Issues in Earth Science

A Resource for Writers and Teachers

Fiction for the Classroom

Eww, There's some Geology in my Fiction!"

Pursuing science is often fraught with choices, both moral and personal. Explore some of these choices in the two stories for this issue:

A Diet of Worms by Stephen S. Power

and

The Last Tangerine by Anthony W. Eichenlaub

The teacher resources for this story engage students in conversation about some of the hidden costs or implications of science choices.

Be sure to also check out past stories and classroom activities in Past Issues.

We feature short fiction stories for middle and high school students that illustrate key earth science concepts in the plot of the story. These are fun but educational stories suitable for the classroom.

Past Issues

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Current issue:

Finally the secret to human compassion and justice is found and the whole world is on the threshold of becoming a perfectly loving place....or is it?-- A Diet of Worms by Stephen S. Power

After giving his heart and life to saving a species, at the expense of friends and family, Alejandro must wonder....was it worth it?-- The Last Tangerine by Anthony W. Eichenlaub.

Teacher's Resources for these two stories ofer prompt questions and thoughts for a class discussion on the moral and personal implicaitons of pursuing science.

Illustration for A Diet of Worms by Russ Colson

Illustration for The Last Tangerine by Erin Colson

A Diet of Worms

by Stephen S. Power

I'm Dr. Stacy Pismire, a neurologist here at Johns Hopkins, and I led the team that studied Willington's brain. We have good news to report...

The Last Tangerine

by Anthony W. Eichenlaub

When all his world burned red and orange, Alejandro Polander thought only of the tangerine tree and ran back into his burning mansion. Here, in the middle of his life, when his hair had only just started turning gray, Alejandro could think of nothing more important than that tree: not his life, not the friends who had left him long ago, and not his brother.

Maybe his brother. ...