Lighthouses for Kids: History, Science, and Lore with 21 Activities
1983 Last U S lightship removed from SerVice 2000 National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act passed 2005 Hurricane Katrina destroys three lighthouses damages
1 Introduction ave you ever seen a lighthouse If you live along a major coastline or have traveled near water there's a good chance that you have You might have spotted a lighthouse while walking along a beach fishing or sailing Perhaps you have visited a museum about lighthouses or climbed to the top of an old lighthouse tower Even if you have never seen a lighthouse up close you have a good idea what one looks like Pictures of light houses adorn the covers of books magazines greet ing cards even the bags of one brand of potato chips Lighthouses flash at us from movies and TV ads Long before lighthouses were part of summer vacations or company advertising they were essential parts of the landscape At a time when rivers and oceans were the nation's highways lighthouses served as warning signs traffic lights and maps all rolled into one Without lighthouses it was harder for ships to get from one port to another safely With out ships it was difficult or impossible to send goods from one part of the country to another or obtain them from other nations Without trade people could not earn a living In fact the very growth and survival of the United States depended on a large net
work of reliable lighthouses The concept of a lighthouse seems simple now shine a light from a building tall enough to be visible far away As you will find out soon accomplishing this was easier said than done Today when skyscrap ers in the smallest cities dwarf the tallest lighthous es it may be difficult to think of a lighthouse as an engineering marvel But how could workers construct tall sturdy buildings without concrete steel or mod еrn machines In this book you will learn about the daring builders and engineers who built lighthouses in places some said it was impossible to do so You will learn how lighthouse designs and building meth ods were adapted to different locations At a time when you can order virtually anything you want and have it delivered overnight it may seem hard to believe that getting building materials to a lighthouse site or supplies to a lighthouse could be time consuming and dangerous But how long would it take you to walk to the next town or row a boat three miles along a nearby river Lighthouses for Kids includes firsthand accounts of the challenges of living and working in remote places far from stores schools or doctors Nowadays few people think about the everyday act of flipping light switches on and off Even when the electricity goes out in your area you have strong flashlights and perhaps generators to help you see But how did people make lights at the top of a light house tower powerful when they had only candles and oil lamps In Lighthouses for Kids you will learn about the Thomas Edison of lighthouses a French scientist who revolutionized the way lighthouses worked You will also discover the heroic efforts made by keepers simply to keep a light on all
As you make your way through this book you will do more than read dramatic stories about the people who designed built and worked at lighthous es Activities throughout the book will let you learn more about a keeper's daily life from tending an oil lamp with adult supervision to polishing brass You can use your imagination to write in a replica log book as you wear an authentic looking keeper's cap You can experience life as a keeper's kid by planting a garden in sand or gravel or by constructing a wind sock there were lots of windy days at lighthouses Through a series of science experiments you will dis cover the challenges scientists and engineers faced when designing and building lighthouses No matter what your interests Lighthouses for Kids will shine new light on the work of keeping ships and sailors safe before modern technology made the job
