CITIES: Discover How They Work with 25 Projects (Build It Yourself) - Softcover

Reilly, Kathleen M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1619302179 ISBN 13: 9781619302174

Publisher: Nomad Press, 2014

Synopsis

To a child, a city is a chaotic, vibrant community whose workings can seem quite mysterious. How did people create subways? How does the water get to the very top of a skyscraper? Is there any organization to a bustling metropolis? Cities: Discover How They Work gives kids a view into the inner functioning of urban areas. They’ll learn about all the parts that come together to make cities work and how they’ve grown and changed since the very first riverside settlements.

Fascinating sidebars, unique illustrations, Words to Know, and fun Did You Know facts combine with age-appropriate hands-on activities to make learning about complex urban environments fun and reinforce learning. Projects include creating subway cut-aways to understand how transportation systems work, building an aqueduct to learn how cities get water, and experimenting with skyscraper design and water filtration. This STEAM title, which integrates science, technology, engineering, art, and math includes a glossary, list of resources, and index.

Cities meets common core state standards in language arts for reading informational text and literary nonfiction and is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. Guided Reading Levels and Lexile measurements indicate grade level and text complexity.

About this title

Review:

Cities: Discover How They Work
Children's Literature
". . . Reilly’s book delivers on its promise to make learning about complex urban environments fun. . . a good addition to an upper elementary or middle school curriculum on the history of urban development, urban sociology, current issues in city planning or management and city planning for the future."

Winner of a 2014 Silver Moonbeam Award

School Library Journal
According to the 2010 Census. 80% of Americans line in urban areas. But do they know what it takes to make a city run? From this well-organized and engaging text, readers will learn how cities developed and grew. . . this is a worthy title for any library collection.”

Booklist
Propounding the emerging interdisciplinary paradigm of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and design, and mathematics), this hands-on informational book discusses how cities’ complex structures and systems function together in an interdependent way. Through appealing illustrations, reader-friendly text, and fun hands-on experiments suitable for home and classroom . . .”

Ithaca Child
". . . If you're looking for something different to do this summer, use the activities in this book to explore any city you visit."

Bookloons
". . . Both teachers and homeschooling parents will find this a very useful book which integrates science, technology, engineering, art, and math in a very practical and interesting manner in the study of cities."

Susan Anderson, director, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, Portland, Oregon
This book does a wonderful job helping children understand how cities work, why they were created in the first place, and how cities might evolve in the future.”

Alessandra Gorini, Co-Founder, Executive Director, Y4PT?(Youth for Public Transport), International Association of Public Transport, Brussels, Belgium
Presents a vision of spaces to young people that cities are the expression of humanity, not just an agglomeration of concrete.”

Praise for other titles by Kate Reilly

Explore Weather and Climate!
National Science Teachers Association
"This book provides children and teachers with 25 activities related to weather and climate. If your curriculum includes these topics, this book may be ideal. . . The user friendly format combined with the low reading vocabulary makes the book easy for students to navigate."

Food: 25 Amazing Projects Investigate the History and Science of What We Eat
Children's Literature
"One of 20 books in the 'Build It Yourself' series, this edition discusses the history and culture of food in an interesting format. With obesity in young people on the rise, they need all the information possible to make wise food choices. This book is perfect to get them thinking about the subject. "

Planet Earth: 25 Environmental Projects You Can Build Yourself
Booklist
"Both comprehensive and approachable, this title combines explanations of science concepts and environmental issues with hands-on projects."

2008 Moonbeam Children's Book Award

Parent's Choice Foundation Recommended>

2009 Moonbeam Children's Book Award For Energy: Investigate Why We Need Power and How We Get It

About the Author:

Kathleen Reilly has written several books for Nomad Press, including Planet Earth: 25 Environmental Projects You Can Build Yourself; The Human Body: 25 Fantastic Projects Illuminate How the Body Works; Explore Weather and Climate! with 25 Projects; and Natural Disasters: Investigate Earth’s Most Destructive Forces with 25 Projects. She is an award-winning author of several other science books for kids and is a contributor to dozens of publications, including Better Homes & Gardens, Family Circle, Family Fun, National Geographic Kids, and Parents. Kate lives in Raleigh, NC.

Tom Casteel is an illustrator and cartoonist with a master's degree from the Center for Cartoon Studies. Tom has illustrated several books for Nomad Press, including Natural Disasters: Investigate Earth’s Most Destructive Forces with 25 Projects. He is working on his first graphic novel. Tom lives in South Bend, IN.

About this edition

• Publisher: Nomad Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1619302179
• ISBN 13: 9781619302174
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128
• Illustrator: Casteel Tom