Canals and Dams! : With 25 Science Projects for Kids

Did you know that hydropower supplies 16 percent of all electricity worldwide? And there are more than 57,000 big dams around the world!

Canals and Dams! With 25 Science Projects for Kids invites kids ages 7 though 10 to investigate the waterways that help the world run! Through fun facts and engaging content, readers explore record-breaking structures such as the Panama Canal and Hoover Dam. They also learn about the physics that make canals and dams work! Elementary-aged kids discover how hundreds of years of innovation created the canals and dams we know today and how this technology affects people and the environment. Discover how one dam can both supply electricity to entire cities, and flood entire towns, and how one canal can cut trade routes in half!

Through 25 hands-on projects that use materials found around the house or classroom, kids will explore the mechanisms that make canals and dams work. Engaging STEM projects and experiments, such as engineering a beaver dam and experimenting with water, help kids break down the small processes behind big structures! By combining science with fun facts, jokes, activities, and experiments, kids will have an exciting adventure exploring the world’s canals and dams, while links to primary sources offer ample opportunity for further student-led exploration.

Canals and Dams! With 25 Science Projects for Kids is part of a set of four Explore Engineering books. In the Explore Engineering set, readers ages 7 to 10 learn the physics behind the things they build: Why does a tower of blocks eventually fall? Why does a tunnel sometimes cave in? Through a series of focused, science-minded activities that require critical thinking paired with creative trial-and-error attempts at building, readers develop foundational understanding of the physics that guides the building and maintenance of bridges, canals, tunnels, and skyscrapers.

Titles in the Explore Engineering set include Bridges! With 25 Science Projects for Kids;Canals and Dams! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; Tunnels! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; and Skyscrapers! With 25 Science Projects for Kids.!

Nomad Press books in the Explore Your World series for children ages 7–10 integrate content with participation. Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, and STEM Education all place project-based learning as key building blocks in education. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad’s unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.

Anita Yasuda is the author of more than 100 books for children. In 2013, she won the Honor Book award, Science for grades K-12, Society of School Librarians International for Explore Flight! With 25 Great Projects and in 2012, she won the gold Moonbeam award for her book Explore The Wild West! 25 Great Activities. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI). She lives with her family in Huntington Beach, California.

Mike Crosier holds an MFA from the Center for Cartoon Studies. He is the illustrator of several books from Nomad Press, including Explore Greek Myths! With 25 Great Projects and Video Games: Design and Code Your Own Adventure. He lives in White River Junction, Vermont.