Michael J. Caduto - Catch the Wind, Harness the Sun: 22 Super-Charged Projects for Kids

22 SUPER-CHARGED SCIENCE PROJECTS FOR KIDS

Michael J. Caduto

This dream is so far away,
And you feel like you will never be able to reach it.
Trust me, i have had these feelings,
and i am only eleven.
It is in your grasp, it is not as far away as you think.
If you think positive and work hard
your dream will come true.

Samantha Muscarella
Action For Nature Eco-Hero, 2009

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by
publishing practical information that encourages
personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Rebekah Boyd-Owens, Sarah Guare, and Deborah Burns
Art direction by Jessica-Lynn Armstrong
Book design and text production by Vivien Sung, Studio Seed Pty Ltd.

Photography credits appear on
Illustrations by Clayton Hanmer, except for pages 67, 105, 111, 144, and 205 by Jessica-Lynn Armstrong

Indexed by Christine R. Lindemer, Boston Road Communications
Reviewed by Cynthia Grippaldi, Center for Ecological Technology (CET); Susan Reyes, Northeast Sustainable Energy
Association (NESEA); Benjamin P. Luce, PhD., Lyndon State College; Marie Levesque Caduto, Vermont Agency of Natural
Resources; David Bonta, USA Solar Store

2011 by Michael J. Caduto

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Caduto, Michael J.
Catch the wind, harness the sun / by Michael J. Caduto.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-60342-971-9 (hardcover: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-60342-794-4 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Renewable energy sources--Juvenile literature.
2. Energy conservation--Juvenile literature. I. Title.
TJ808.2.C33 2011
333.79'4dc22
2010051169

At Storey Publishing, were committed to producing books in an earth-friendly manner and to helping our customers make greener choices.

These books are manufactured in the United States and are in compliance with strict environmental laws. And printing them on recycled paper helps minimize our consumption of trees, water, and fossil fuels. The text of Catch the Wind, Harness the Sun was printed on paper made with 10% post-consumer waste, and the cover was printed on paper made with 10% post-consumer waste. According to Environmental Defenses Paper Calculator, by using this paper instead of conventional papers, we achieved the following environmental benefits:

* Trees saved: 53

* Air emissions eliminated: 5,067 pounds

* Water saved: 24,402 gallons

* Solid waste eliminated: 1,482 pounds

PART 1
HEATING UP

PART 2
CHILLING OUT

PART 3
HARNESS THE SUN

PART 4
CATCH THE WIND

PART 5
CRANK UP THE POWER

BY JOHN HANSON MITCHELL

If the predictions for the various disruptions associated with global climate change are accurate, sometime within the next 50 years the world as we now know it will be decidedly different. Sea levels will rise, coastal cities will flood, there will be major shifts in human population centers, plant communities will shift, and an as yet unpredictable number of species will become extinct.

The people who will be most affected by these massive alterations are now in grade school or pre-school or have yet to be born. What that means is that this sector of the population will need to have a better understanding of the physics and biology of the forces that are causing these climatic changes and a means of better dealing with the new world they will be living in. Essentially, that is what Catch the Wind, Harness the Sun sets out to do. Herein you will find simple, clear, and entertaining accounts of the physics of the atmosphere, gas exchanges, wind currents, solar energy, fire, and water, as well as step-by-step directions for various experiments kids can undertake to demonstrate the actual workings of these various processes and use them to generate renewable energy.

I wish I had had a book like this when I was growing up. Science especially physics was profoundly boring in my time, all filled with discussions of kinetic and potential energy and electrical currents. Michael Cadutos book covers some of the same material. The difference is that it is fun to read, and more importantly, the information is essential to understanding what some scientists have termed the most profound environmental problem of our time.

John Hanson Mitchell

Editor of Sanctuary, the Journal of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and author of many books including The Paradise of All These Parts: A Natural History of Boston (Beacon Press) and Ceremonial Time: Fifteen Thousand Years on One Square Mile (Perseus Books)

BY DAVID BONTA

When I was just a whippersnapper, a dear old man who would come to be my guru told me something that I never forgot. He said, There are two kinds of people in the world those who make the world a little better and those who make the world a little worse. Whose side are you on?

I, of course, replied that I would like to be on the side of those who made the world better for my having been there. He said simply, Prove it.