Water Power

April 1, 2013

Gr 4-6-This series offers a timely introduction to energy resources, their advantages, disadvantages, and future outlooks of different options. Opening sections lay out a challenge with two or three general questions. The remaining chapters follow a fictitious researcher through the primary research process. Most missions begin with a science teacher providing fundamental information, then move on to a diverse assortment of scientists, engineers, tour guides, plant managers, etc. Each journal entry concludes with the purpose for the next visit. Text boxes explain related concepts. A quick review and a short list of recall statements and comprehension questions end each challenge. Two routine "Further Missions" extension ideas are included, though they are sometimes unrelated to the content or too difficult. Diagrams are rare; more would help explain confusing topics, such as how a ground source heat pump works. The adequate photos on nearly every other page sometimes don't match their captions. This set is almost identical in treatment and content to the "Examining Energy" series (Oliver Press).

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2013
Grades 3-5 Following the journal entries of a fictional girl named Sophie York as she conducts interviews and research, readers of this title in the Language Arts Explorer: Energy Lab series are given the mission of investigating water power as an energy source. Using water as an alternative power source, we learn, is not a new phenomenon. Historians and scientists believe water has been used in this manner for millennia. The difference between ancient uses and current or experimental uses involves technology. Sophie interviews a science teacher for a basic understanding; she then interviews experts on a river dam, underwater turbines, tidal power, and wave energy. The book's appealing layout resembles a lined journal page, though the straightforward text is not especially rich in imagination. Includes colored photographs, a glossary, additional readings, further missions, and an index.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)