young people to think about the long- term impacts of their actions and the benefits of sustainability. To deepen understanding and application, each lesson also includes follow-up discus- sion questions, and suggestions for class activities and service projects. This interdisciplinary resource could be used in formal or informal settings. In particular, Language Arts teachers might use this resource as prompts for writing assignments. – (TG/TT)


Search Institute Press, 2008, ISBN 1-57482- 877-0 (pb), 102 pp., US$19.95/C$21.95 from Independent Publishers Group, (800) 888- 4741, .


The Charcoal


Forest When most of us hear about forest fires, we cringe as we think about the devastation,


but Beth Peluso shows us that nature is alive and well after a Rocky Mountain forest fire. In her picture book The Charcoal Forest: How Fire Helps Animals and Plants, she introduces us to twenty species that thrive in burnt areas. Amidst full page illustrations of each species, young readers are encouraged to spot a hidden black- backed woodpecker, which also needs forest fires to thrive. An engaging and informative text, The Charcoal Forest is appropriate for independent reading in grades 4-6, but would be enjoyed by those younger and older too. – (KF)


Mountain Press, 2007, ISBN 978- 087842532-7, 56 pp., US$12 from Moun- tain Press Publishing Company, .


Hands-On Ecology Drawing on children’s natural fasci- nation and curiosity about the world around them, Colleen Kessler’s Hands-On Ecol- ogy: Real-Life Activities for Kids invites learners in grades 3-5 to be active observ- ers, recorders and processors


of information about the natural world around them. Thirty-eight well-orga- nized activities address conservation topics such as human impacts on the environment and creating a wildlife


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garden, and natural science topics such as soils, carbon cycling and water quality. Each chapter provides background information which will be particularly helpful to newer teach- ers and youth leaders. Most activities include reproducible student pages, and some of which are data collection sheets which will familiarize students with the scientific practice of data col- lection and analysis. – (TT)


Prufrock Press, 2007, ISBN 978-1-59363- 201-4 (pb), 157 pp., US$19.95/C$25.95 from Prufrock Press, (800) 998-2208, .


High Performance School Buildings: Resource and


Strategy Guide Reflecting the green building move- ment’s tremendous momentum over the last five years, this downloadable guide is an excellent resource for navigating the process of planning and constructing an environmentally- friendly facility. The guide provides an introduction — not an in-depth


treatment — of many important topics such as daylighting, environmentally- preferable building materials and supe- rior indoor air quality. Case studies of the construction of four green schools are included. While focused on school buildings, the advice is general enough to be applicable for any commercial building—nature centers, non-profit organizations and even corporations will find the simple checklists and definitions in this guidebook quite useful. – (JK)


Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, 2008, ISBN 0-9762073-9-7, 112 pp. PDF, US$55 from Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, .


Growing Trees From Seed According to the late Henry Kock, “to think like a seed, we must first listen to the seed’s story as written by the land and water where the seed formed, and the wind, water and animals that distribute it”. We learn this and much more in this comprehensive book from the renowned horticulturalist, natural- ist and conservationist. Kock explains how to collect, clean, store and ger- minate seeds, and also how to set-up a small nursery, divide your plantings,


GREEN TEACHER 89


choose a proper planting site, and transplant outdoors. He provides an extensive guide of woody plants in which descriptions of each plant provide the


information needed to identify a species and understand its ecology. Accompanying each of these descrip- tions are beautiful botanical pencil drawings. Horticulturalists will treasure Kock’s seed treatments, and the seed dispersal calendar in the appendix. Educators will use this book to establish restoration projects with young people. Although focused on the Great Lakes bioregion, much of the information is appropriate for other regions as well. More than a “how to” book, we also learn the many reasons “why” to restore the landscape. – (JH)


Firefly Books, 2008, ISBN 978-1-55407-363- 4, 280 pp., C/US$45 from Firefly Books, (800) 387-5085, .


Mediacology Antonio Lopez coins the word “Me- diacology” among many other inven- tive terms in this book to describe and advocate for a necessary shift in the way educators help their students understand and respond to new and traditional media in the 21st century. Lopez’s principal recommendation is to not only deconstruct media in the classroom, but to also allow students the opportunity to reconstruct and recreate their own media contributions, empowering


them to actively engage in media rather than demonizing it as a corporate invention. Like healthy ecosystems, Lopez asserts that healthy media should have many small and inter- dependent parts that are in proper balance with one another. Through an exhaustively copious literature review and imaginative allegories, Lopez explores media comprehension through traditional Native American cultural beliefs, comparisons of right


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