Let's talk about Climate Change

This past winter, when the polar vortex edged south and daily temperatures almost, but not quite, edged up to zero degrees (F) some folks joked that we could use some global warming. Even elected leaders seem not to understand the difference between weather and climate, and are downplaying or outright denying the emergency of our changing climate.

So I am relieved when I find books for kids that are grounded in climate science. Searchlight Books (Lerner) recently published a series on climate change. The books are each 32 pages long, and aimed for students in 3rd -5th grade.

Climate Change and Energy Technology, written by Rebecca E. Hirsch, is divided into four chapters. In the first she clarifies what climate change is. It is not the weather, which changes from day to day. Climate is the "usual weather for a place", but as we have been learning, what is "usual" has been changing over the past decade. And the warming climate has contributes to more extreme storms, including blizzards.

Hirsch devotes a chapter to energy: fossil fuels, wind, sun, geothermal, and hydro. She examines inventions that increase energy efficiency as well as create new ways to capture, store, and use energy. Think about the increasing number of electric vehicles on the road and the emerging need for quick-charging stations.

Her last chapter explores how we will energize out future. How can we build better batteries? Are there untapped renewable energy sources that we could harness?

"STEM in Depth" sidebars explain how solar panels work and how tidal power is captured. The book ends with four things anyone of any age can do to help reduce their carbon footprint. There's also a glossary and resources for further investigation.

There are five other books in the series:
Climate Change and Air Quality
Climate Change and Extreme Storms
Climate Change and Life on Earth
Climate Change and Rising Sea Levels
Climate Change and Rising Temperatures

So what can you do about Climate Change?
Here's a video that answers that very question.
Head over to the Museum of Natural History to learn more.
Head over to NASA's Climate Kids site to learn how you can help.

Today we're joining other book bloggers over at STEM Friday, where you can discover other cool STEM books. Review copy provided by publisher.

Blades vs. Birds ~ offshore wind power

Birds vs. Blades? Offshore wind power and the race to protect seabirds
by Rebecca E. Hirsch
48 pages; ages 8-12
Millbrook Press (Lerner), 2016

 Up and down the Atlantic coast, between Virginia to Rhode Island, engineers are looking for places to build offshore wind farms - just like the wind farms that provide energy for other parts of the country.

But the Atlantic coast is a migration corridor for millions of birds  - birds that play an essential role in the ocean food chain. So the question arises: can we harvest clean wind energy without harming seabirds?

Rebecca Hirsch follows a research team describes their multi-year study of three seabirds:

• the Northern gannet, a graceful diving bird
• the Red-throated loon, who spend the winter along the mid-Atlantic coast
• the Surf scoter, a black-and-white sea duck

Red-throated loons and Surf scoters seem to avoid areas where wind farms are located - making habitat loss a concern. The gannets fly at the same height as turbine blades, so they may be at risk of collisions. And doing the research isn't easy - and it involves a team of people, from the capture team to wildlife veterinarians, to a host of other scientists.

Hirsch not only follows the field adventures of scientists, but also the journeys of one of the tagged gannets. Complementing informative - and fun to read - text are plenty of photos, maps, diagrams, and lots of sidebars that help expand the story.

"Protecting the ocean is a big job," Hirsch writes. It's too big for scientists and politicians alone. "You can take action in your own home and community to help." She ends with things everyone can do. There's a handy index, source notes, and a glossary.

Today's review is part of the STEM Friday roundup. Drop by STEM Friday blog for more science books and resources. Review copy provided by publisher.

Climate Change (just in time for Earth Day)

Climate Change: discover how it impacts spaceship Earth, with 25 projects
by Joshua Sneideman & Erin Twamley; illus. by Mike Crosier
122 pages; ages 9-12
Nomad Press, 2015

Released just in time for Earth Day (which is Wednesday) - this newest book on Climate Change. Like others in the "Build it yourself" series, this one comes packed with hands-on activities to explore the concepts being discussed. For example: a balance board to help illustrate the idea that keeping gases in Earth's atmosphere balanced is harder to do than to say.

Readers will learn about burps, farts, and other greenhouse gases, why ice cores and paleontology are important, and read about cool biofuels like algae. Throughout the book there are lots of short introductions to scientists who did research in energy, oceanography, geology, climate science and more. Plus there are those 25 hands-on, do-it-yourself activities that require the sorts of things you might find in the kitchen cupboards or at the drug store. Who knows ~ maybe you'll be inspired to build something useful and simple, like the solar powered water purifying system invented by a high school student, or the water-filled plastic bottle "light bulbs".

To help make information easier to find (especially for browsers) the book has:

• "words to know" sidebars
• cool concepts (like atmospheric pressure on other planets)
• essential questions
• primary source icon with QR code link for smartphones or tablets
• index, glossary, and page of resources at the back

  Today's review is part of the STEM Friday roundup. Drop by STEM Friday blog for more science books and resources. Review copy provided by publisher.

When the Wind Blows

When the Wind Blows
by Stacy Clark; illus. by Brad Sneed
32 pages; ages 4-8
Holiday House, 2015

theme: nature, nonfiction, engineering

When the wind blows
   Porch doors sway
      Dune grass bends
         Sea waves spray

This is a wonderful book about harnessing the wind's energy - how it is transformed from a force of nature that spins turbines into electricity that powers our cities.

What I like about this book: The lyrical language. This is a nonfiction book, filled with wind turbine innards and magnetic forces and electrons. It is also written is lovely poetic language. I also love the way each page begins with "When the wind blows..." I also like the structure: we start at the beach, head offshore to wind turbines, then back onshore with electricity, and finally end up right back where we started: at the beach.

Beyond the Book: 
Make a Pinwheel. All you need is a square piece of paper, a pair of scissors, a thin dowel and a long pin (like a hat pin) or a long push-pin. Check out the directions here.

What's in the Wind? Maybe there are dandelion seeds or tiny moths... here's directions on how to find out.

Make a Wind Painting. Splot some tempera paint onto a paper plate. Then take it outside and let the wind blow the paint around.

Go on a Windy Walk. Grab your journal and head outside on a windy day. Jot down all the things that you see blowing in the wind: flags, leaves, branches swaying.

Make some Wind chimes out of recycled soup and tuna cans. Kid-friendly directions here.

Today is STEM Friday - head over to the STEM Friday blog to see what other bloggers are reviewing. It's also PPBF (perfect picture book Friday) over at  Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books.  Review copy provided by publisher.
 

The Next Wave

The Next Wave: The Quest to Harness the Power of the Ocean (Scientists in the Field)
by Elizabeth Rusch
80 pages; ages 10-14
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014

 Elizabeth Rusch takes us to Oregon's wave-battered coast to check out the newest technological research in renewable energy. In this book we find surfer scientists and engineers working to transform the energy in ocean waves into electricity. We meet the Mikes and Annette von Jouanne, the AquaBuOY, and a team of Columbia Power engineers.

The pages are jam-packed with photos of waves, boats, surfers, bigger waves, and turbines of all types and sizes - including the Mikes' prototype turbine constructed of plastic spoons from a fast-food joint. There are diagrams and graphs that help explain wave motion and watts, and plenty of sidebars that delve more deeply into the issues surrounding wave energy technology.

One question is what happens to sea life when you harness waves for energy. Rusch notes that because the technology is so new, "no one really knows how it will affect marine animals or the environment." Buoys and other machinery could introduce new sounds and electromagnetic fields into the sea and set cables to thrumming, like guitar strings. Devices that capture wave energy will remove that energy from the waves, and reduced wave power could affect sand movements, water temperature, and water mixing near the shore. Scientists don't think they'll increase beach eroion, but they might affect the lives of tiny creatures. If you are interested in learning more about potential environmental impacts, check out the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the US Department of Energy Report to Congress (downloadable pdf).

Rusch does a good job of taking us behind the scenes in a growing energy technology field. Some countries are beginning to use wave energy - in small experimental situations. So if you've got kids who are interested in renewable energy, waves are the next big thing to watch. And that calls for a field trip to the ocean, right?

Today is STEM Friday! Head over to the STEM Friday blog to see what other people are reviewing. On Monday we'll join the roundup over at the Nonfiction Monday blog where you'll find even more book reviews. Review copy provided by publisher

Engineering Nature's Designs

The other day I was out taking photos of leaves and I stopped to listen to the world around me. It’s pretty quiet on my hill, but there was a lot of rustling in the leaves – a breeze so subtle that I couldn’t feel it had the big toothed aspen leaves chattering like the ladies down at Rosie’s Café (an imaginary place that doesn’t exist in my town but should). I got to wondering how cool it would be if we could harness all the energy generated by the leaves flipping back and forth on their stems.

Some engineers had a similar idea. They were looking at problems with harvesting wind power in urban areas, where wind speeds are lower than needed for large turbines and where you wouldn’t want huge turbines anyway. One mechanical engineer experimented with an aerofoil that fluttered like a fish tail, generating small amounts of current each time it moved. Another team proposed a tree of flapping “leaves”.

Scientists at UC Davis are growing tiny “trees” of silver to collect solar energy. But you don’t have to be an engineer in a university lab to come up with a new idea. Thirteen-year old Aidan Dwyer devised a vertical array of solar cells to resemble the leaves that collect the sun’s energy. Because, as he pointed out, those natural “solar panels” aren’t all flat, like roof panels. In fact, they’re arranged around the trunk of a tree in a specific pattern: the Fibonacci sequence.

Aidan's project won the 2011 Young Naturalist award from the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Even though he made some rather serious errors in original calculations, the idea has merit. He's conducting a new set of experiments to see if he gets similar results (with corrected calculations).

Velcro was another nature-inspired idea that came from close observation of how burdocks clung to sweaters. What ideas does nature inspire in you? For more Friday science inspiration, head over to  STEM Friday. 

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