Status
Available
Series
Collection
Publication
Clarion Books (2019), Edition: Illustrated, 80 pages
Description
"In this addition to the critically acclaimed Scientist in the Field series, Dorothy Patent follows the scientists trying to put a stop to a gruesome disease before it's too late. Tasmanian devils are dying at an alarming rate from a type of tumor that appears to be contagious. What scientists are learning while researching the Tasmanian devil has potential to affect all animals, and even humans, as they learn more about how to prevent and hopefully eradicate certain genetic diseases."--
Local notes
School Library Connection, 12/31/2019
This latest entry in the award-winning Scientists in the Field series delivers a fascinating story of scientific research and animal conservation. Dorothy Hinshaw Patent chronicles her investigation into the plight of Tasmanian devils, an Australian mammal that has dwindled in the wild over the past 20 years due to Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD). Readers travel to Australia with Patent, meeting researchers who study the disease and its spread as well as scientists who work with devil populations all over Tasmania. In addition to the engaging narrative, the book contains sidebars that help readers understand such concepts as chromosome changes and raising animals in captivity for later release into the wild. At the end of each chapter, Patent's "What I Learned" boxes help readers organize ideas and see the big picture. Accompanying photographs make Patent's journey come alive as well as give readers a close-up view into the lives of the scientists and the animals they study. Readers will be pleased to learn that the Tasmanian devil's future is looking brighter, as some naturally immune individuals have been identified and a vaccine is showing promising trial results.
This latest entry in the award-winning Scientists in the Field series delivers a fascinating story of scientific research and animal conservation. Dorothy Hinshaw Patent chronicles her investigation into the plight of Tasmanian devils, an Australian mammal that has dwindled in the wild over the past 20 years due to Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD). Readers travel to Australia with Patent, meeting researchers who study the disease and its spread as well as scientists who work with devil populations all over Tasmania. In addition to the engaging narrative, the book contains sidebars that help readers understand such concepts as chromosome changes and raising animals in captivity for later release into the wild. At the end of each chapter, Patent's "What I Learned" boxes help readers organize ideas and see the big picture. Accompanying photographs make Patent's journey come alive as well as give readers a close-up view into the lives of the scientists and the animals they study. Readers will be pleased to learn that the Tasmanian devil's future is looking brighter, as some naturally immune individuals have been identified and a vaccine is showing promising trial results.
Awards
CCBC Choices (2020)
Lexile
L