Lighthouses for Kids: History, Science, and Lore with 21 Activities (For Kids series)

131 Pages·2008·4.7 MB·English

by  Katherine L. House

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Lighthouses
Kid
S
for
History, Science, and Lore
with 21 Activities
.
KATHERINE L HOUSE
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
House, Katherine L.
Lighthouses for kids: history, science, and lore with 21 activities /
Katherine L. House. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-55652-720-3
ISBN-10: 1-55652-720-9
1. Lighthouses—Juvenile literature. I. Title.
VK1013.H68 2008
387.1’55—dc22
2007027093
For Jim, Jonathan, and Caroline.
I couldn’t have done it without them.
“I’d Like to Be a Lighthouse” © 1926 by Doubleday, a division of Random
House, Inc., from Taxis and Toadstoolsby Rachel Field. Used by permission of
Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
Cover and interior design: Rattray Design
Cover photos: Kid in front of lighthouse © Donald Nausbaum; all other
images, iStock.com
© 2008 by Katherine L. House
All rights reserved
First edition
Published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
ISBN 978-1-55652-720-3
Printed in the United States of America
5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Note to Readers iv 3 • A Field Guide to U.S. Lighthouses 31 6 • Keep the Lights Burning! 69
Acknowledgments v Build a Lighthouse Model That
The Job of the Keeper
Time Line vi Lights Up 33
Introduction ix Create a Sponge Painting 44 Tend an Oil Lamp 71
Make and Test Your Own Brass Polish 81
1 • Growing Up at a Lighthouse 1 4 • Amazing Construction Stories 45 Create a Lighthouse Logbook 83
Does Water Pressure Change with Make a Replica Keeper’s Cap 85
True Stories of Keepers’ Kids
Depth? 47
Decorate a Seashell Picture Frame 3 7 • Lighthouses Today 89
5 • The Science Behind Lighthouses 55
Keeping a Garden: Was It Possible? 5 Write a Lighthouse Poem 92
Tie a Bowline Knot 10 Make a Solar Marshmallow Roaster 57 Witness the Power of Hydraulics 94
Make a Lighthouse Wind Sock 12 How Does the Liquid Flow? 59
Bend Light with a Prism 61
Resources 99
2 • Why Lighthouses? 19 Investigate How Lighthouses Flashed
Web Sites to Explore 99
Long Ago 62
A Short History
Organizations 101
Discover the Benefits of Ball Bearings 64
Places to Visit 102
Why Height Matters 26 Beyond Ball Bearings: Floating a
Glossary 113
Decorate a Lighthouse Cake 29 Heavy Lens 65
Selected Bibliography 115
Index 118
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Note to Readers
Y
ou might be surprised to find out area (the lantern room) where the keeper
that the word lighthouse means differ- could do his or her job. In nearly every case,
ent things to different people. a keeper lived at the lighthouse at some
Lighthouse experts can’t even agree on an point in the past to tend the light. Finally, I
exact definition. So what did I consider a chose to emphasize the lives of keepers and
lighthouse for this book? A structure their families who were civilian workers,
designed to stand forever and provide a light rather than more recent members of the
to boaters. The structures highlighted in U.S. Coast Guard.
Lighthouses for Kids also featured an enclosed
iv
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Acknowledgments
Many people have played a role in master of http://lighthouse.cc, who reviewed Numerous friends cheered me on, including
helping me get this book pub- the entire manuscript. I appreciate his Cindy Blobaum, whose last-minute advice
lished. Thanks to Jim and Barbara expertise, helpful comments, and attention kept me going, Tess Judge-Ellis, who offered
Leupold for introducing me to the magic of to detail. I am also grateful to Millie Frese, much encouragement during the journey to
lighthouses as a child, and to my husband, who cheerfully read early drafts and offered publication, and Claudia McGehee, sponge
Jim, who has grown to admire lighthouses so many suggestions. Thanks to SCBWI- painter extraordinaire, who always asked
almost as much as I do. My son, Jonathan, Iowa for connecting me with the folks at good questions.
enthusiastically explained lighthouse tech- Chicago Review Press, and to Lisa Special thanks to all the librarians,
nology to his friends and mastered the art of Rosenthal for her enthusiasm for the proj- lighthouse experts, and local historians who
refracting light. My daughter, Caroline, ect. Cynthia Sherry helped me shape the provided research materials, photographs,
patiently waited to discover mobility until manuscript into its current format, for and feedback; this project would not have
this project was nearly finished. Maxine which I am grateful. Lisa Reardon’s careful been possible without them. The staff of the
House read the manuscript with the keen and gentle guidance helped me through the U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office, espe-
eye of a retired English teacher. final phases of the project. cially Christopher Havern, was extremely
Warm thanks to Jeremy D’Entremont, Rebekah Frese and Amelia Moser read helpful in providing access to their exten-
author of several lighthouse books and web- various chapters and tested activities. sive collection. Finally, I appreciate the
Thanks also to Alex Bussan, Beth Homan, efforts of lighthouse keepers’ families, who
and the Storey family for their suggestions. dug through photo collections to provide
images for this book. Thanks to all!
v
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Time Line
About 280 B.C. The world’s first lighthouse, Pharos, completed 1731 World’s first lightship put in service in England
About A.D. 50 Romans complete harbor at Ostia, including 1759 Smeaton’s Eddystone tower lighted
lighthouse
1769 First twin lights in United States established at
869 Lighted pagoda helps mark entrance to harbor in Plymouth, Massachusetts
Shanghai, China
1781 First flashing light in a lighthouse installed in
1157 Italians build lighthouse at Meloria Sweden
1669 Reflectors used in Swedish lighthouse Aimé Argand develops new type of oil lamp
about this time
1698 First tower at Eddystone in England lighted
1788 First range lights in United States built at Plum
1699 Eddystone tower rebuilt and improved
Island, Massachusetts
1708 Third lighthouse at Eddystone lighted
1789 Ninth Act of Congress puts federal government
1716 Lighthouse in Boston Harbor lighted in charge of lighthouses
1719 First fog signal in colonial America 1792 Lighthouse at Cape Henry, Virginia, begins
used at Boston Harbor operating
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1798 Highland Light (Massachusetts) is first flashing 1854 First lighthouse on West Coast starts operating
light in United States on Alcatraz Island (California)
1812 Winslow Lewis sells U.S. government patent for 1855 Construction begins on second lighthouse at
oil lamps Minot’s Ledge
1818 First lighthouse on Great Lakes completed at 1869 First steam-powered fog signals used in United
Buffalo, New York States
1820 First use of fog bell in United States 1877 U.S. lighthouses begin to use kerosene
Stephen Pleasonton takes charge of U.S. 1882 Smeaton’s Eddystone tower replaced
lighthouses
1887 First pneumatic caisson lighthouse in United
First lightship in United States in service on States built
Chesapeake Bay
1907 Gustaf Dalén invents sun valve
1822 Augustin Fresnel invents Fresnel lens
1910 Lighthouse Board dissolved; U.S. Bureau of
1841 First Fresnel lens installed in United States at Lighthouses (known as the Lighthouse Service)
Navesink, New Jersey formed
1848 First screw pile lighthouse in United States built 1939 U.S. Lighthouse Service merges with Coast
in Delaware Bay Guard
1851 First Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse in Massachusetts 1968 Coast Guard starts Lighthouse Automation and
collapses Modernization Program (LAMP)
Congress appoints commission to study state of 1983 Last U.S. lightship removed from service
lighthouses
2000 National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act
1852 Stephen Pleasonton loses job; Lighthouse Board passed
takes over
2005 Hurricane Katrina destroys three lighthouses;
damages others
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