North Middlesex Regional High School
Introduction to Environmental Studies 2007-08 - Mr. Virzi
Independent Reading Assignment
Due Date: April 29, 2008


Read one book from the following list (you may also pick out your own books to read, as long as you obtain my approval). For your book, (1) write a short summary for each chapter, and pass in these chapter notes to me in class, and (2) write a 300 - word (minimum) book review and post it on either epinions.com or Barnes and Noble.com. You may either post it using your real name, or a pseudonym. Email me a copy of your book review, at fvirzi@rcn.com. Only book reviews posted online will be graded. If you need help posting your review or e-mailing it, please see me for help.

This assignment will count as 200 quiz points. Your chapter notes will be worth 100 points, and your book review will also be worth 100 points. To see how your review will be evaluated, CLICK HERE.

To see examples of book reviews written by other students, follow the links below:
Honors Chemistry 2004-05
Honors Earth Science 2005-06
AP Biology 2005-06

During the weeks of April 14-18, all class time will be devoted to silent reading. You will have no other homework. If you come to class one any day without your book, you will lose TEN POINTS on this assignment for each day that you forget your book.

EARTH SCIENCE READING BOOKS IN NMRHS LIBRARY

The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies, by Richard Heinberg; NMRHS Library # 333.823 - HEI



Worlds Unnumbered: The Search for Extrasolar Planets, by Donald Goldsmith, Jon Lomberg ; NMRHS Library # 523 - GOL



Comet, by CARL SAGAN ; NMRHS Library # 523.6 - SAG



Edison : Inventing the Century, by Neil Baldwin ; NMRHS Library # B - EDI



Rocket Boys (aka October Sky), by Homer Hickam ; NMRHS Library # B - HIC



Krakatoa : The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883, by Simon Winchester; NMRHS Library # 551.21 - WIN



Oxygen: The Molecule That Made the World, by Nick Lane; NMRHS Library # 546.721 - LAN



Hubbert's Peak : The Impending World Oil Shortage, by Kenneth S. Deffeyes; NMRHS Library # 333.823 - DEF



If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens... Where Is Everybody? Fifty Solutions to Fermi's Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life, by Stephen Webb; NMRHS Library # 576.839 - WEB



Eureka!: Scientific Breakthroughs that Changed the World, byLeslie Alan Horvitz, Leslie Alan Horvitz; NMRHS Library # 509 - HOR



Big Weather: Chasing Tornadoes in the Heart of America, by Mark Svenvold; NMRHS Library # 551.553 - SVE



Earth : An Intimate History, by Richard Fortey; NMRHS Library # 551.7 - FOR



Comet, by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan; NMRHS Library # 523.6 - SAG



Totality: Eclipses of the Sun, by Mark Littmann, Ken Willcox, Fred Espenak; NMRHS Library # 523.7 - LIT



Rocks from Space: Meteorites and Meteorite Hunters, by O. Richard Norton, Dorothy S. Norton (Illustrator); NMRHS Library # 523.5 - NOR



Mars : Uncovering the Secrets of the Red Planet, by Paul Raeburn; NMRHS Library # 523.43 - RAE



Time's Pendulum: From Sundials to Atomic Clocks, the Fascinating History of Timekeeping and How Our Discoveries Changed the World, by Jo Ellen Barnett; NMRHS Library # 529 - BAR



Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time, by Dava Sobel; NMRHS Library # 526 - SOB



The Story of Maps, by Lloyd A. Brown; NMRHS Library # 526.09 - BRO



Stardust: Supernovae and Life --- The Cosmic Connection, by John Gribbin, Mary Gribbin; NMRHS Library # 523 - GRI



The Edge of the Sea, by Rachel Carson; NMRHS Library # 551.46 - CAR



Wind, by Jan DeBlieu; NMRHS Library # 551.518 - DEB



The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory, by Brian Greene ; NMRHS Library # 539.7 - GRE



The earth we live on;: The story of geological discovery, by Ruth E Moore; NMRHS Library # 550.9 - MOO



The ends of the Earth: The polar regions of the world, by Isaac Asimov; NMRHS Library # 550.911 - ASI



Hurricane Watch : Forecasting the Deadliest Storms on Earth, by Jack Williams, Bob Sheets; NMRHS Library # 551.645 - SHE



Ice Ages: Solving the Mystery, by John Imbrie, Kathrine Palmer Imbrie; NMRHS Library # 551.7 - IMB



The Right Stuff, by Tom Wolfe; NMRHS Library # 629.1 - WOL



We Seven, by The Astronauts: M. Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper, John H. Glenn, Virgil I. Grissom, Walter M. Schirra, Alan B. Shepard, Slayton Donald K ; NMRHS Library # 629.45 - WES



A Journal for Christa: Christa McAuliffe, Teacher in Space, by Grace George Corrigan; NMRHS Library # 629.45 - COR



Our Threatened Planet, by J.F. Goodavage; NMRHS Library # 001.9 - GOO



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SCIENCE READING BOOKS NOT IN NMRHS LIBRARY

The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies, by Richard Heinberg



Isaac's Storm : A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History, by Erik Larson, ISBN: 0375708278



The Children's Blizzard, by David Laskin, ISBN: 0060520760



The Secret Life of Dust: From the Cosmos to the Kitchen Counter, the Big Consequences of Little Things, by Hannah Holmes, ISBN: 0471377430



The Role of the Sun in Climate Change, by Douglas V. Hoyt, Kenneth H. Shatten, ISBN: 019509414X



Gasp! The Swift and Terrible Beauty of Air, by Joe Sherman, ISBN: 1593760256



Phantom Islands of the Atlantic: The Legends of Seven Lands That Never Were, by Donald S. Johnson, ISBN: 0802713203



The Deep Hot Biosphere : The Myth of Fossil Fuels, by Freeman Dyson, Thomas Gold, ISBN: 0387952535



Grand Canyon : Solving Earth's Grandest Puzzle, by James Lawrence Powell, ISBN: 013147989X



Exploring Stone Walls : A Field Guide to New England's Stone Walls, by Robert M. Thorson, ISBN: 0802777082



Clouds in a Glass of Beer : Simple Experiments in Atmospheric Physics, by Craig F. Bohren, ISBN: 0486417387



Grand Canyon : Solving Earth's Grandest Puzzle, by James Lawrence Powell, ISBN: 0521258723



Why Geography Matters: Three Challenges Facing America: Climate Change, The Rise of China, and Global Terrorism, by Harm De Blij, ISBN: 0195183010



Roadside Geology of Massachusetts, by James William Skehan, ISBN: 0878424296



Written In Stone, by Chet Raymo, Maureen E. Raymo, ISBN: 1883789273



Frozen Earth: The Once and Future Story of Ice Ages, by Doug Macdougall, J. D. MacDougall, ISBN: 0520239229



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