Climate

2026 Best STEM BookElementary Science - Weather and ClimateAs a teenager, Wladimir Köppen became interested how the landscape changed as he traveled south from St. Petersburg on the Baltic Sea in northern Russia to Crimea on the Black Sea. Explaining that changing landscape became his life’s work.In late 1800s, weather and climates were poorly understood. They needed someone to study it carefully over a long period of time. Köppen moved to Hamburg, Germany as head weatherman at the Deutsche Seewarte, the German Marine Observatory on the Baltic Sea. His job was to start one of the world’s first daily weather reports. He helped set up weather stations on the North Sea and train its staff. From around the world, he gathered other weather data.The World’s First Climate MapSlowly, that childhood problem of changing landscapes came into focus as he developed the world’s first climate map. Still today, we use Köppen’s maps, with some slight modifications. Köppen’s maps still help us understand the world’s ecosystems and plan for the future.MOMENTS IN SCIENCE SERIESBURN: Michael Faraday’s CandleCLANG! Ernst Chladni’s Sound Experiments 2019 NSTA Outstanding Science Trade BookPOLLEN: Darwin’s 130 Year Prediction2019 Junior Library Guild selection, starred Kirkus review, Eureka Nonfiction Honor (California Reading Association), NSTA Outstanding Science Trade BookECLIPSE: How the 1919 Eclipse Proved Einstein’s Theory of General RelativityEROSION: How Hugh Bennett Saved America’s Soil and Stopped the Dust Bowl2021 Notable Social Studies BookA.I. How Patterns Helped Artificial Intelligence Defeat World Champion Lee SedolFEVER: How Tu Youyou Used Traditional Chinese Medicine to Find a Cure for Malaria (2022)AQUARIUM: How Jeannette Power Invented Aquariums to Study Marine Life (2023)MAGNET: How William Gilbert Discovered That Earth Is a Great MagnetCLIMATE: How Wladimir Köppen Studied Weather and Drew the First Climate Map , 2026 Best STEM Book