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Grand Canyon National Park
One of the natural wonders of the world, the Grand Canyon is also home to a national park visited by more than 4 million people each year. Readers will learn much more about the high desert plateaus, colorful rock formations, and massive canyon, so large that it can be seen from space. Author Doreen Gonzales describes the geologic formation of the canyon and tells of the Hopi and Paiute Indians who lived there and the Spanish conquistadors who explored it. Details about the park's flora and fauna and activities for visitors, including rafting on the Colorado River, hiking, camping, and snowshoeing in winter, are also provided.
* Reviews *
With rocks two billion years old eroded by the Colorado River, it was already ancient when the first people came; the breathtaking canyon is now a World Heritage Site. This title in the Americas National Parks series introduces report writers to the canyons geology, the history of the Anasazi people and later tribes (some still living there), and the founding of the Grand Canyon National Park. Sighted by conquistadors in 1540, rediscovered by Americans after the Mexican War, explored by naturalist John Wesley Powell and painted by Thomas Moran, the immense canyon became a tourist destination in the 1880s. With the advent of a railroad, a hotel, and successive efforts by two presidents, the Grand Canyon finally became a National Park in 1919. Readers will learn about native fauna of the park, including the colorful Gila monster, bighorn sheep, peregrine falcons, and the great California condor; other chapters discuss the parks environmental problems (air pollution, invasive plant species, overcrowding, and a controversial dam) and recreational activities like hiking, riding, fishing, and whitewater rafting. Though some photos are included, the main focus of this series is to direct students to thirty Internet sites where further exploring can be done (sites are linked to the publishers website). A good deal of information is included in the reader-friendly text, but writers who have access to a computer will find more spectacular visuals on Grand Canyon National Parks official website: (http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm). Some of the sites listed are not very helpful for this age group. Part of the MyReportLinks.com Books series., Children's Literature
RL
Grades
6-7 IL
Grades
6-12+ GRL
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