Plastic, Ahoy!: Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch Library Binding – January 1, 2014

Gyres, salps, and diatoms! These are just three of the fascinating things you will learn about from this book.Scientists Miriam, Chelsea and Darcy are trying to figure out how plastic affects the ocean, so they take a trip on the New Horizon. They do all kinds of interesting experiments to measure the impact of plastic trash in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.This book has a lighthearted tone, but it will make will make you feel contemplative and maybe even sad to see so many amazing creatures and places being affected by garbage. It will make you question how much plastic you have put into the ocean. The book is full of big, colorful photos that are striking, fascinating and foreboding.We recommend this book for ages 8 to 15, but it would be informative for any age. Anyone interested in marine biology, chemistry, geology or ecology would like this book.

If you care about the environment, if you want to learn more about what we are doing to destroy it, and if you want to know how to stop destructive practices now, this beautifully written and illustrated book is a must-read. Recommended for all ages.

The photos are very compelling and the story of this real life journey into the Pacific, and subsequent look at our pollution problems, is a must for school children (grades 3 to 7).

Great book for children to teach them about trash issues!

Written for Grades 4-8, Plastic Ahoy! chronicles a team of young scientists who sailed across the Pacific Ocean toward a massive accumulation of trash know as The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Using the scientific method, the team conducted many experiments they hoped would answer some tough questions. How much trash was in the Garbage Patch, and how was it affecting marine life?Most of the trash they found was plastic: some as large as water bottles and others as small as pebbles. These pebbles, called Nurdles, were too numerous to count. (Nurdles come from larger plastics broken down over the years.) As their experiments answered some questions, new questions arose for the team.Plastic Ahoy is a well written book that takes readers on a fascinating scientific adventure. It has accumulated a long list of awards, including Green Earth Book Award; Junior Library Guild Selection; AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books, finalist; Banks Street College Best Children's Book of the Year; Nerdy Book Club Award winner for middle-grade nonfiction; and Authors for Earth Day Eco-Book of the Month. It has been recommended by NSTA.

PLASTIC AHOY! INVESTIGATING THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH by Patricia Newman tells the story of scientists investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The narrative unfolds as a mystery being solved by a team of scientists lead by three female researchers.Written for grades 4-8, this highly illustrated work of nonfiction contains photographs, diagrams, and a map to help readers understand the science behind the exciting research project. Up-close photos show scientific experiments in action. "Trash Talk" sidebars provide important insights into the the scientific method being employed and the problem of plastic pollution. The book concludes with ideas for how youth can take action in their own community. Notes and ideas for further reading round out this excellent educational resource.Similar in style to the SCIENTISTS IN THE FIELD series popular with older children, this book is a great way to introduce younger readers to the world of science and scientists. It will be a popular addition to the school library collection.Go the Five Gyres Institute at http://5gyres.org/ and the NOAA Marine Debris website http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/ for lots of background information.For more visual information about the garbage patch, do a Google Images Search to locate dozens of visual containing maps and infographics such as the one at Visual.ly at http://visual.ly/great-pacific-garbage-patch-0. Ask students to pick the visual that they think best represents the problem and explain why.To learn more about the book's author, go to http://www.patriciamnewman.com/. Her blog contains lots of book extension ideas. Go to http://www.patricianewmanbooks.blogspot.com/.

Vital, vital topic ! But worth $30 ? No way. Thin book. Will be finished in a week by a 7 year old. Choose another book.

It was fun to get a bird's-eye view of an ocean expedition to investigate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. When I was a kid growing up in Florida, I wanted to be a marine biologist--at least for awhile. This book let me ride along and see how a group of scientists explore the North Pacific Central Gyre, where ocean currents deliver and trap tons of plastic litter. How does the plastic affect marine life? How does it affect life on Earth? Those are the questions researchers had in mind on this three-week voyage.We see how they catch the plastic and sea life, what obstacles they face, what kinds of experiments they do back home, etc. And we learn that there are no fast or easy answers to big questions like these. Instead, as with much science today, it is the accretion of data, of ideas, of experiments, of measurements and counts, that will hopefully lead to big-picture solutions in the future.A great resource for looking at the scientific method, especially, and one that will make kids (and grown-ups) think twice about all the plastic trash they're creating. Put this on your shelf next to Loree Griffin Burns' TRACKING TRASH and get kids interested in science, environmentalism, and discovery.