Natural Disasters through Infographics

Super Science Infographics

by Nadia Higgins

The facts about natural disasters are so big and devastating they could make your head explode! You hear about huge costs (like the $360,000,000,000 in damage caused by the 2011 tsunami in Japan), huge speeds (the fastest-moving tsunami waves have been recorded at 500 miles per hour), and even huger mysteries (where, exactly, the danger zones are for natural disasters).

How can all these big numbers and concepts make more sense? Infographics! The charts, maps, and illustrations in this book tell a visual story to help you better understand key concepts about natural disasters. Crack open this book to explore mind-boggling questions such
• How can scientists accurately predict natural disasters?
• What were some of Earth’s biggest, freakiest, and deadliest disasters?
• How can you protect yourself in the event of a volcano, an earthquake, or a tsunami?

The answers are sure to shake you up!

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Nadia Higgins is the author of 50-plus books for children. She also worked as an editor in the industry for almost ten years. Many of her books have a science bent, though she’s also written about pop stars, car art, and zombies.

Nadia's favorite part of being a writer is doing research. "I'm always looking for that vivid detail or off-the-wall fact," she says. Her books often use humor or fiction techniques to bring a nonfiction topic to life.

Besides writing, Nadia enjoys dancing, making soup, and doing puzzles. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two young daughters.

Reviews

[Elizabeth Stavrakakis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Natural Disasters Through Infographics by Nadia Higgins is an engaging piece of informational text that discusses a wide range of topics relating to natural disasters. The entire book is written through different types of infographics, which were made by Alex Sciuto. The text discusses three different types of natural disasters: volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. It explains how and why natural disasters occur and provides information about some natural disasters that took place in the past. The book also gives readers information about scientists who specialize in natural disasters, how engineering has helped people during disasters, and about how to stay safe if they experience one of these natural disasters.

I thought that this text was very interesting and I would want to share it with my future elementary students. One reason why I liked this informational text was because students would not necessarily have to read the whole thing to understand it. Using the table of contents, students could go to a specific page that interested them and not have missed any information earlier in the text that was necessary for them to comprehend the page they are on. I think this would be very useful if students were using this book for a research project and only needed a specific bit of information. Another reason why I liked this text were the infographics themselves. They were very colorful and vibrant, while also adding more information to the print text included. Because of these graphics, I feel that this text would be engaging for students to read. Finding informational text that is engaging for students is something that is important to me as it was not my personal favorite genre when I was younger.

This text would be appropriate for students in grades 3-5, although third-graders may need extra support due to the complex text structure. One way I would want to use this book in my classroom would be to use it to teach about text structures. Readers can find all five of the text structures on different pages of this book. Specifically, I would explicitly teach students about one text structure. Then, I would model reading a page in the book that has that text structure. Next, I would have them read another page in the book with a partner that has the same text structure to get some independent practice. I could do this for all five text structures before I assess my students and know they have a good understanding of each one. An additional way I would want to use this book in my classroom would be to teach about using text features, including a glossary and table of contents. In this example, I would have previously taught my students about these text features. Then, I would have this book at one of their reading stations with a set of questions they would answer based on information they gained from using the text features. This would allow me to assess how they were meeting ELA standards that focus on text features.

[Stef · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only three natural disasters are covered (volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis), and the illustrations (not so much infographics) are not terribly interesting.

[Dray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great, even fantastic idea but very poor implementation. I found the book uncreative. But great idea!!

[Mary Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Infographics convey complex information using visual representations and small chunks of text. This title, part of a new series using infographics to explore high-interest science topics, focuses on the causes and consequences of volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. Beginning with a brief explanation of plate tectonics, Higgins shows how the movement of the Earth’s crust triggers each of these natural disasters. Higgins breaks the text into brief chunks, effectively using section headings to direct the reader’s attention. The bright, bold graphics help readers understand the geological concepts discussed. For example, the four types of volcanoes are clearly illustrated to show the different ways magma and lava flow to the Earth’s surface. The concepts build as the book progresses, providing a fuller picture than just a collection of infographics. Higgins draws readers in speaking directly to them: “You could have a front-row seat for some of Earth’s most exciting and terrifying events. As much as they scare us, natural disasters also mesmerize us.” (p. 5) While the text is too wordy in places, trying to convey more concepts than simple infographics can handle, the high interest topic and bright graphics will entice readers.

[Mary Ann]

Infographics convey complex information using visual representations and small chunks of text. This title, part of a new series using infographics to explore high-interest science topics, focuses on the causes and consequences of volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. Beginning with a brief explanation of plate tectonics, Higgins shows how the movement of the Earth’s crust triggers each of these natural disasters. Higgins breaks the text into brief chunks, effectively using section headings to direct the reader’s attention. The bright, bold graphics help readers understand the geological concepts discussed. For example, the four types of volcanoes are clearly illustrated to show the different ways magma and lava flow to the Earth’s surface. The concepts build as the book progresses, providing a fuller picture than just a collection of infographics. Higgins draws readers in speaking directly to them: “You could have a front-row seat for some of Earth’s most exciting and terrifying events. As much as they scare us, natural disasters also mesmerize us.” (p. 5) While the text is too wordy in places, trying to convey more concepts than simple infographics can handle, the high interest topic and bright graphics will entice readers.