Earth-Friendly Buildings, Bridges, and More by Etta Kaner

AGES: 8 to 12 AUTHOR: Etta Kaner is a retired elementary school teacher and writer for both children and educators. Includes a glossary, resources, author’s sources and an index. This book will fascinate budding architects and makers who love building and learning how things work. Detailed and eye-catching illustrations by award-winning artist Carl Wiens help make the concepts clear and easy to understand. The book could also be used for studying earth science and the environment, as it promotes sustainability and eco-friendly structures. The emphasis on problem-solving and critical thinking make it an excellent choice for science and technology lessons on structures, mechanisms and engineering.

Award-winning author Etta Kaner combines science and art in this unique look at nature’s influence on architecture and design. Fun activities throughout add an interactive element, with step-by-step instructions for science experiments and a design-your-own-structure activity. The incredible structures in this book prove that nature and architecture are perfect partners! Sidebar biographies tell us more about these famous architects who have used nature to spectacular effect in their designs. Other examples show how nature provides artistic inspiration, like the famous buildings designed by Frank Gehry that evoke the beauty of moving fish. In some instances, architects looked to nature to solve structural problems, like creating an earthquake-proof bridge by mimicking the long roots of a type of grass known for stabilising riverbanks. From cactuses to birds’ wings, termite towers to honeycombs, this book celebrates more than thirty examples of nature’s influence on building and bridge designs all over the world. If you are super keen to see a preview of the book before it's released, head over to the Kids Can Press website and click the 'Google Preview' button under the book cover.The surprising ways nature has influenced architecture. Overall, this is a great cross-curricular resource to have as a teacher resource to help inform your planning but also as a student resource. My kids particularly liked doing the experiment of A Sweet Deal(page 25) to measure the perimeters with string and lining them up shortest to biggest (my kids are on the younger side so I modified it to suit) and also making tessellating patterns with the three provided (we used some fantastic wooden pattern blocks for this from the Toy Playhouse). The instructions are provided with written text and accompanying illustrations making them easy to follow and replicate.

The little experiments are great for children to practise a concept to see exactly the why and the how behind the thinking - because let's face it, we can read all we like, but it sticks in our brains much more if we do as well.

Earth-Friendly Buildings, Bridges, and More by Etta Kaner