Books

Upstream, Downstream: Exploring Watershed Connections

Do you know your watershed address? We all have one, whether we live high up in a mountain, on an inland prairie or near the coast. A watershed is an area of land that channels rain and snowmelt into streams, rivers and oceans. Our lives are deeply intertwined with land and water and all the connections between them. Day-to-day activities—like brushing our teeth, eating a meal, getting a ride in a car or even using an electronic device—have consequence for our own or someone else’s watershed.

Over the centuries we’ve changed the land by farming it, cutting down the trees on it, digging into it and building on it. We’ve also learned how to control water—where it goes and how much flows. Upstream, Downstream explores the consequences of the pressures people place on watersheds and highlights some of the heroes making a difference for watersheds around world.

Audience: Ages 9+, Grades 4–7
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Date published: September 14, 2021
ISBN: 9781459823921

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Salmon: Swimming for Survival

In this book, I introduce the dramatic life story of salmon. These fish hatch in streams, swim extreme distances out to sea, and then migrate home to where they were born to produce the next generation. But today their habitats and very survival are threatened by human activity. This book looks at the unique biology of salmon, their importance to many Indigenous communities, their cultural and economic impact and the vital role they play in ecosystems. With profiles from scientists, educators, fishers and more, learn about the people who are working hard to change the uncertain future of salmon and improve the chance that these iconic fish can survive for generations to come.

Audience: Ages 9+, Grades 4–7
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Date published: March 15, 2022
ISBN: 9781459826533

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Chemical World: Science in Our Daily Lives

Do you know your watershed address? We all have one, whether we live high up in a mountain, on an inland prairie or near the coast. A watershed is an area of land that channels rain and snowmelt into streams, rivers and oceans. Our lives are deeply intertwined with land and water and all the connections between them. Day-to-day activities—like brushing our teeth, eating a meal, getting a ride in a car or even using an electronic device—have consequence for our own or someone else’s watershed.

Over the centuries we’ve changed the land by farming it, cutting down the trees on it, digging into it and building on it. We’ve also learned how to control water—where it goes and how much flows. Upstream, Downstream explores the consequences of the pressures people place on watersheds and highlights some of the heroes making a difference for watersheds around world.

Audience: Ages 9+, Grades 4–7
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Date published: September 14, 2021
ISBN: 9781459823921

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Rachel Carson and Ecology for Kids: Her Life and Ideas

A story of passion, hardship, determination, intelligence and eyes-wide-open observation of the natural world. Rachel Carson was an American biologist, conservationist, science and nature writer, and catalyst of the modern environmental movement. She studied biology in college at a time when few women entered the sciences, and then worked as a biologist and information specialist for the US government and wrote about the natural world for many publications. Carson is best remembered for her book Silent Spring, which exposed the widespread misuse of chemical pesticides in the United States and sparked both praise and fury. Carson’s personal life and scientific career were rooted in the study of nature.

Using examples from Carson’s life and works, Rachel Carson and Ecology for Kids introduces readers to ecology concepts such as the components of ecosystems, adaptations by living things, energy cycles, food chains and food webs, and the balance of ecosystems. This lively biography includes a time line, resources, sidebars, and 21 hands-on activities that are sure to inspire the next generation of scientists, thinkers, leaders, agricultural producers, environmental activists and world citizens. Kids will collect a seed bank of local plant species, chart bird migration through their region, make birdseed cookies, model bioaccumulation and biomagnification, build a worm farm and more!

Audience: Ages 9+, Grades 4–7
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Date published: February 2020
ISBN: 9780897339339

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Southern Ocean

Weigl Educational Publishers, 2017

Land Use

Weigl Educational Publishers, 2017

Cacti

Weigl Educational Publishers, 2016

The Meg and Greg series

The Meg and Greg books is a new series of phonics stories for children ages 6–9 who are learning to read. The stories are designed especially for children who are learning to read with a language-learning challenge such as dyslexia or with English as an additional language.

Each book has four chapter stories, with each story introducing one new letter combination or sound. Each story builds on the previously introduced letters or sounds (cumulative).

Join best friends Meg and Greg on their adventures, in which they help animals, go to summer camp and earn some pocket money.

Audience: Ages 6–9, Grades 1–4
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Dates published: 2020 and 2021

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