Thematic Reading List : Protecting Our Waters

Everyone has an important role in protecting our oceans, lakes, and ponds. With ideas on how to help share in the responsibility, these books are sure to be an incredible asset to any STEM-related water lesson.

	Awesome Ocean Science!: investigating the secrets of the underwater world By: Cindy Littlefield Explores the wonders of the ocean, its floor, and the plants and animals that dwell in it. It discusses how to protect these resources and provides hands-on activities for further investigation.
	Conserving and Protecting Water: what you can do By: Stephen Feinstein Targeted at upper elementary and middle school students, readers learn about global water scarcity and pollution, federal regulations and standards for water quality in the United States, and what you can do to help.
	Going Blue: a teen guide for saving our oceans, lakes, rivers, & wetlands By: Cathryn Berger Kaye and Philipe Cousteau Going Blue educates teens about Earth’s water crisis and gives them tools and inspiration to transform their ideas into action as they plan and do a meaningful service project that benefits our planet’s water system. The book is divided into the five stages of service learning: Investigate, Prepare, Act, Reflect, and Demonstrate. With the aid of lively color photos and illustrations, along with practical suggestions and activities, readers follow stories of young people around the world addressing water concerns and learn about issues such as clean water access, coral reef damage, runoff pollution, trash islands, factory fishing, and bottled water.
	Make a Splash: a kid’s guide to protecting our oceans, lakes, rivers, & wetlands By: Cathryn Berger Kaye and Philipe Cousteau Phillipe Cousteau, the grandson of the famous French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, teams up with educational consultant and former teacher Cathryn Berger Kaye on a lively, colorful guide to encourage young people everywhere to connect with bodies of water, whether temporary ponds or vast oceans. After an introduction by Cousteau in which he describes childhood experiences with aquatic systems and his grandfather, the book dives right into facts about our planet’s water.
	The New Ocean: the fate of life in a changing sea By: Bryn Barnard The author looks at six sea creatures to see how they would live and survive in a hotter, more acidic, more polluted, and emptier ocean. Addresses climate change, acidification, plastics pollution, and climate change denial.
	Oceans By: Heather Hudak Part of the Biomes series, this title uses short chapters to address topics such as world oceans, ocean climate, and ocean animals, plankton and waves. Includes careers in ocean studies, indicating both a wide variety of possible careers, and what a child should study to move toward those careers. Also includes an Eco Challenge, where the reader is asked to take a ten-question quiz about information in the book and do a hands-on science experiment dealing with waves. Teachers will appreciate the list of books for further reading and websites.
	Oceans: how we use the seas By: Dana Desonie An introduction to how life in our oceans works, and how we are threatening it with pollution and depletion of fisheries. Great for grades 6 through 12.
	Water Land: land and water forms around the world  By: Christy Hale Based on Montessori teachings, die-cut pages identify and contrast types of water bodies and their corresponding land masses to help young readers understand how connected the earth and the water really are.
	Wild Ocean: sharks, whales, rays, and other endangered sea creatures By: Matt Dembicki The world’s oceans represent the last wild frontier on Earth. While our understanding of life in the ocean is relatively basic, our actions are putting hundreds of species in danger. In this graphic anthology, Matt Dembicki explores the adventures of twelve iconic endangered sea animals: hawksbill turtle, Bluefin tuna, hammerhead shark, giant clam, manatee, blue whale, coral, albatross, whale shark, monk seal, manta ray, and seahorse. Produced in cooperation with the non-profit PangeaSeed, these gripping stories instill a passion to conserve our magnificent sea creatures.