EXPLORE NATURAL RESOURCES!

July 1, 2014

Gr 3-6-This offering in the series is divided into six chapters, each of which describes a natural resource and explains the importance of preventing it from being depleted. Chapters cover air, soil, minerals, water, energy, and conservation. Each section includes words to know, famous people and terms, and several activities (purifying water, growing a crystal), most requiring set-up but a few of which are pencil and paper only. Yasuda effectively taps readers' background knowledge to make concepts seem more familiar ("You've probably seen movies with knights holding up enormous shields to protect themselves. Ozone is like a shield, but it's not made of metal."). Though children likely won't pick this one up on their own due to the black-and-white illustrations and the workbook-like design, savvy teachers will pick up some helpful activities and lesson plans.-Jane Hebert, Glenside Public Library District, Glendale Heights, IL

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2014
Grades 2-4 Twenty-five hands-on activities explore the extraordinarily broad and universally accessible concept of natural resources. Conservation is the guiding theme of the book, and global warming, desertification, and water pollution are explained in careful detail. Yasuda divides natural resources into broad topics including air, water, soil, minerals, and energy, and she emphasizes the importance of renewability. The inception of the national parks system and pioneering environmentalists are mentioned, as well as legislation geared toward curbing environmental degradation. A Then and Now feature highlights, with startling statistics, how our current consumption-minded society differs from people of the past. Words to know, listed in the sidebar of each chapter, are boldface in the text, underscored in the illustrations, and defined in a glossary. Activities follow each chapter and include art projects, experiments, building plans, and challenges. The hands-on nature of the activities, age-appropriate text, and inclusion of high-interest examples and sidebars make this a great primer on a timely topic for the classroom, library, or home bookshelf.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)