Rita Claire, or Ms.C, was born a very curious kid and fell in love with math and science at an early age. Throughout middle school and high school she also found herself tutoring, teaching, and coaching students her age or younger. Although she graduated college with an interdisciplinary Bachelor’s degree in Cell Biology, Microbiology, and Molecular Biology, her most memorable moments were teaching labs as an upper level teaching assistant. Her first science job out of college was working for National Geographic on a genetics project, but she couldn’t get viruses off her mind. She committed to pursuing a graduate degree in Molecular Virology from Purdue, but quickly found herself completing a Graduate Teaching Certificate so that she could teach college level science labs at the same time. The experience gained from working with viruses for the USDA as a Ph.D. candidate was invaluable, but the teaching bug kept biting.

Ms.C and her family moved back to Colorado where she attained an Alternate Teaching License in Secondary Science and she taught in the classroom for 5 years in a public institution. As a scientist, Ms.C never taught classes the same from year to year, always experimenting and pushing to learn more about her students and herself. She decided to further her own education with a Master’s of Science in Science Education from Montana State while in Colorado, and published a study on the use of technology in the classroom.

Family is extremely important to Ms.C, and she found herself moving to California for her kids to pursue acting. She was granted her second state teaching license for General Science K-12, with emphasis in Biology and Chemistry for high school and adult learning. She taught Online Science for a Project Based Learning (PBL) charter school for 4 years, and currently teaches several science classes for a Homeschool Co-op. Ms.C has always been passionate about teaching science in a more relatable form for students and has dreamed of writing a book that can inspire every student!

How’s That Human? is a one-of-a-kind science book series that combines not only challenging and
interesting science information for upper elementary age students, but presents the information in more relatable ways to students of all backgrounds. It includes learning opportunities and ideas beyond the classic textbook and is accompanied by an interactive website promoting student social skills and creativity.

Quick Question

Highlights the main idea or key point of the topic, easy to find and reference!

Data Dive

Practice those math skills by reading graphs and answering questions related to the topic!

Scientist Spotlight

See what scientists from around the world have discovered!

Ready to Research

Step into the shoes of a scientist and do your research!

Creative Corner

A fan of project-based learning (PBL)? Included are inspirational science project ideas for those wanting to dive deeper into the topic!

Hands On From Home

Safe and easy step-by-step science experiments that bring the concepts learned in the book into reality!

Through her many years of doing research and teaching students of various ages in different institutions, Ms.C wanted to find a way to reach students on a more personal level. Since humans are already an icon for life science, what better way to reach kids than through the study of themselves or things they use and see in their environment. More importantly, all branches of science can be related to life science. The How’s That Human? series addresses many important scientific concepts from Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science, and Space Science and ties them to humanity whether inside the body itself or to everyday items, tools, or processes students interact with. Ms.C is also a believer in the potential of all students, and feels that certain scientific concepts deemed too difficult for elementary age students should not be. The more we introduce to young minds, the more we inspire the problem solvers of the future!