Tunnels!: With 25 Science Projects for Kids

By Jeanette Moore and Mike Crosier

Moles, beavers, rabbits . . . these animals burrow tunnels in the ground every day! What other kind of creature makes tunnels? Humans!

In Tunnels! With 25 Science Projects for Kids, kids ages 7 to 10 explore the fascinating world of passageways beneath the ground, dug deep within the earth through soil and rock. But why dig through rock to make a tunnel? Tunnels give people a way to travel and transport goods from one place to another. Readers learn about the engineering and construction that goes into every tunnel made, whether it’s being dug under roads, under oceans, or under cities. Kids form a foundational learning about the laws of physics that govern our world and discover how engineers use these laws to design tunnels that withstand the test of time, weight, and earthquakes. Controlling groundwater, drilling through rocks, and removing earth are just a few tasks workers must face.

STEM projects for kids, including creating a tunnel maze, designing a series of tunnels on graph paper, and experimenting with Newton’s laws of motion, offer a unique, interactive learning experience, while links to primary sources offer ample opportunity for further student-led exploration. Fun facts, engaging illustrations, timeline, glossary, and resources keep kids wanting to learn more about the engineering design process.

Tunnels! is part of a set of four Explore Engineering books. In the Explore Engineering set, readers ages 7 to 10 learn the physics behind the things they build: Why does a tower of blocks eventually fall? Why does a tunnel sometimes cave in? Through a series of focused, science-minded activities that require critical thinking paired with creative trial-and-error attempts at building, readers develop foundational understanding of the physics that guides the building and maintenance of bridges, canals, dams, tunnels, and skyscrapers.

Titles in the Explore Engineering set include Bridges! With 25 Science Projects for Kids;Canals and Dams! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; Tunnels! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; and Skyscrapers! With 25 Science Projects for Kids.

Nomad Press books in the Explore Your World series for children ages 7–10 integrate content with participation. Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, and STEM Education all place project-based learning as key building blocks in education. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad’s unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nomad Press
• Release date: Aug 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781619306493

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Titles in the Explore Engineering Set

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CONTENTS

Timeline

Introduction

Let’s Explore Tunnels

Chapter 1

Why Do We Build Tunnels?

Chapter 2

Engineers and Designs

Chapter 3

Tools, Machines, and More!

Chapter 4

Types of Tunnels

Chapter 5

Famous Tunnels and Future Tunnels

Glossary*Metric Conversions

Resources*Essential Questions*Index

Interested in primary sources? Look for this icon. Use a smartphone or tablet app to scan the QR code and explore more! Photos are also primary sources because a photograph takes a picture at the moment something happens.

If the QR code doesn’t work, there’s a list of URLs on the Resources page. Or, try searching the internet with the Keyword Prompts to find other helpful sources.

KEYWORD PROMPTS

TIMELINE

AROUND 47,000 BCE:

Neanderthal and early modern humans are the first human ancestors to tunnel as they expand the caves in which they live. Ancient remains about 49,000 years old are found in a deep, tunnel-like cave in Sidron, Spain, in 1994.

AROUND 9000 BCE:

Early modern humans leave murals on the walls of the caves and tunnels in southern France and northern Spain, where they hide during the end of the Ice Age.

AROUND 3000 BCE:

Babylonians build tunnels to transport water for irrigation.

AROUND 1000 BCE:

The Hohokam people of the Salt and Gila areas in what is now Phoenix, Arizona, build canals for irrigation.

680 BCE:

In the city of Gonabad, now part of Iran, a qanat provides drinking water and water for crops to almost 40,000 people! A qanat is a large underground tunnel that slopes downward and allows water to flow from inside a hill to wherever people need it.

36 BCE:

Romans use the first hard-rock mining method, called fire-setting. They tunnel nearly 5,000 feet from Pozzuolo to Naples, Italy.

1666–1681 CE:

Gunpowder is used for the first time as a construction tool on the Canal du Midi. This canal was built across France and connected the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

1825–1842:

The waterway tunnel under the River Thames in London, England, is built using Brunel’s shield, which makes tunneling safer for workers.

1928:

The Posey Tunnel in California is the first highway tunnel built using the tube method, with circular shells made of steel and surrounded by concrete.

2014–THE FUTURE:

The Kaneohe/Kailua Sewer Tunnel Project is a $173-million project for the city of Honolulu, Hawaii. The tunnel will be dug through basalt rock to move wastewater through large pipes.

INTRODUCTION

LET’S EXPLORE TUNNELS

Have you ever driven toward a city and the road goes underground? Maybe you’ve had to drive under a large body of water or through a mountain. Tunnels help drivers get to where they need to be. Without a tunnel, you’d have to go around the city, water, or mountain and add hours to your driving time!

Tunnels are hollow structures that exist underground. Some tunnels are dug by animals and insects. Many animals burrow in the dirt to go deep in the ground. They travel from place to place in their tunnels. Animals also store food, care for their young, and stay safe in tunnels.

WORDS TO KNOW

tunnel: a passageway that goes through or under natural or manmade obstacles, such as rivers, mountains, roads, and buildings.

hollow: having a hole or empty space inside.

burrow: to dig an underground hole or tunnel.

obstacle: something that blocks your way.

natural resource: something from nature that people can use in some way, such as water, stone, and wood.

destination: the place to which someone or something is going.

arch: a curved structure in the shape of an upside-down U.

cylinder: a hollow tube shape.

Humans dig tunnels for some of the same reasons as animals! People dig tunnels so they can move through or under obstacles, such as rivers and mountains. Tunnels can also move water from one place to another. Some tunnels are used to bring coal and other natural resources out of the ground.

WHAT IS A TUNNEL?

A tunnel is a passageway to another space. Tunnels can take us to the other side of a mountain, deep underground, and even beneath the ocean. Tunnels allow us to move to new destinations.

The tunnels we use are usually manmade. That means a person or group of people designed and built the tunnel for a reason. Some tunnels are shaped like an arch, which looks like half of a cylinder, or tube. Other tunnels are round, like a complete cylinder.

WORDS TO KNOW

echo: a sound caused by the reflection of