YA Eco Mysteries, Memoirs, Novels & Travel
Teacher Resources
HOW TO BECOME AN ECO DETECTIVE
2026 Claire Datnow. All rights reserved.
Clairedatnow.com
An Interdisciplinary Unit for Exploring Across the Curriculum
Copyright by Claire Datnow
Explore and Purchase All books by Claire Datnow
How To Become An Eco Detective:
For STEM Teachers, Environmental Education, Language Arts Teachers, and Librarians:
Please Note: Teachers may print and photocopy these resources for use with their own students. Please retain the author credits on every copy
Part 1. Activities and Lesson Plans:
. Launching Activity 10-20 minutes
. Create a Real-World Project
. Become A Citizen Scientist
. Write Your Own Eco Mysteries/Climate Adventures
. Publish and Share
Part 2. Four Elements Climate Adventures Trilogy: Activities and Lesson Plans
. Climate Change Education Across the Curricular, Across the Globe
. Teaching Environmental Science/Climate Change/ Through Fiction
. Discussions Questions Book 1. Red Flag Warning
. Discussion questions Book 2. The Gray Whale’s Lament
. Discussion Questions:
. Book 3 In A Changing World: Purchase this book on Amazon
. School Visits and Presentations at Conferences
. Meet the Author: https://dragonfly.eco/indie-corner-claire-datnow/ View an interview discussing the Story Behind The Cover This interview could be a springboard to a career talk conversation.
Additional related blogs from the author on: mediamint.net
Part 1. How To Become An Eco Detective
Launching Activity: Try this fun activity Sharpen Your Senses—like the characters in each story who notice things others miss time 10-15 minutes +:
Choose a plant or observe a small animal outdoors without disturbing it. If you stay indoors, observe a plant near a window or objects teacher may provide. Look closely. Notice colors, shapes, patterns, and movement. Record three details you might normally overlook.
Listen quietly. Stay still for one minute. What sounds can you hear? What might be making them?
Notice smells and textures. What scents reach you? With your teacher’s permission, gently touch a familiar, safe leaf or fallen object. Leave animals and unfamiliar plants untouched, and do not taste anything. Imagine another point of view. If you were the animal—where would you find food, water, shelter, and safety?
Keep questioning. Write one question beginning with why, how, or what if. What evidence could help you answer it?
Your Eco Detective field notes: Write or sketch one observation, one possible explanation, and one question. Label what you observed separately from what you imagined.
Lesson Plans: How To Become An Eco Detective
What is an Ecological Mystery? It is a scientific investigation and a mystery combined into an exciting adventure. In an eco mystery the role of villain is played by an unknown ecological problem that is harming a species. The characters are affected by the problem, and like good detectives they must carry out an investigation that will identify the problem and then help solve it.
1. Warming Up:
- Begin by reading an excerpt from one of Books in The Four Elements Trilogy by Claire Datnow For younger students The Adventures of The Sizzling Six. Choose an excerpt—with lots of dialogue between different characters—from one of the mysteries for the students to read as a play. The purpose of this activity is to get kids curious about a species and wanting to know more.
- Next, discuss the meaning of the term Endangered Species with your students. How does a species get selected to be included on the list of Threatened, Vulnerable, or Endangered Species?
*. How do scientists find out if a species is in some way endangered? Note: I suggest that students select a species that lives in their state to facilitate research. For a handy overview of the topic visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_species
2. Select a Species
Next students select the species they have chosen to investigate—plant or animal. You might want to narrow the selection by starting with your own county, or state. For a complete list of US endangered species see these links:
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/?s8fid=112761032793&s8fid=112762573903&countyName=Jefferson (interactive web site!)
Give students time to look over the possibilities before making their final selections.
3. Research the Species:
Now students begin researching the species they have chosen.
—Observations: Where possible, take field trips to nature centers to observe the species in their natural habitats. If possible, visit the habit that serves as the setting of their story—forests, lakes, or streams. Make notes and observations on the animals, plants, sights and sounds, and on how they are related to the mystery.
—Interview local experts, or email them. Invite them to do a presentation in your classroom. Contact local organizations that promote wildlife and nature conservation, such as the Audubon Society, Water Watch, Nature Centers, and Wildlife Refuges.
—Read books, both fiction and nonfiction. Find articles on the Internet. Watch documentary movies about their species.
(Set a deadline of about one-six weeks for the students to complete their research, depending on the depth of the investigation.)
Teacher Resources: For more detailed information on How to Write an Eco Mystery and about my own research and amazing field trips for my eco fiction click on the link to pdf file below: https://mediamint.net/styled-11/files/teacher-resources-for-eco-mystery.pdf
4. Experiment:
If possible, carry out your own experiments to test the air, water, soil that the species lives in. As you make discoveries, you may begin to find the solution to your eco mystery, and a possible way to save the species. Invite or consult local agencies to explain, or demonstrate how to test for air, water, and soil pollution.
—Investigate the Problem. Perhaps there is a landfill upriver from your site, a dam, a factory, a shopping mall, or housing development—this may be a possible ‘villain’ that is harming their species. At the completion of their research students should complete a worksheet that includes: Species Name, Appearance, Habitat, Behavior, Life Cycle, and Reasons why they have become threatened or endangered. See Example: http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/birds/woodpeckers/red-cockaded-woodpecker/
5. Explain and Draw Conclusions:
–Solving the Mystery: Review your problem and the results of your observations, research, experiments, and investigations. Can you suggest a cause for the ecological problem that is damaging the species? Once you understand the cause of the problem, and a possible solution you are ready to tell your story. You will take the reader through everything you did, while developing the characters, place, time, setting and a plot.
6. Create a Real-World Project: Write an Eco Mystery or Becoming a Citizen Scientist (link about Citizen Science)
Have students read at least one of the books in The Four. Elements Trilogy or eco mystery of The Adventures of The Sizzling Six.
*. Go over the major elements of writing a story, adjusting it to the level of the students: Plot, Protagonist, Antagonist, Setting, Character, Point of View, Dialogue, Theme.
*. Create a main character who has a reason to care about your ecological problem. Perhaps it is a daughter of a zoo specialist, the son of a forest ranger, or a field biologist who spends time working in the woods, at a lake, or a river, behind the scenes of the local zoo, wildlife rehabilitation center, or in a research laboratory.
—Develop a few supporting characters who can play key roles in your plot—perhaps the manager of a wildlife refuge who would know something about each of the creatures in the refuge. As your character works through the mystery, these experts can be a source of information.
—Provide some background on the main character as the story goes along to draw the reader into ‘knowing’ your character.
—Include ‘red herrings’. Every good mystery has some distractions, which misdirect the main character’s investigation. This keeps the readers guessing until you are ready to tell all in the conclusion to your eco mystery.
—End the story where the actions of the main character(s) help to solve the problem that is harming the species.
HAVE FUN!
7. Publish and Share.
Suggests ways in which the book can be published for distribution in the classroom, the school, with environmental organizations, or for wider audiences.
For school DISCOUNTS AND BULK ORDERS of The Adventure series please contact:mediamint@me.com
The Adventures of The Sizzling Six are also available for downloading as ebooks
Part 2. Interweaving the Theme of Climate Change
The Four Elements Climate Adventures Trilogy
Activities and Lesson Plans
. Climate Change Education Across the Curricular, Across the Globe
. Teaching Environmental Science/Climate Change/ Through Fiction.
. Discussions Questions for
Book 1. Red Flag Warning
Book 2. The Gray Whale’s Lament
Book 3. In A Changing World (For Free Bonus discussion question purchase this book on Amazon)
As Earth’s changing climate becomes an ever-increasing concern, readers are turning to Cli-Fi as a way to engage their imaginations and deal with their fears in the safety of their present environment. The teens in these stories demonstrate courage, tenacity, compassion, imagination, and foresight. So, although the events may be upsetting, the reader empathizes with the main character, and finish the last page feeling hopeful, resolute, and inspired.
Resources: For Guiding Questions that stimulate students become more insightful readers and better writers visit: https://kidsagainstclimatechange.co/cli-fi_reviews/
Cli-Fi—Fictional writing that focuses on the effects of climate change and global warming that is causing disruption. Cli-Fi—Fictional writing that focuses on the effects of climate change and global warming that is causing disruption.
Overarching Premise: Connecting Scientific Concepts with Storytelling can be a powerful way to make future consequences more immediate to ourselves and our students. Fiction can be woven into teaching environmental science and climate change as outlined in the core curriculum standards. See: Alabama State Standards for Science: https://study.com/academy/popular/alabama-state-standards-for-science.html (“ … The effect of human activity on the biosphere will be discussed . . . students will chart weather conditions and climate change in addition to studying the effects of humans on the environment that alter the planet's surface.”
Lesson Plans: Climate Change Education Across the Curricular, Across the Globe. Teaching Environmental Science/Climate Change/ Through Fiction.
Book 2. The Gray Whale's Lament
- Short Introduction about the author (4 minutes)
- Play Whale Sound Youtube-see link below (2 minutes)
- Read Quote from GWL p.9 If we could talk to whales quote Roger Payne.
- Read poem: If Whales Could Talk (5 minutes)
melting ice kills our food, Slithering snakes snare us. Human: Oh, whale can you ever forgive us for what we have done? Whale: Only if you stop the slaughter. Total 10 minutes.
- A Play reading fromThe Gray Whales Lament: An Eco Adventure. (15minutes)
- Questions: Making Connection: (10 minutes) (See Chapter 5 and diagram on page 42)
- 1) What connections do the three whale whisperers discover between human actions, climate change, and gray whales dying? Answers: Climate change causes rising temperatures that melt ice caps and cause more violent storms, resulting in dangerous flooding for humans. The warming also decreases whale food—phytoplankton and krill. Container ships collide with whales and the noise interferes with whales’ communication. Plastic trash is ingested by whales. Scientists have determined that global warming has caused the right whale's preferred food — tiny crustaceans — to move as waters have warmed. That means the whales have strayed from protected areas of ocean in search of food, leaving them vulnerable to ship strikes and entanglements.
3. Do the three finally find projects to help whales and involve their communities? Answers: Describe Alysie’s, Sarah’s, and Macho’s projects. Who are their mentors? Alysie and Valentine. Sarah and the Beach Cleanup Crew. Macho and Dr. Salinas. Why do the characters need mentors on their “heroes journey.” (10 minutes)
4. Become Eco Detectives to create their own stories students weave together climate change science and critical thinking skills to solve real-world problems. Begin by choosing an animal/plant from one of my books. Research that animal, including observing the animal in nature (interviews, field trips too). Guessing game: three clues to my animal example: I live in the trees. I eat fruit. I am a mammal
Next create characters, and the plot. (20 minutes)
Book 1 Red Flag Warning
Discussion questions:
A few quotes from Red flag Warning to discuss with students:
“Aisyah and her friends will keep on fighting for Weebo, and Simba, and Peanut, and Ludi, and Bama, and Pongo and Abelii, and Swain, and Hestia, and Bultarro and Rocky and for all living creatures on this planet we call home.” p. 256
“One day a monster ate me alive then spat me put as dead . . .” p.129
“I’ve lived through the deadliest fire in California’s history. To me it’s not just something on the news. Perdido is in ruins. Hundreds of people are homeless. When we drive into town from the highway all I can see is an ugly black scar, buildings burnt to the ground, and the mangled shells of cars. Searchers scoured burned down homes for human remains. p.136-7
“One day they’ll dig down through layers of ashes and find skeletons of people and animals that lived and walked and breathed there. They’ll find them like fossil hunters. The jaw of a man, the skull of a horse, a baby’s first teeth, a gold earring, the steering wheel of a car, shards of glass, and melted plastic.” p.138
“After I was burned I kept asking myself: Why has this horrible thing happened? Why me? Why now? Why us? Why are fires exploding everywhere?” Aisyah blinks and swallows as if as if she has a sore throat.” p.193
Lesson Plans: Book 1. Red Flag Warning: An Eco Adventure as Note: reading provides a way to ignite students’ imaginations and integrate the teaching of climate science into the curriculum.
Questions for Classroom Discussion After Reading Red Flag Warning: An Eco Adventure (Note: The questions are geared toward middle grade and up, however, they can be modified appropriately to the grade level. Additional resources are listed in the book Red Flag Warning
- 1. Wildfires and climate change: what’s the connection? Historically, wildfires have not been uncommon in Australia, Sumatra and in the Western US and other places across the globe. What is different about the current fires in the last decade? Answer Key: Climate scientists have correlated the growing incidence and intensity of wildfires with rising global temperatures. Few places seem immune. See:
- https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/07/wildfires-and-climate-change-whats-the-connection/
- 2. What were some of the immediate effects of the wildfires on Aisyah, Kerri and Hector? Answer Key: They had to recover from the physical wounds and pain caused by the burns sustained in the fire—and overcome the damage to their self-image and their confidence.
- 3. What were the long-term effects of these wildfires on Aisyah, Kerri and Hector, their families and communities? How do they overcome the wounds to their self-image and find a way forward? Answer Key: Destruction of their homes, their towns, the animals they love, their self-esteem. The three throw themselves into saving the animals that they love, and to working on community projects.
- 4. In Red Flag Warning what do the Aisyah, Kerri and Hector know or believe about the immediate causes of the wildfires that trapped and burned them. What do they find out about the causes later on? Answer Key: Aisyah understood that slashing and burning the forest started wildfires. Kirri knew that the dry, hot weather caused the fire. Hector knew that the tinder dry vegetation caused the fires. They find out later that the wildfires were also connected to climate change. “The rise in average global temperatures has led to higher spring and summer temperatures, and importantly an earlier onset of spring. This pattern has led to a rapid melting of spring snowpack, causing soils to dry out earlier and remain dry longer.” https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/07/wildfires-and-climate-change-whats-the-connection/
* 5. How did the three teens figure out the causes of wildfires? (clues are woven throughout the story) Do the characters in the novel take notice of things we are all seeing around us: fewer birds/butterflies/fireflies etc. Plastic trash in the rivers, oceans, and beaches. Invasive plants, and more extreme weather-related events.) Answer Key: Aisyah’s mentor, Ranger Eka helps to provide accurate information about climate change. Hector’s science teacher, Mr. Hawkins helps him make connections between the wildfires and climate change. Hector also finds reliable explanation on the internet. Kirri is able connect the dots between extreme hot and dry weather resulting the wildfire that almost killed her.)
- 6. What did Aisyah, Kerri, and Hector lose in the wildfire that matters the most to them and why? Answer Key: The three suffered from severe injuries in the wildfire, loss of self esteem and self confidence. In their own way, however, they take advantage of new opportunities to work at animal rescue centers to save the animals they love. Kirri becomes a champion of handicapped athletes, too.
- 7. In what ways might all of us be impacted by the wildfires? Answer key: As wildfires grow in frequency, intensity, and the amount of area burned, they pose serious health risks. Air pollution from wildfires can drift hundreds of miles away and cause people and animals to get sick. https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/07/wildfires-and-climate-change-whats-the-connection/
- 8. What are some ways in which the three teenagers chose to take action to help themselves, and the other victims—human, animal, and environmental—of wildfires? Answer Keys: see Answer Key. Aisyah, Kirri, and Hector inspire other students to understand the causes and the damage of wildfires, and the take action in their communities. See Red Flag Warning chapters 21, 22, 23.
- 9. Wildfires are becoming more common and more severe in many parts of the world. Have you had an experience that made you aware of this problem than before?
- 10. Does the threat of wildfires feel connected to your life in some way? Why or why not?
- 11. In what ways might we all feel impacted by wildfires even if it is happening far away?
- 12. What did the three teenagers find out about the role of global climate change in causing more frequent and larger wildfires?
- 13. What do climate demonstrators, like Greta Thunberg, hope to accomplish? Who are they targeting to motivate them to take action to slow down climate change? What groups, organizations, or protesters are the marchers focusing on?
- 14. Discuss what are some ways in which you and your peers can take action to halt climate change? What approaches do you think might be most effective
- 15. Is this an issue that feels relevant to your life currently? Why or why not?
- Student Projects, Individual and Small Group Activities:
- Everything is STEAM focused on the Small Group activity that could include:
- 16. Building something or adding a technology component.
- * Creating a new ending to the story, for example what happens next to each of the characters?
- * Writing their own environmental stories/poems.
- * Reviewing some of the vocabulary in the story.
- * Researching some aspect of climate change.
The Adventures of The Sizzling Six: Books 1-7—go to Books or to: clairedatnow.com
Monarch Mysteries: (Purchase book from Amazon)
Role Playing Cards:
Have students role-play the characters in the eco-mystery by reading the cards.
Students can also use these cards to have the characters debate the issues with one another.
Card 1. Alex Kohn a student at Stone Middle School: (the main Protagonist)
I was very upset when I found out that the population of monarch butterflies has become so small. Scientists say the migration of monarch butterflies—considered one of the world’s great natural spectacle—is in danger of vanishing! Milkweed is the only plant on which monarch butterflies will lay their eggs, and it is the major food source for monarch caterpillars. But farmers are spraying their crops with herbicide that is killing the milkweed plants. To help save the monarchs scientists and conservationists are encouraging people to grow milkweed in their
own yards and gardens. I can’t believe that our neighborhood association and our city council are trying to stop people like Mrs. Mariposa from planting milkweed in their gardens! The Sizzling Six have got to find a way to overcome these obstacles in order to save the monarchs before it is too late.
Card 2. Mr. Prickles, President of the City Council (Antagonist)
I’m tired of do-gooders like Mrs. Mariposa trying to get people to believe that they’re letting their garden become overgrown with weeds to save monarch butterflies. The Weed Ordinance of Mortaburg states that residents must maintain their yards free of weeds and shrubs higher than twelve (12) inches. It’s clear that Mrs. Mariposa has violated Mortaburg’s weed ordinance because she’s growing weeds higher than 12-inches tall. Worse yet, Mrs. Mariposa doesn’t cut all the weeds back in the fall, so the seeds from her weeds start growing in our yards. Her yard attracts mice, groundhogs, snakes and all sorts of bugs. Perhaps the pests appreciate her neighborhood eyesore, but the neighbors do not. A child could be dragged in there and never be found, or even bitten by a poisonous snake there.
Card 3. Mrs. Mariposa, Homeowner and Wildflower Gardener (relationships/wise person)
I do not cultivate weeds in my garden. I grow plants native to this area. You see, a plant is called a weed when it grows where it is not wanted. I am a horticulturalist. That means that I am an expert on the science of growing wildflowers. Not to brag, but I am the most successful grower of wildflowers in Mortaburg. There’s a big difference between letting invasive plants like poison ivy, kudzu, privet, and bramble bushes get out of control, and growing wildflowers that attract butterflies, bees, birds, and other wildlife. Ordering me to cut down my wildflower garden may seem to be just a little thing that does not truly hurt any one or any thing. But, you see, my
garden attracts all kinds of pollinators, including bees. Without bees, most of the flowers we love and the food we eat would disappear. Can you imagine living in a world without flowers or fruit? Or a world without butterflies? Did Mr. Prickles or the city officials think about this when they fined me and wanted me to destroy my garden?
Card 4. Mr. Freed, Director of the Mortaburg Botanical Gardens (Helper)
Any human activity—construction of new buildings or roads, clearing land for farms or houses, cutting down forest for lumber, or spraying herbicides on plants—damages the wildlife's habitat. Wildflowers gardens can replace some of the lost habitat. We humans are the real culprits, because we destroy nature without thinking about the consequences. Mrs. Mariposa’s garden with it’s tall wildflowers is not a weedy jungle. It’s an attractive haven for wildlife.!
Driving Questions from The Adventures of the Sizzling Six:
Monarch Mysteries (Book 7 of the Eco Mystery Series)
*Why do monarchs migrate to this part of Mexico each winter?
* Why do the monarchs return to the US and Canada each spring?
* Why do Monarchs lay eggs on milkweeds which are toxic?
* Where does the Monarch Butterfly fit into the food web if it becomes
poisonous to its predators when they eat milkweed?
* What is the name of the poison in the monarch butterfly's body and how potent is it?
* How can the we help save the monarchs before it is too late?
How do the monarchs know where to go in Mexico if they’ve never been there?
* How can it be a crime to grow our state’s wildflowers?
What attracts butterflies to land on people?
* What dangers do the monarchs have to overcome on their migration to Mexico? Why do they tag butterflies?
* Will planting milkweeds help the monarchs migrating from Mexico?
* Questions from the last paragraph on the book:
- The Sizzling Six are helping the monarch butterflies. Why should they care?
- What difference does it make if the monarch migration disappears? Or little insects and big weeds disappear? Or even if half of all the species on earth disappear? All these questions are in the book with answers revealed as the story progresses. Do you find them useful?
Author Presentations for School Visits, Conferences and In-Service Training
Claire is available for author presentations at libraries, bookstores, elementary, and middle schools nominal charge. This applies to events within 30 miles of Birmingham, Alabama. I am available for events farther away if travel costs are reimbursed. Visits with Claire via Zoom are also offered for a nominal charge,
Presentation Topics
How To Become An Eco Detective
- Sharpen Your Senses A fun activity.
Media Mint Publishing
* Overview of How to Become an Eco Detective: A highly interactive, hands-on presentation, illustrated with photos and videos. Using examples from The Adventures of The Sizzling Six series, Claire guides students through the process of writing their own eco mysteries, illustrating how to weave scientific principles into the stories to help characters solve ecology mysteries, and then how to take action to resolve them.
* Book Discussion: Claire meets with small groups of students who have already read her eco mysteries/ Four Elements Climate Adventure Trilogy.
How to Schedule a Presentation
Email Claire at: cldatnow@me.com. If you'd like to discuss a presentation on the phone, let her know by email and she'll email back telephone numbers where she can be reached.
How to Prepare for a Presentation:
It is preferable for participants to have an opportunity to buy or check out a copy of The Adventures of The Sizzling Six before the author arrives. Make sure everyone on your team knows about and promotes the presentation. English teachers, Earth Sciences teachers, school librarians, administrators, public librarians and booksellers can all contribute to making it a successful visit. You can order books from your local bookseller, or through Amazon.com and other online booksellers. I can provide books at signings myself.
Links to the author’s curriculum guides and related activities will be provided.
Reviews and Testimonials:
- A superb ending that kids will love. A well-researched and balanced presentation, grounded in solid facts and real conservation issues that educates and engages the young adult reader. —Cleo Lackey, Media Specialist, Brookwood Forest Elementary School.
* The way you wove lessons in ecology, economics, civics, group dynamics, and growing up into a good read accessible—no, engaging—to younger readers, is inspiring. You have developed the skill of making clarity from complexity. —George Terrian, environmental architect
* Claire’s presentations are truly engaging and highly interactive. By the time she left we had a room full of students eager to try their hand at writing their own eco mysteries.—Karen Kapp, Director, Birmingham Better Basic. - Links to Additional Resources:
Project Wildlife Resources
Project Learning Tree
