Disasters can strike at any time, and engineers have often led the effort to prepare for these events. This compelling series explores what engineers have learned from past disasters and what they are doing to keep people safe in the future.

Select a title below to find educator resources, including lesson plans, curriculum correlations, resource links, and book-related downloadables.

Booklist

Engineering for Disaster

The volumes in the Engineering for Disaster series look at various types of disaster and identify engineering solutions that reduce damage and keep people safe. Straightforward language describes how catastrophic events occur, analyzing weak points and critical failures, and explaining how engineering interventions work. The books feature short, three- or four-page chapters filled with charts, diagrams, numerous fullpage photos, and colorful info boxes. Avalanches and Landslides visits mudslide-prone Oso, Washington, among other vulnerable locations, and explains how Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) technology helps engineers better understand the land. Earthquakes begins with San Francisco’s infamous 1906 quake and introduces the Richter scale and shock-absorbing building design. Katrina’s strong winds blow through Hurricanes, which focuses on how engineers build stormproof communities. Space Disasters divides its content into challenges of takeoff, flight, and landing by examining the Challenger and Columbia explosions, as well as creative engineering aboard the International Space Station. The writing styles change from book to book, resulting in narratives that run from storylike to encyclopedic, but most of the information should be accessible to young audiences. Text-related activities and questions conclude
each book, with additional information and lesson plans available on the publisher’s website. Though lacking thrills and chills, this series offers solid definitions and explanations that will nicely complement elementary STEM collections. — Kathleen McBroom