Explore Natural Resources!: With 25 Great Projects

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