Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest Book

The text Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest by Steve Jenkins is a fantastic informational text which details the extremes Earth has to offer. This text offers details about the extremes of the Earth from the hottest desert, the coldest habitats, the highest mountain peaks and the deepest ocean trenches. The facts are brought to life by beautiful illustrations and informative maps and graphics. While children of all ages may find this book fascinating, I think it would be best suited for students in grades 2 through 4. It utilizes a variety of charts graphics and visuals to show data points to the readers. The book offers visual comparisons for students to contextualize these extreme measurements. This book could easily be integrated into a social studies unit. Jenkins includes a world map with a point detailing where each phenomenon is located. Students could examine the map and conduct research about the surrounding area. Students could then draw conclusions about the geographical features of the region. With the extreme facts included in this text, it easily lends itself to a compare and contrast study of the different places featured in the book. This text would also be great to incorporate in a study on non-standard measurement. The book compares the height of mountains or the depths of sea trenches to the empire state building. Students may not be able to contextualize just how tall a sky scraper is. Students could compare the measurements mentioned to ones that are more familiar to them.