for Best STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) book in the 2021 Purple Dragon Fly Children’s Book Awards sponsored by Story Monsters LLC. It is the sequel to The Stardust Mystery, winner for best STEM E-Book. Both books are illustrated adventures of middle school age characters discovering nonfiction science concepts. The books, companion YouTube videos, video games, short stories, and online LEARNING PAGES, were funded by the National Science Foundation (Award #1738291), Connecticut Innovations, Inc., PPP Loans, and private investment. The resources are available free to educators and children’s organizations.
The Race to the Big Bang is a story of four girls and three boys using the time, space, and size-change travel capabilities of an online Virtual World to discover nonfiction science concepts while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. The kids form a team to compete in The Race to the Big Bang Contest where they learn wonderful science stories about Planet Earth, the Universe, the Big Bang, and how atoms were created. There is a spectacular positive outcome of the pandemic that has created a wonderful teachable moment for them. It is the introduction of the revolutionary mRNA vaccines. The kids decide to use the Virtual World to learn about the COVID-19 virus and the vaccines.
In the book’s Epilogue and three videos listed below, the kids use the Virtual World’s size change capability to follow the behavior of the virus and mRNA vaccines in a human body.
- How mRNA Vaccines and Viruses use our Bodies’ Factories
- Explaining COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines: An Animated Story for Kids
- Animated Coronavirus Story for Kids 1: How Grandpa Got COVID-19,
The kids learn how the virus hijacks our bodies’ cell factories to make us sick, and how the mRNA vaccines use the factories to create immunity. They learn in simple terms about the genetic code, DNA, cell biology, viruses, bacteria, vaccines, RNA, and messenger RNA (mRNA).
Our COVID-19-Coronavirus LEARNING PAGE includes eight illustrated short stories, video links, lesson plans, and questions. LEARNING PAGES for Atoms, Planet Earth, and The Universe are also available on the Educators tab of TheStardustMystery.com web site. The LEARNING PAGES support a Jigsaw Teaching Strategy in which students choose a character, learn what that character has discovered, and then share the knowledge with students representing the other characters.
The theme of The Stardust Mystery is: "We are made of stardust that was once in the body of Albert Einstein and the Last T-Rex." The middle school age characters are on a quest to discover the nonfiction story of stardust (atoms) through using the Virtual World.
"There are so many wonderful and exciting stories in science to tell," said Dr. Peter Solomon, CEO of TheBeamer LLC. "I believe integrating science concepts into exciting adventure tales is a great way for children to learn." A reviewer of The Stardust Mystery said: "I love reading about science but what makes it even better is reading about kids my age doing science."
- The Race to the Big Bang is available as a print or e-Book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
- The Stardust Mystery is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
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SOURCE TheBeamer LLC
