Fiction can be an important tool for engaging a student’s interest in scientific subjects. When research scientists and the author collaborate during the early developmental stages of creating fiction, the reader’s experience of the underlying science is greatly enriched.
The Antarctic Scoop by Lucy Bledsoe (October, 2003; Holiday House) grew out of the author’s visits to McMurdo Sound in Antarctica, and consultations with Palmer LTER investigators at Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Joya, California, and San Diego Supercomputer Center.
This middle-grades novel features an 11- year-old girl who wins a science contest and the prize is a trip to Antarctica, where she eventually learns that her sponsors have used her to gain access to the science continent. Not only does she expose these foes of science but she solves a problem that has been keeping the South Pole Telescope, built to detect Cosmic Background Radiation, from receiving first light.
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