Every Minute on Earth
Steve Murrie, Matthew Murrie
Illustr. Mary Anne Lloyd
Ages 9 and up
Paperback,221 pages
Scholastic
ISBN: 9780439908870
$9.99 Buy the book
Filled with addictive facts, this book begs to be quoted. You can page through "every minute" tidbits by subject: Earth, Space, The Human Body, Technology, Animals, Food, Pop Culture, and Sports. It's all there. Every section ends with activities kids can do, though some are more instructive than others. I wasn't inspired by the "see if you can lick the middle out of an Oreo just using your tongue" activity. And the "Heart Beater" exercise asks kids to "take your pulse for one minute" (assuming kids will know how to do this seems a stretch). It's nice to see all this interesting stuff gathered into one place, though. It makes for a good browsable read.
Here's some every-minute-on-Earth quotidia, compliments of the two Murries:
The sun is converting 240 million tons of matter into energy
2,000 thunderstorms are occurring
An exercising adult is producing 2/3 cup of sweat
30,000 to 40,000 pieces of dead skin fall off your body
10 adult elephants are producing a pound of poop
See? Some of it's cool science, and some of it's grippingly gross.
You'll also find out that
115 soccer balls are made (61 of them in Pakistan)
191 cell phones are thrown away
Fossil fuels release into the air 12,400 tons of CO2
51 acres of tropical forests are cut down
It's items like these last few that make this book a "save the world" contender. If you're looking for facts that'll add spice to your presentation about humanity's impact on global warming, the "Earth" section is full of 'em.
Don't skip the interesting (brief) introduction that sheds light on how and where to find "every minute" facts of your own.
Listen to this NPR story on how San Francisco reduces its landfills through a program that encourages artists to use trash to make their art. Although the city recycles or diverts 69% of its garbage, every day 1800 tons arrive at the landfill. That's 1.25 tons a every minute on Earth!
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Ceci Miller is a children’s author, book editor, and owner of CeciBooks editorial and book publishing consultancy for authors and indie publishers. See books here.
