Explore Natural Resources! With 25 Great Projects

Reviews

DIG Magazine July/August 2017
"Explore Natural Resources! definitely lives up to its billing: "helps readers ages 6-9 understand why natural resources are important to all living things." Filled with projects, words to know, "fact" and "did you know" boxes, related jokes, and exploratory and explanatory text."

Children's Literature Review  
"An informative book for early readers, sections cover the air, water, soil, minerals, energy, and conservation. Key words are in bold and in a words to know box on the same page. Also includes fun activities at the end of each section to learn more and to get hands-on experience about the topic, black-and-white illustrations, a glossary, resources for further exploration, and an index."

National Science Teachers Association Recommends
"Does your approach to teaching natural resources consist of talking to students, showing a video, and maybe inviting a guest speaker? If you are ready for something more engaging, this Natural Resources! With 25 Great Projects is a required science resource . . . The greatest strength of this book may be that it is visually appealing. Every page is attractive and comprised of pictures, vocabulary, and text that will not only inform but entertain the eye. Teachers should consider teaching one chapter per week, which will allow them to have enough time to supervise the elementary aged students. This is the perfect activity book to instruct and demonstrate the immediate interconnectedness humans have with natural resources and the world."

Booklist
"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."

Susan Ekstrom, E.A.G.L.E Program Manager, Eagle Eye Institute
"Explore Natural Resources! has a wonderful collection of engaging projects to help young people understand the world around them and begin to recognize what they can do to make a positive impact in their own communities. A great activity book for budding conservationists."

Allen Hershkowitz, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council
"This is a wonderfully informative, easy to read, and fun book. Any young student learning the material in this book will have acquired important scientific knowledge that will benefit them for their entire lives. Given the scientific illiteracy plaguing our nation, I only wish that all grown-ups in the USA would read this book as well."

Lisa Purcell, Director, Four Winds Nature Institute
"A comprehensive resource for elementary students who are interested in exploring the impact of human use of natural resources. Cute illustrations and fun facts."

Bill McKibben, environmentalist, author
"A colorful introduction to the fact that water doesn't come from a faucet, nor electricity from a socket!"