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There are some excellent books available to help your students
better understand the global warming dilemma, including scientific
aspects of the problem, what we can do about it as individuals,
and the ethical and moral dimensions of the problem.
These books, like GEMS activities, seek to help students comprehend
differing points of view and consider ways to resolve conflicts
and find solutions. Both the Global Warming and the Acid
Rain GEMS units also endeavor to foster a sense of student
empowerment in the face of environmental difficulty, and books
like Kid Heroes of the Environment can certainly aid in
that effort.
Several books are about deforestation and biological diversity—issues
that are closely related to global warming. Others are
science fiction that will help your students imagine what might
happen in the future if our misuse of the environment goes unchecked.
The Day They Parachuted Cats on Borneo:
A Drama of Ecology
The Earth is Sore: Native Americans on
Nature
The Endless Pavement
The Faces of Ceti
The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon
Rain Forest
The Greenhouse Effect: Life on a Warmer Planet
Just A Dream
Kid Heroes of the Environment: Simple Things Real
Kids Are Doing To Save the Earth
The Lorax
One Day in the Tropical Rain Forest
Restoring the Earth: How Americans Are Working
to Renew Our Damaged Environment
Sweetwater
Who Really Killed Cock Robin?
Will We Miss Them?
The Day They Parachuted Cats on Borneo:
A Drama of Ecology
by Charlotte Pomerantz; illustrated by Jose Aruego
Young Scott Books/Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts. 1971
Out of print
Grades: 4–7
This cautionary verse, based on a true story, explores how
spraying for mosquitoes in Borneo eventually affected the entire
ecological system, from cockroaches, rats, cats, and geckoes to
the river and the farmer. A good example of the interacting elements
of an ecosystem. The strong, humorous text makes the book successful
as a read-aloud or as a play to be performed. Could be accompanied
by dramatic presentation of the “Global Warming” limericks
featured in the GEMS guide.
Return to title list.
The Earth is Sore: Native Americans
on Nature
adapted and illustrated by Aline Amon
Atheneum, New York. 1981
Out of print
Grades: 4–Adult
This collection of poems and songs by Native Americans celebrates
the relationship between the Earth and all creatures and mourns
abuse of the environment. Could provide an introduction to the
ecological and spiritual beliefs and traditions of many Native
American (and other Indigenous) peoples, which have had a profound
influence on the modern environmental movement. Illustrated with
black and white collage prints made from natural materials.
Return to title list.
The Endless Pavement
by Jacqueline Jackson and William Perlmutter; illustrated by
Richard Cuffari
Seabury Press, New York. 1973
Out of print
Grades: 5–8
Josette lives in a strange, bleak future where people are
the servants of automobiles, ruled by the Great Computermobile.
One night the “Screen” goes blank, and the father reminisces
about what it was like before pavement when there was grass, “a
soft green blanket that people used to walk on.” Josette
is inspired to free herself. She sabotages the Computermobile,
starting a mass pedestrian movement towards the chain-link fence
boundary. Automobile manufacturers are one of the interest groups
represented at the World Conference on Global Warming students
hold as part of the GEMS activities.
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The Faces of Ceti
by Mary Caraker
Houghton Mifflin, Boston. 1991
Grades: 6–12
Colonists from Earth form two settlements on adjoining planets
of the Tau Ceti system. One colony tries to survive by dominating
the natural forces that they encounter, while those who land on
the planet Ceti apply sound ecological principles and strive to
live harmoniously in their new environment. Nonetheless, the Cetians
encounter a terrible dilemma—the only edible food on the
planet appears to be a species of native animals called the Hlur.
Teen-age colonists Maya Gart and Brock Magnus risk their lives
in a desperate effort to save their fellow colonists from starvation
without killing the gentle Hlur.
Return to title list.
The Great Kapok Tree:
A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest
by Lynne Cherry
Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, San Diego. 1990
Grades: K–4
Animals that live in a great kapok tree in the Brazilian rain
forest try to convince a man with an ax of the importance of not
cutting down their home. While he is asleep, the animals, including
a boa constrictor, bee, monkeys, toucan, macaw, tree frog, jaguar,
porcupines, anteaters, and a sloth, all try to influence his dreams
by conveying the beauty and utility of the rain forest. At the
end of the story, the man puts down his ax and walks away. The
preservation of the rain forest, sometimes called “the lungs
of the Earth,” has a direct bearing on the other factors
that contribute to possible global warming, and deforestation
is discussed in more detail in the background section of the GEMS
guide.
Return to title list.
The Greenhouse Effect: Life on a Warmer
Planet
by Rebecca L. Johnson
Lerner Publications, Minneapolis. 1990
Grades: 5–9
Recent research on the causes and probable impact of the greenhouse
effect is presented. There are chapters on carbon dioxide and
deforestation, other greenhouse gases, the effects of global warming
and modeling changing climates, and a scenario for life on a warmer
planet. The last chapter “What Can We Do?” looks at
reducing carbon dioxide, exploring new energy sources, and planning
and working together. A good deal of scientific information is
presented and made accessible along with accompanying graphs,
charts, and photographs. This is a good scientific introduction
to the issues raised by “global warming.”
Return to title list.
Just A Dream
by Chris Van Allsburg
Houghton Mifflin, Boston. 1990
Grades: 1–6
When he has a dream about a future Earth devastated by pollution,
Walter begins to understand the importance of taking care of the
environment. Planning and taking part in the world conference
on global warming in the GEMS guide encourages a similar awareness.
Return to title list.
Kid Heroes of the Environment:
Simple Things Real Kids Are Doing To Save the Earth
edited by Catherine Dee; illustrated by Michele Montez
Earth Works Press, Berkeley, California. 1991
Grades: 3–12
Twenty-nine profiles of individuals and organizations working
at home, at school, locally, and nationally, to impact the environment
through “kid power.” In addition to specific projects
about pollution, recycling, and endangered species, many profiles
deal with collecting and publicizing information such as a “green”
yearbook, fundraising for adoption of rain forest acreage, and
organizations like “Just Say Yes” and “Out of the
Ozone,” which deal with legislation and public opinion. An
encouraging and excellent connection to ideas of environmental
responsibility embedded in the GEMS activities.
Return to title list.
The Lorax
by Dr. Seuss
Random House, New York. 1971
Grades: Preschool–8
Humans are destroying a beautiful forest because it contains
“truffula” trees, needed to make “thneeds.”
The lorax, who speaks for the environment, explains that the deforestation
has affected not only Brown Bar-ba-loots who eat truffula fruits,
but also the swans, fish, and other creatures. Ironically, at
the end of the book, the thneeds factory owner is placed in charge
of the last truffula tree seed. Deforestation relates to the “global
warming game” in Session 2 and to many other activities in
this GEMS guide.
Return to title list.
One Day in the Tropical Rain Forest
by Jean C. George; illustrated by Gary Allen
HarperCollins, New York. 1990
Grades: 4–7
When a section of rain forest in Venezuela is scheduled to
be bulldozed, a young boy and a scientist seek a new species of
butterfly for a wealthy industrialist who might preserve the forest.
As they travel through the ecosystem rich with plant, insect,
and animal life, everything they see on this one day is logged
beginning with sunrise at 6:29 a.m. They finally arrive at the
top of the largest tree in the forest and fortuitously capture
a specimen of an unknown butterfly.
Return to title list.
Restoring the Earth:
How Americans Are Working to Renew Our Damaged Environment
by John J. Berger
Doubleday, New York. 1987
Grades: 7–12
This book profiles individuals and groups active in conservation.
It is written at the adult level and does not include any photographs
or illustrations. Especially relevant is the first section which
deals with restoration of a polluted lake, a trout stream, and
a dead marsh. “Mother Nashua” is the true story of the
clean-up effort portrayed in Lynne Cherry’s picture book
A River Run Wild. Other sections relate to land use and waste
disposal, human settlements and their environmental impact, and
wildlife preservation.
Return to title list.
Sweetwater
by Laurence Yep; illustrated by Julia Noonan
Harper & Row, New York. 1973
Grades: 5–8
The sea level around a star colony rises year after year as
the inhabitants attempt to save their way of life and protect
the city from flooding. They investigate why the sea level continues
to rise and the tides become increasingly larger.
Return to title list.
Who Really Killed Cock Robin?
by Jean C. George
HarperCollins, New York. 1991
Grades: 3–7
This compelling ecological mystery examines the importance
of keeping nature in balance, and provides an inspiring account
of a young environmental hero who becomes a scientific detective.
Return to title list.
Will We Miss Them?
by Alexandra Wright; illustrated by Marshall Peck
Charlesbridge Books, Watertown, Massachusetts. 1992
Grades: 2–5
A sixth-grader writes about “some amazing animals that
are disappearing from the earth.” On each double-paged spread,
the question is asked “Will we miss . . . ?” and gives
basic information on 13 animal species and how their habitats
may be threatened. The illustrations are strong, a simple map
shows approximate locations of threatened species, and the book
presents the hopeful message that we don’t have to miss these
animals, we can still save them!
Return to title list.
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