Recycle: Green Science Projects for a Sustainable Planet

Children's Literature - Amy S. Hansen

Part of the "Team Green Science Projects" series, these demonstrations and suggestions for science fair projects are designed to get kids thinking past an immediate assignment and addressing bigger questions with a bit more depth than prompted by normal science fair books. Gardner provides short expository sections at the beginning of each chapter. His information is enough for students to investigate meaningful questions, but not so much as to overwhelm them. At the beginning of the first chapter, "Plastics and Recycling," he explains: "Plastics are made from organic compounds, which are substances that contain carbon. Carbon compounds were originally called organic because they come from organisms—living things." Unlike the other books in this series, this one feels a bit unbalanced, with fairly high-level chemistry issues on one side and demonstrations of how to sort household recyclables on the other. The unifying theme of recycling does hold it together, but the jumps may startle some students. In other chapters, Gardner deals with solid waste and decomposition, the greening of waste, systems for recycling, and a call to action entitled "What Can YOU Do?" Backmatter includes an appendix listing science supply companies, a glossary, lists of books and Internet addresses for further reading, and an index. Reviewer: Amy S. Hansen