Natural Disasters: Investigate Earth’s Most Destructive Forces with 25 Projects

Reviews

National Science Teachers Association Recommends
“What sets this book apart is that it contains projects which take this volume to a whole new level.”

Booklist
”This utilitarian looking but enticingly titled entry in the Build It Yourself series pairs background information about hurricanes, volcanoes, wildfires, floods, and less common events, such as limnetic eruptions and meteor strikes, to 25 low-tech re-creations or demonstrations. The background covers basics in simple language but enough detail to introduce special terms like convection and standard intensity scales, from the Richter and MMS (for earthquakes) to the Enhanced Fujita (tornadoes) and Saffir-Simpson (hurricanes).  . .This makes a serviceable mix of elementary facts about the courses and causes of various widespread natural calamities with relevant but minimally hazardous hands-on enrichment activities.”

Children's Literature Review
“Earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, hurricanes...oh my! Part of the "Build It Yourself series," Reilly has a popular topic. Our Earth moves in violent ways and many of us like to line up at the sidelines to watch. We do not really want to be in a natural disaster, but we cannot stop looking. What causes an earthquake? How is it connected with a tsunami?  Filled with projects that simulate the disasters, kids will enjoy reading the brief text and exploring. One project has kids making a shake table to see what earthquakes do to buildings. Another shows convection currents in a dish tub. And another creates a flood plain in a cookie sheet and examines what happens when the river overflows. The illustrations are clear and attractive.”

School Library Journal
“Spiraling winds, surging waters, eruptions, blazing forests, and chilling snows are discussed with clarity and detail and include the most recent information, e.g., the MMS Scale and the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Hence, readers may accurately grasp the impact of nature’s destructive forces. In addition to a lucid explanation of each type of phenomenon, safety tips, historical incidences, pen-and-ink line drawings, and correlative projects using simple materials are included to provide firsthand evidence of scientific processes involved in natural forces. Useful for science units.”

Ray Coish Ph.D., Robert R. Churchill Professor of Geosciences, Middlebury College
“Natural Disasters covers important topics in imaginative ways. The chapters on earthquakes and volcanoes present the basics of how the earth works, and the well-designed activities at the end of each chapter—using easily attainable supplies—illustrate the important processes.”

Marla Conn, Educational Consultant
“Natural Disasters meets the criteria for the Common Core State Standard in reading for informational text. This wonderful title provides information on scientific and historical facts, covering a broad range of cultures and time periods. The activities are creative and thought provoking, and connect new ideas and concepts to real world situations.”