Lakes

Dive into Lakes, which takes kids through all the wild and watery features of these numberless bodies of water. They’ll start off with information about the three different kinds of lakes. For kids who want to learn more, facts about the many shapes they come in, including oxbows and sinkholes, are next up. And just how are they formed? Bet you didn’t know that lakes can appear when glaciers melt, volcanoes explode, or meteorites strike the Earth! After that, kids can read up on the five distinct layers of a typical lake, which reveal their many splendors and oddities.

Though lakes only stick around for a few thousand years – which is just the blink of an eye in geologic time – they have the ability to profoundly shape the weather when strong winds cause them to produce seiches (standing water that oscillates). Lakes and their dams are also key producers of hydroelectric energy – as well as gold, in the case of Austria’s Lake Toplitz. However, dams are not without their drawbacks, including higher pollution and the loss of habitats for endangered animals – not to mention the displacement of thousands of people who depend on undammed lakes for their survival. Wrapping things up, a summary of myths and legends about lakes, for kids who love out-of-this-world tales, will be completely engrossing. Lakes, for kids, have never been explained in such in-depth detail.