North American Earth Studies: The Great Quake

The Great Quake:

How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet

by Henry Fountain

I stumbled across this book in our library catalog when looking for something on plate tectonics for high school geography earth science reading. This isn't exactly what I had in mind (I was looking for a readily available history of science book), but it is definitely high on my list. It's fascinating reading that indeed covers the theory of plate tectonics underlying a modern understanding of earthquakes.

The geologist George Plafker provides a focus point for the book. His professional work in a variety of environments before and after the earthquake placed him in a unique position to synthesize information from different sources and points of view.

He was finding that his scientific education never really ended--there were always new things to see and discover.

Just the story of his scientific career provides an informative look at how science really works and the value in thinking about big ideas in a field rather than focusing on a tiny piece of a puzzle.

The descriptions of the people of Alaska, the places they lived and worked, and the ravages of the earthquake are riveting. Along the way, Mr. Fountain explains the development of the theories of continental drift and plate tectonics, and how those ideas were furthered in the course of the study of the measurable effects of the 1964 Alaskan earthquake.

I haven't decided exactly what geography will look like for First Son next year (in twelfth grade) or what it will look like for my later children (probably slightly different), but this book is a possibility for an earth sciences book in a North American course. I do have some hesitation, mainly because many of the descriptions of the earthquake's effects are disturbing. People died, some of the violently, but most of them are written of as individual people, with names and families, stories of what they were doing and why when the earthquake or their own personal tragedy struck. While these stories give a strength to the narrative, they are also sometimes difficult to read. Including this book in a course might depend on the student.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Bookshop or Amazon are affiliate links.

An Earth Science Tour of the United States: The Earth in Turmoil

The Earth in Turmoil: Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and their Impact on Humankind

by Kerry Sieh and Simon LeVay

The Earth in Turmoil covers plate tectonics and its ramifications for earthquakes and volcanoes in a readable but thorough way. The events and locations explored are all in the United States, mainly the West coast, Basin and Range, and Hawai'i, but also chapters dedicated to Yellowstone, the New Madrid Fault, and the Northeast. They always remind readers of other places in the world with similar physical conditions and phenomena.

Through the course of the book, the authors explore the history of geology and earth science, describing theories proposed, experiments conducted, and papers from a variety of scientists around the world. They provide excellent diagrams, maps, and drawings to illustrate geological principles like the recycling of the lithosphere and how volcanoes are produced by a subducting slab, to name a few from the first two chapters.

This solemn, silent, sailless sea--this lonely tenant of the loneliest spot on Earth--is little graced with the picturesque. [Mark Twain in Roughing It, describing Mono Lake, quoted in The Earth in Turmoil]

All these descriptions and explanations are woven into the chapters through stories from people who experienced earthquakes or survived volcanic eruptions, stories which make the events come alive for the reader in a way the scientific descriptions alone never could. The authors also show how first person accounts and other primary source documents can allow the dedicated scientist to develop a more comprehensive picture of earthquakes or other events, even when modern scientific instruments were not around to measure anything at the time. 

This book was published in 1998 and takes into account new research and events right up until their print deadline. A lot of time has passed since then in human terms, so there are some chapters for which I'd recommend searching recent events online to see if there's new information.

The book is out of print, but seems reasonably easy to find used. I'm probably going to assign it as our earth studies reading at some point in high school. I've been looking for one to cover plate tectonics and this one seems to be the best mix of stories of real people and essential geological information without being an actual (expensive and dense) college textbook.

One thing to note, if you have a sensitive student, the purpose of the book is to develop the relationship between knowledge of the earth's forces that results in earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and how humans use the land and spaces affected by those forces. Someone anxious about the chances of massive eruptions or earthquakes may find some of the risks outlined upsetting. In fact, the authors often comment on the psychological ramifications of experiencing extended times of frequent earthquake activity.

On the other hand, the authors sometimes explore how those risks translate into public policy, laws, and insurance coverage, which can be useful and fascinating information for anyone interested in politics, environmental law, or urban development. Given the current conditions as I write this in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the discussions of the balance between scientific forecasts of risks and impacts of those forecasts on businesses and daily lives (especially in the chapter on Mammoth Lakes and Long Valley) were fascinating and relevant.

Sam Walker, who owns a brewery and a restaurant and has been chairman of the chamber of commerce, told us that relations between the townspeople and the USGS scientists had improved greatly in recent years. A lot of the misunderstanding, he told us, was caused by inaccurate reporting of what the USGS people had said. If the USGS said that an eruption was a possibility, some TV station or other would announce that lava was flowing down the street. 

The last chapter explores these ideas of risk assessment and policy in the most detail. 

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. All links to Amazon and Bookshop are affiliate links.

Saints to Read Aloud: Holy Friends

Holy Friends: Thirty Saints and Blesseds of the Americas

Written by Diana M. Amadeo

Illustrated by Irina Lombardo with Augusto Curreli

In the early grades, Mater Amabilis™ has lots of recommended books for saint studies. For first grade (Level 1B), they recommend Once Upon a Time Saints and More Once Upon a Time Saints. I wrote briefly about them after First Son's first grade year. After that, though, we started using them in our history studies so I have found other saint stories for first grade. Some people prefer to use alternate texts, too, because the stories aren't strictly biographical, instead including some inventive details.

First Daughter read Loyola Kids Book of Saints by Amy Welborn. We read it over two years. In kindergarten, I read aloud and she narrated. In first grade, she finished the book reading the stories independently before narrating them. I wrote about it here. Second Son might have been able to read the stories this year, but they were a little long overall and I wanted something that would last only one year.

Second Daughter read Saints Tell their Stories by Patricia Mitchell. I read the stories aloud and she narrated them. You can read about that book here.

Last year, in kindergarten, I read Saints and their Stories by Maria Loretta Giraldo to Second Son (which I wrote about here). These stories are longer than in the Mitchell book. Thinking long-term, the Mitchell book would work well in kindergarten and Saints and their Stories in first grade. Of course, as I'm writing this post in April 2018, Saints and their Stories is outrageously expensive at close to $50. So you shouldn't use it unless you or your library owns it. I was lucky enough to receive it as a review copy.

When I went looking through our first grade books, I decided to make another change. Instead of Saints Tell their Stories, which is lovely and would have worked perfectly, I decided to read Holy Friends. I bought this book used years and years ago when I cobbled together an American history study for First Son when he was in first or second grade. I just wanted a reason to read it aloud again.

In Holy Friends there are two and a half pages of text and a lovely full-page glossy illustration for each saint. There are thirty chapters, but actually more than thirty people because some chapters are about groups like the North American martyrs (St. John de Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues, among others). With thirty chapters, it's easy to schedule off weeks for Advent and Holy Week and still finish in 36 weeks. Or, keep reading and finish early.

They are grouped by country and, of course, only include saints from North and South America. Many of the saints were missionaries from Europe, but a few were born in the Americas. The book was written in 2005, so some of those shown as blessed in the book are now saints.

• St. Marie of the Incarnation Guyard (Canada)
• St. Kateri Tekakwitha (Canada)
• St. Andre Bessette (Canada)
• St. Junipero Serra (US)
• St. Theodore Guerin (US)
• St. Damien Joseph de Veuster (US)

The saints are organized by country and include saints from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and the United States. I appreciated a book focused on the saints of the Americas because we were able to learn about a few that are less well-known as well as some with closer connections to us in the United States. There are marvelous examples of sacrificial love for the indigenous people of the Americas (like St. Peter Claver and St. Katharine Drexel) and saints and blesseds of non-European ancestry are included like St. Martin de Porres (Spanish father and indigenous mother) and St. Kateri Tekakwitha.

Second Son is an older first grader; he turned seven before the school year began. He may have been able to read the stories independently, but I preferred to read aloud to him to help with pronounciation and understanding.

Regardless of the saint book you choose, consider adding in a calendar exercise. Second Son loved finding the month and day of the feast day so he could mark our calendar. At first, it was just a scribble; by the end of the year he would usually write the saint's first name. When the feast day came around, even if we couldn't remember the saint (remember the scribbles?), I would let the kids have a piece of candy for dessert. This addition took only a few moments, but helped us easily incorporate months into our first grade year.

I purchased this book used years ago. The opinions here are my own. The links above to Amazon are affiliate links.

Homeschool Review: Paddle-to-the-Sea

Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling C. Holling

As recommended by Mater Amabilis, we read this book in fourth grade. I planned for the girls to listen in, but they were usually otherwise occupied (babies and preted play and other important things for seven and five year olds), so I read it aloud to First Son alone and enjoyed every moment.

If you don't already know, Paddle-to-the-Sea explores the geography of the Great Lakes through the journey of Paddle, a carved Indian in a canoe, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. The text and illustrations are enthralling on their own and also offer plenty of invitations to learn more about environments and industries along the route.

We roughly followed the lesson plans in Rea C. Berg's Literature Approach to Geography , which I found useful, but certainly not necessary. Mainly we focused on narration, a few notebooking pages and map work. The notebooking subjects, like one of how locks work, are easily found within the text.

I loved the map set. I put the big one up on the wall and colored it while First Son colored one I printed out from online. (I did not find a great map for him to color. If anyone has suggestions, please let me know.) We used our artist quality colored pencils and the end product is a map I'd be happy to leave on my wall for months to come except that I'll need to replace it with the next one in the schedule. (We spent the first eighteen weeks on Paddle and will be transitioning to Seabird.)

Every few weeks, we would look at the Google Earth file created for Paddle-to-the-Sea, which you can download for free here. This file allowed us to explore the areas even more. First Son loved watching the lines appear and peeking at a number of the pictures. For our Kansas family, the pictures of the locks were most interesting. We also augmented a little with YouTube videos. The kids all liked watching some of the travel videos on Niagara Falls.

When we finished reading, we watched Paddle to the Sea (The Criterion Collection), a short movie based on the book. It in no way replaces the geographical value of the book, but the children enjoyed watching Paddle run the rapids and go over Niagara Falls.

Note: Links to Amazon above are affiliate links. Links to Sacred Heart Books and Gifts are not affiliate links. I received my copy of Paddle-to-the-Sea from a kind member of PaperBackSwap.com. The other materials I purchased from a variety of retailers.