An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming - Al Gore - Youth Version Grade 5–8—This young readers' version of the recent documentary film's companion adult volume cuts the page count by about a third but preserves the original's cogent message and many of its striking visuals. After explaining that his interest in the environment predates even his mother's reading of Silent Spring aloud to him as a teenager, Gore proceeds to document steeply rising carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere, and then to link that to accelerating changes in temperature and precipitation patterns worldwide. Using easy-to-grasp graphics and revealing before-and-after photos, he shows how glaciers and ice shelves are disappearing all over the globe with alarming speed, pointing to profound climate changes and increased danger from rising sea levels in the near future. O'Connor rephrases Gore's arguments in briefer, simpler language without compromising their flow, plainly intending to disturb readers rather than frighten them. He writes measured, matter-of-fact prose, letting facts and trends speak for themselves—but, suggesting that "what happens locally has worldwide consequences," he closes with the assertion that we will all have to "change the way we live our lives." Like the film, this title may leave readers to look elsewhere for both documentation and for specific plans of action, but as an appeal to reason it's as polished and persuasive as it can be.—John Peters, New York Public Library
Dr. Fun - Mantis Report - Preparing Fruit Flies Short but amusing video of an experimenter who is learning how to prepare fruit flies in preparation for feeding them to praying mantises. From the Mantis Report, a blog for kids of all ages on raising praying mantises. http://mantisreport.blogspot.com
Energy for Keeps: Electricity from Renewable Energy Illustrated “guide for anyone who uses electricity” was written to introduce middle-schoolers to renewable energy, and teach how it works with the power grid to light up our houses. A useful primer for people of all ages who are just starting to learn about renewables.
Journey for the Planet: A Kid's 5-Week Adventure to Create an Earth-Friendly Life A fun, engaging illustrated workbook for every child who wants to make a difference for the world. Drawing on his successful EcoTeam workbook, which sold over 250,000 copies through a unique grassroots distribution model, environmental change pioneer David Gershon guides children through a series of action steps that can impact both climate change and the environment as a whole.
Mantis Report An offshoot of the Sunflower Report -- an account of the adventure of raising praying mantises, a blog growing towards developing learning activities of kids of all ages.
PicoTurbine - wind/solar education kits Company offers plans, books, and kits for renewable energy education and homebrew projects including wind and solar kits. Free, downloadable do-it-yourself plans, and kits that include all the materials for a modest charge. We also sell plans and kits from other vendors. The PicoTurbine is an 8-inch tall, fully functioning wind turbine, the produces enough electricity to light up a bicolor LED that flashes red and green to show the alternating current. It has been used by universities such as MIT and Caltech, as well as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for summer youth programs.
Profile: James McLurkin James McLurkin of MIT is one of the world's leading designers of robot "swarms"—groups of robots that work together for a greater purpose.
Profile: Sunflower Club An online version of a regional newspaper article about the Sunflower Club, for kids of all ages. Pictures of growers of monster sunflowers scattered throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Sundance Solar Solar and wind power kits and toys, as well as a variety of solar-powered consumer electronics items, books, etc.
Sunflower Club - Official Site The experimental beta site for the sunflower club. The Sunflower Club is an environmental activity for kids of all ages. Purpose: grow sunflowers, pass the seeds on to a new generation of growers, and watch the family tree grow, tracing the ancestry. Learn about community, exchange questions and wisdom with other growers.A curriculum for kids is being developed as well.
Sunflower Report 1.0 The original sunflower blog that started it all, and led to the Sunflower Club at www.sunflowerclub.net
