Image: HarperCollins
The Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale: Restoring an Island Ecosystem by Nancy Castaldo. Photography by Morgan Heim. 96 p. Clarion Books/ HarperCollins Publishers, August, 2022. 9780358274230. (Review of finished copy borrowed from public library.)
Fact Friday features The Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale: Restoring an Island Ecosystem by Nancy Castaldo. Photographs by Morgan Heim. Ecosystems are fragile. The organisms within it interact and there's balance. When an apex predator is missing, usually due to human intervention, their prey then tend to overpopulate and ruin the plant life. Isle Royale sits in Lake Superior about fifty miles from Michigan. It is one of the least visited National Parks due to its remote location and also the subject of a sixty-year scientific study. The wolf population was decimated by a disease brought by dogs, allowing the moose population to explode and thus, alter the plant life negatively. Scientists have intervened by trying to introduce wolves to the island. Author Castaldo and photographer Heim traveled to the island to interview the scientists involved in this project.
Eighth graders know how much I love the Scientist in the Field series. I teach a seventh grade cycle class about narrative nonfiction that is centered on this series, which covers a lot of curriculum connections from STEM to LA. This addition to the series does not disappoint. The fascinating story is beautifully illustrated with full-color photos of the island and the scientists at work tracking and recording. Back matter includes a glossary, sources and suggestions for further reading.
Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale is a great title for budding naturalists and fans of the U.S. National Parks. I love that cover!
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