Earth’s Changing Surface Recommended Reading
The following is a list of recommended books that provide a wide range of reading and research resources for this unit. Collect as many as you can for your classroom science library, or ask your school librarian for assistance.
Noteworthy Read-Alouds
Caves: One Small Square
By Donald Silver; illustrated by Patricia Wynne. (1994, W.H. Freeman Company)
Children explore a single square of a petroglyph that depicts cave life. A great introduction to caves and caving.
Earthsteps: A Rock’s Journey through Time
By Diane Nelson Spickert; illustrated by Marianne D. Wallace. (2000, Fulcrum Publishing)
Take children on a rock’s journey as the process of weathering transforms it from a large chunk of granite to a small grain of sand.
How Mountains Are Made
By Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld; illustrated by James Graham Hale. (1995, Harper Collins Publishers)
This fun picture book for early-elementary readers follows the journey of four children as they hike from their school up into the mountains. They learn about mountain formation, fossils, and the earth’s structure along the way.
How Much Is a Million?
By David Schwartz; illustrated by Steven Kellogg. (1987, William Morrow & Co.)
This early-elementary book helps children conceptualize the immensity of numbers, such as a million, billion, and trillion, that come up when talking about how landforms change over long periods of time.
How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World
By Faith McNulty; illustrated by Marc Simont. (1990, Scott Foresman)
In this charming book, a boy offers step-by-step instructions on how to dig the deepest hole in the world. Readers will be amused by his uncanny imagination and rewarded with a wealth of information about the earth below our feet.
Legends of Landforms: Native American Lore and the Geology of the Land
By Carole G. Vogel. (1999, Millbrook Press)
Presents the stories native people created to explain natural wonders, including Devil’s Tower (Mateo Teepee).
Painters of the Caves
By Patricia Lauber. (1998, National Geographic Society)
This book describes the 1994 discovery, in Chauvet, France, of a cave with Stone Age rock paintings, and discusses the significance of cave art to people living in prehistoric as well as modern times.
The Big Rock
By Bruce Hiscock. (1988, Aladdin Paperbacks)
This age-appropriate picture book tells the story of a rock and how it was shaped through time. It explains how the rock emerged from a volcano, ended up on the bottom of the ocean, was uplifted by a mountain, transported by a glacier, and finally weathered by wind and rain.
The Magic School Bus: Inside the Earth
By Joanna Cole; illustrated by Bruce Degen. (1987, Scholastic Inc.)
Miss Frizzle, her class, and their magic school bus journey into the center of the earth to study rocks and minerals. This book is packed with pictures and captions, and provides a simple introduction to the structure of the Earth.
The Pebble in My Pocket: A History of Our Earth
By Meredith Hooper; illustrated by Chris Coady. (1996, Viking Children’s Books)
With poetically written text, this beautiful book follows the trail of a single pebble over millions of years. Some of the concepts will require explanation and discussion, making it a good book to read aloud.
The Summer Sands
By Sherry Garland; illustrated by Robert Lee. (1995, Harcourt Press)
This wonderful storybook for early-elementary readers has beautiful illustrations that show how sand dunes form along the ocean coast. It tells a story about how people used old Christmas trees to rebuild sand dunes destroyed by storms.
Other Recommended Children’s Books
Cave: Landshapes
By Brian Knapp. (1993, Grolier Educational Corporation)
Using beautiful photographs from around the world, this out of print book explains how caves, and the wondrous formations within them, are created. The book also gives information about people that explore and study caves.
Digging Deeper: Investigations into Rocks, Shocks, Quakes, and Other Earthy Matters
By Sandra Markle. (1987, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books)
This book discusses various aspects of geology, such as plate tectonics, erosion, and minerals. It includes experiments and other activities.
Earthquakes and Volcanoes: Reader’s Digest Pathfinders
By Lin Sutherland. (2000, Reader’s Digest Children’s Publishing Inc.)
Exceptional images illustrate the science and history of volcanoes and earthquakes. Although the text is more appropriate for middle and high school aged children, this book is a great teacher reference for elementary classes.
Erosion: Carolrhoda Earth Watch Book Series
By Cherie Winner. (1999, Carolrhoda Books, Inc.)
This book describes how water, glaciers, and wind shape our planet. Excellent photographs support age-appropriate text.
Eyewitness: Earth
By Susanna Van Rose. (2000, DK Publishing)
An extraordinary visual guide to earth science and the forces that shape the earth, this book takes children on a visual journey of the earth’s landscapes and highlights how the study of earth science has developed through the ages.
Glaciers
By John Gordon. (2001, Voyageur Press)
This excellent introduction to glaciers for advanced readers, with beautiful photographs throughout, vividly describes what glaciers are, how they form, and how they have shaped landscapes around the world.
Glaciers: Ice on the Move
By Sally M. Walker. (1990, Carolrhoda Books)
Describes the formation and movement of different types of glaciers, their effects on the land, and how scientists study glaciers. Nice text for independent readers and fantastic photographs.
Glaciers: True Books
By Larry Dane Brimmer. (2000, Children’s Book Press)
Beautiful photographs and concise text make this an excellent introduction to glaciers. The text is suitable for advanced readers only.
Icebergs and Glaciers
By Seymour Simon. (1987, William Morrow and Company, Inc.)
Discusses how glaciers form, where they are located, and how they move. Contains beautiful photographs of glaciers with easy to read, informative text.
Incredible Earth: How Things Work from the Inside Out
By Nick Clifford. (1996, Firefly Books, LTD)
Packed with information and photos, this book provides lots of detail about features of the earth including earthquakes, volcanoes, rivers, glaciers, caves, and deserts. It may be hard to find because it is out of print.
Mapworlds: Landscapes
By Molly Perham and Julian Rowe; illustrated by Sallie Reason. (1996, Franklin Watts, Inc.)
Provides a world tour of the earth’s major landscape features and biomes with large text and excellent illustrations and photos.
Maroo of the Winter Caves
By Ann Turnbull; illustrated by Ann Nicol. (1991, Houghton Mifflin Company)
This fictional story depicts the life of Maroo, a young girl living during the last Ice Age and the trials and tribulations she and her family endure .
Mountains: Geography Detectives
By Philip Sauvain; illustrated by David Hogg. (1996, Carolrhoda Books)
This age-appropriate book highlights the major features seen in mountains around the world and describes the processes that form and shape them.
Out of the Dust
By Karen Hesse. (1999, Scholastic Paperbacks)
The tragedy of the Dust Bowl is experienced through the eyes of Billie Jo, an adolescent living in Oklahoma in the 1930’s.
Planet Earth: Visual Factfinder
By Neil Curtis and Micheal Allaby. (1993, Kingfisher Books)
Explores how the earth’s landscapes are shaped through weathering, erosion, deposition, and forces such as mountain uplift and volcanoes. Includes hundreds of detailed color illustrations and photographs with interesting fact captions throughout. Although out of print, this book is well worth searching for in a local library.
Planet Earth
By Jean Burke Crawford. (1997, Time-Life Books)
This age-appropriate resource book contains content on a wide variety of topics, including volcanoes, weather, rivers, and earthquakes. It also highlights the effect that earth forces have on humans around the world. There are hundreds of excellent photos and illustrations.
River: Landshapes
By Brian Knapp. (1993, Grolier Educational Corporation)
Using beautiful photographs from around the world, this out of print book explains how rivers form and the wide range of landforms that are created by rivers through weathering, erosion and deposition.
Sand Dunes
By Jan Gumprecht Bannan. (1990, Econo-Clad Books)
Discusses dune areas in Oregon and elsewhere in the western hemisphere, describing, with detailed photographs, the formation of sand and the forces which shape it into dunes. A good book for independent readers.
Shaping the Earth
By Dorothy Hinshaw Patent. (2000, Houghton Mifflin Co.)
This colorful and informative book shows how the earth’s surface is shaped by shifting tectonic plates, mountain uplift, volcanoes, glaciers, rivers, and wind. It explains the role of living organisms in landscape formation and the profound influence of human beings on the landscapes of our planet. The text is splendidly illustrated with color photographs.
Volcanoes and Earthquakes
By E. Moones. (1995, Time-Life Books)
An exciting illustrated reference, this age appropriate book uses stunning visuals to introduce the study of volcanoes and earthquakes. It includes games, quizzes, puzzles, and activities.
Other Recommended Reference Books for Teachers
Earth Story: The Shaping of Our World
By Simon Lamb and David Sington. (1998, Princeton University Press)
This book is a companion to the BBC—Learning Channel series. Vivid images and illustrations show the earth’s structure and how the surface of the earth is shaped by an interacting system of atmosphere, water, tectonic plates in motion, and living organisms. The authors express a passion for planet Earth and the diverse life it supports.
Geology Crafts for Kids: 50 Nifty Projects to Explore the Marvels of Planet Earth
By Alan Anderson, Gwen Diehn, and Terry Krautwurst. (1996, Sterling Publishing)
A fun collection of 50 activities and craft projects that teach children about geology topics such as minerals, crystals, volcanoes, erosion, and fossils. Includes great full-color illustrations and easy-to-follow directions.
Glacial Geology: How Ice Shapes the Land
By Jon Erickson. (1996, Facts on File, Inc.)
Details the science of glacial geology. A good reference book for teachers who would like to learn more about the ice ages, causes and effects of glaciations, and glacial structures.
How the Earth Works: 100 Ways Parents and Kids Can Share the Secrets of the Earth
By John Farndon. (1992, Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.)
This exploration of earth science topics is designed for adults and children and offers a hands-on approach to learning. It has detailed instructions on how to build models and carry out experiments, as well as suggestions for how to record experimental data and draw conclusions.
Janice Van Cleave’s Earth Science for Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments that Really Work
By Janice Pratt Van Cleave. (1991, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
This book has 101 easy experiments that cover topics such as rocks and minerals, crust movements, erosion, mountain building, weather, and the oceans. There are detailed step-by-step instructions and illustrations, as well as a scientific explanation of the results. The experiments are fun and use inexpensive, easy-to-find materials.
Origins: The Evolution of Continents, Oceans, and Life
By Ron Redfern. (2001, University of Oklahoma Press)
This coffee table-style book has extraordinary panoramic photographs that reveal how the earth was formed and how it evolved through time. The text examines the dynamic processes that have shaped and continue to shape the earth’s surface. The text is advanced, but the stunning images could be a useful resource and reference.
The Practical Geologist
By Dougal Dixon. (1992, Simon and Schuster)
Nice informative text for teachers wishing to gain a core background in geology and geological processes. Good chapters on erosion and geomorphology. A useful teacher resource.
Film and Multi-media Resources
Desert: Eyewitness Series [video]
(1996, Cafe Production for BBC Worldwide Americas and Dorling Kindersley Vision in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting. Director, Andrew Jackson; written by Lynette Singer. 35 minutes.)
This film has a great general overview of desert habitats and examines how deserts form, humans’ relationship to them, and the types of creatures that live in deserts.
Mountain: Eyewitness Series [video]
(1997, BBC Scienceworld Production and Dorling Kindersley Publishing Inc. Director/writer, Mike Tomilson, narrator, Andrew Sachs. 35 minutes.)
This wonderful film provides a fun and captivating overview of how mountains are formed and mountain habitats around the world. The video highlights humans’ connection to mountains.
National Geographic: In the Shadow of Vesuvius [video]
(1987, National Geographic. Directed by Jeff Myrow and Ed Spiegel. 60 minutes.)
Mt. Vesuvius has been active for more than 17,000 years. In A.D. 79 a huge eruption (10 times the size of Mt. St. Helen’s) destroyed the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The film observes archaeologists excavating Pompeii and explores the fascinating history of Vesuvius.
Natural Disasters [video]
(1997, BBC Scienceworld production for BBC Worldwide Americas, Dorling Kindersley Vision in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting. 35 minutes.)
This film explores the cataclysmic forces that shape our planet and affect our lives, from hurricanes to volcanoes. Rare footage reveals the earth at its most violent.
Physical Geography: Weathering and Erosion [video]
(2000, TMW / Media Group. Starring and narrated by Laurence Jankowski.)
This film provides a sweeping overview of landscapes around the world that have been shaped by water, ice, wind, and storms. Beautiful footage and clear explanations make this an engrossing exploration of the earth’s changing landscapes.
Pond & River [video]
(1996, Cafe Production for BBC Worldwide Americas and Dorling Kindersley Vision in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting. New York, NY. Director, Leanne Pooley; writer, David Hanson; narrator, Martin Sheen. 35 minutes.)
This video looks at the range of plants and animals found in fresh water, examining the living conditions and survival mechanisms of creatures dwelling at the edge of water, on its surface, or under the mud.
Volcano: Eyewitness Series [video]
(1996, Cafe Production for BBC Worldwide Americas and Dorling Kindersley Vision in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting. New York, NY. Director, Sanjida O’Connell; writer, Anne MacLeod; narrator, Martin Sheen. 35 minutes.)
Mount Vesuvius is one of the volcanoes featured in this video offering excellent footage of volcanic eruptions and their aftermaths as well as related background information on volcanic structure and plate tectonics.