Green Books for Your Classroom: The Water Factory, The Curious Garden, Winnie Finn Worm Farmer

The Water Factory by John Sheaffer

Clean water is everybody’s concern. This book will help you and your students to really understand the great need for water conservation. It teaches students that water is a non-renewable resource. We recommend it for 4th grade and up. The author, Dr. Jack Sheaffer, is a DuPage County resident. He was instrumental in the 1972 amendments that made the Clean Water Act as we know it.  SCARCE has classroom sets available for teachers. You can also download the book for free.

To supplement the book’s lesson, give us a call to learn about our hands-on watershed model programs or get certified to borrow one from us to use in your classroom.

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown

More and more schools are starting gardens. This book features lovely artwork depicting the transformation of a city from grey concrete and steel to green and lush with plants thanks to the help of a young boy. Nature’s resilience is displayed in this story. It also subtly touches on the topic of biophilia, the fact that humans are connected to nature and inherently feel better when around it, be it a forest or a plant in a pot. You’ll be inspired to nourish a spot in the ground. Time to start planning for spring!

Thinking about planting native plants at school? It’s one of the steps for earning a Water Quality Flag from DuPage County. Contact us to learn how your school could be recognized.

Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer by Carol Brendler

If your classroom has composting worms, this is a delightful book! The tale is about a young girl determined to prove her  red wiggler worms are prize-worthy.

Don’t have worms in the classroom? SCARCE can do a worm composting program or help you get started on a bin.