Earthquakes: Witness to Disaster by Judy and Dennis Fradin, National Geographic Books

Have you ever wondered what causes earthquakes?  By reading this book, you’ll learn all about the reasons earthquakes take place.  Maps and diagrams will help you understand tectonics and stunning photos will show you the effects of an earthquake.  By reading the accounts of people who have lived through earthquakes, you’ll get a clearer idea of what it’s like to witness one.

Excerpt:  The ground would not stop shaking.  I turned and watched my house squirm and groan as though in last mortal agony.  It was as though someone had engaged in it in a gigantic taffy pull, stretching, twisting and shrinking it.”  Eyewitness Account.

Tsunamis: Witness to Disaster by Judy and Dennis Fradin, National Geographic Books

In this book you’ll learn about some of the most powerful tsunamis that have occurred in recent history. You’ll find out about the forces that cause a tsunami and the damage that tsunamis can do. Stunning photographs and eyewitness accounts, along with maps and diagrams, will help you understand how plate tectonics cause these gigantic disasters, and you’ll hear from people who have lived through them.

Excerpt: On Maikhao Beach in Phuket, Thailand, a ten year old school girl from England was vacationing with her parents. Two weeks earlier in geography class she had learned about the way that, before a tsunami wave strikes, the sea sometimes recedes from the shore. Tilly noticed the same thing happening in Thailand and warmed her family that a tsunami might be coming. As her family left the beach, they warned other tourists. Thanks to the warming, the beach was evacuated and no lives were lost. “

Droughts (Witness to Disaster) by Judy & Dennis Fradin

In this book, Judy and Dennis fradin take us from our present day troubles to the worst drought in American history, the Dust Bowel. Eyewitness accounts combined with haunting photographs capture the poignancy desperation of these years. The Fradins have woven these accounts together with an in-depth look at the various causes of drought, a brief history of the most famous droughts, and a look at the efforts of scientists to understand why droughts, a brief history of the most famous droughts, and look at the efforts of scientists to understand why droughts happen and what can be done about it.

Excerpt: The inhabitants of Rajpar, India, were desperate for water. During periods of ample rainfall, villagers lowered buckets a short way down Rajpar’s big well, and then pulled up the water- filled containers. In the year 2000, however, due to a long dry spell, the well contained only a barely visible puddle at the bottom. To get it, villagers lowered a volunteer down the well with ropes. Deeper and deeper she went: 50 feet below ground level. There-20 stories beneath the Earth’s surface- she filled containers with water from the bottom of the well. She was then pulled up to the surface, where she distributed the precious liquid to her neighbors.

What’s science all about? by Alex Frith, Hazel Maskell,Dr. Lisa Jane Gillespie & Kate Davies

Have you ever wondered what fire is? Or why things fall to the ground? Or what’s alive and what’s not? Scientists have asked all these questions and many, many others too. They‘ve found the answers using science – way of learning about world by watching, coming up with ideas and testing them. And there’s still lots left to learn.

 

Excerpt: What’s biology all about? Biology is all about life- what it is, how it works and why it is the way it is. It covers all forms of life, from the largest living plants and animals to tiny life forms that are much too to see., and it’s also about where these life forms came from, how they’ve changed over time, and how they exist side-by-side all over the earth today. Here are some big questions that keep biologists busy… What is life? It’s normally pretty easy to tell if something is alive, especially if you can see it without a microscope. But biologists study far weirder, tinier things, which may act as if they’re alive in some ways but not others. Even experts often disagree over whether these things are alive or not.

Shake, Rattle and Roll: the World’s Most Amazing Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Other Forces by Spencer Christian and Antonia Felix

Where do “killer clouds” come from?  What causes the birth of an island?  Can cockroaches really predict an earthquake?  Join Spencer Christian as he unearths the mysteries of volcanoes, tornados, and other natural events.  Find out what makes the earth quake.  Discover what volcano covered an entire city with over four feet of ash.

 

Excerpt

 

The force of an earthquake in deep water can create a tsunami up to 35 feet high and these giant waves travel at incredible speeds.  When an earthquake occurs far from land, seismologists can warn residents in coastal areas of an approaching tsunami.   But when an earthquake happens near the shore, there isn’t time for a warning.  On July 12, 1993 a major earthquake struck off the coast of Hokkaido the northernmost island of Japan.  In less than five minutes, this very powerful quake caused a 100-foot-high tsunami to crash ashore, killing 180 people.

Weather and Climate by Alvin Silverstein, Virginia Silverstein and Laura Silverstein Nunn

Every day, billions of people all over the world make plans according to the weather—what to wear, when to hold outdoor activities, whether to prepare for dangerous storms.  You’ll learn so much about our planet and its weather by reading this book.  Did you know that the wind makes the weather?  Do you know what the jet stream is, and how it was discovered?  What is air pressure?  Why do your ears pop when you ascend and descend in an airplane.  When it is more likely to rain or snow, when clouds are low in the sky or high?  You’ll never take the weather for granted again after reading this book!

 

Excerpt:

 

In World War II, American planes on a bombing mission to Tokyo,Japan climbed to an altitude of 30,000 feet (about 5.7 miles—more than 9 kilometers) to avoid Japanese antiaircraft fire.  Suddenly the fliers found their planes zooming along at 450 miles per hour, far faster than any plane had flown before.  They had picked up a tailwind that was blowing more than 150 miles per hour.  These winds were named jet streams, and their paths were mapped.