Can Lightning Strike the Same Place Twice?: And Other Questions about Earth, Weather, and the Environment

Is That a Fact?

by Joanne Mattern

If the groundhog sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. Moss grows only on the north side of a tree. No two snowflakes are alike. You may have heard these common sayings or beliefs before. But are they really true? Can they be proven using science? Let's investigate 17 statements about Earth, weather, and the environment and find out which ones are right, which ones are wrong, and which ones still stump scientists! Find out whether all deserts are hot! Discover whether it's true that a ring around the Moon means rain or snow is on the way! See if you can tell the difference between fact and fiction with Is That a Fact?

Genres: Nonfiction

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Mattern is the author of many books for children. Her favorite topics include animals, biography, and history. She lives in the Hudson Valley of New York State.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book by Joanne Mattern, questions are answered about Earth, weather, and the environment. Clever kids with a need to know cool facts and trivia will love this book. This book boasts real photographs and a variety of fonts and print to provide an exciting format for kids.

"Did you know? Thundertorms are most likely to occur in the spring and summer, but they can also happen during snowstorms!"

"Is it true that you can tell what the temperature is by counting a cricket's chirps?"

LOVE IT!

There is also a bibliography, a glossary, and suggesions for further reading. I think this would interest a pretty wide range of students, second through eighth grade.

[Erin Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good images and many facts, this book did pretty good at answering questions about common phrases related to weather. I did find myself answering most of the questions myself when I read them before reading any of the information but I it is an enjoyable read and feel kids could get a lot of good knowledge from this book.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our girls have enjoyed bringing home many different nonfiction books from their elementary school library. The titles are interesting and the narratives, illustrations and photographs, and overall layout of the books makes them just beg to be read. The fact that many of the books have information presented on just one or two pages per topic limits the amount of detail, so the books are not boring, and children (and the adults reading with them) are bound to learn.

We've enjoyed reading the books in the You Wouldn't Want To... series as well as the Top 10 Worst... series and now our oldest has brought home this one. It appears that there are several titles in the Is That a Fact? series and I will certainly encourage our girls to bring home more.

This book has a lot of entertaining and interesting information about the Earth, weather and other environmental phenomena. The book offers a glimpse into each topic and while the information about each subject is not likely enough to base a report on, it's certainly interesting and educational. We really enjoyed reading this book together and our girls insisted that I finish the whole book all at one time.

[Kyle]

This cross over area could easily be used in science as an investigatable question, how does or what causes lightning to strike twice in one place. It can also be for history, how often does lightning strike in one place or how often are forest fires good, or how many have their been?
Remembering- where is lightning likely to strike more than one time in the same place?
Understanding- What was the main idea or purpose of this book?
Applying- Take a scenario from the book and explain what you would do if it happened to you, what steps would you take to avoid a dangerous situation or to get out of one.
Analyzing- compare opening a window in a tornado to going out in the eye of a hurricane, what could happen if you did each? What would you do for each?
Evaluating- Pick two questions answered from the story, what was your opinion of the question before the story? After? Explain why.
Creating- If you could add a question or two to the story what would your's be? What do you think the answer would be?