What do you think?
Rate this book
Scientists in the Field
The Prairie Builders: Reconstruction America's Lost Grasslands
Barely a century ago a vast tallgrass prairie covered America’s heartland. Bison, elk, coyotes, and bear roamed this wilderness. Hundreds of species of prairie plants supported an explosion of birds and insects, including hundreds of kinds of butterflies. By the early part of the twentieth century, however, the tallgrass prairie was gone, its rich soils converted to farms to feed a growing world population.
Here, author Sneed B. Collard III tells the remarkable story of an effort to bring back part of the native tallgrass prairie. By following scientists who are working on the 8,000-acre Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa, readers will learn where the vision for a new prairie came from and how a dedicated group of scientists and volunteers is working to turn this vision into reality, from locating seeds of native prairie plants to using fire to drive out weeds to “bringing home” bison, elk, and one of the prairie’s most spectacular butterflies, the Regal Fritillary.
Here, author Sneed B. Collard III tells the remarkable story of an effort to bring back part of the native tallgrass prairie. By following scientists who are working on the 8,000-acre Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa, readers will learn where the vision for a new prairie came from and how a dedicated group of scientists and volunteers is working to turn this vision into reality, from locating seeds of native prairie plants to using fire to drive out weeds to “bringing home” bison, elk, and one of the prairie’s most spectacular butterflies, the Regal Fritillary.
66 pages, Hardcover
First published May 30, 2005
59 people want to read
About the author
Sneed B. Collard III
92 books38 followersSneed B. Collard III (see also "Sneed B. Collard") is a biologist, world traveler, speaker, and author of almost one hundred books for young people, including the 2024 Orbis Pictus Award winner, Border Crossings (Charlesbridge Publishing). His other recent science titles include Fire Birds; Hopping Ahead of Climate Change; Little Killers; Waiting for a Warbler; Beaver & Otter Get Along . . . Sort of; and the upcoming picture book, Like No Other. Collard holds science degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and U.C. Santa Barbara. He lives in Montana.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 10, 2021
Wonderfully educational and informative and with a message that is both encouraging and also rather necessarily a trifle sobering and thought provoking, I absolutely and truly have both enjoyed reading Sneed B. Collard III’s 2005 The Prairie Builders: Reconstructing America's Lost Grasslands and have equally appreciated the biological and ecological information I have learned (from how fire is often necessary to reclaim and restore tall grass prairies to the fact that originally European settlers actually thought that the Midwestern prairies were useless for agriculture, but that sadly, this attitude soon changed to one of actively and all encompassingly destroying the American grasslands and turning them for the most part into sterile and devoid of biodiversity farmland).
With an optimistic perspective and proof of success depicted in the represented details of The Prairie Builders: Reconstructing America's Lost Grasslands (regarding Pauline Drobney’s reconstruction of out of commission Iowa farmland to create the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge and Diane Debinski striving to reintroduce the Regal Fritillary butterfly into its former prairie habitat) this is mostly a story of hope and perseverance, but also with the necessary caveats provided by author Sneed B. Collard III (speaking for the two biologists, speaking for Pauline Drobney and Diane Debinski) that the American (and Canadian) Midwestern prairies, that the grasslands will of course never be able to be entirely reconstructed (as there is just too much agriculture, too much farming for this) but that every little bit of reclaimed prairie is both a very positive thing and also a way to protect and to increase biodiversity and to make farming and even on a larger scale more environmentally cautious and responsible.
And yes, an important environmental and conservation lesson is featured in The Prairie Builders: Reconstructing America's Lost Grasslands, with Sneed B. Collard III showing his readers, showing his intended audience of older children from about the age of nine onwards with a clear narrative and visually stunning accompanying photographs that even though the pre-settlement and pre large scale agriculture expansive former glory of the North American grasslands will likely never be totally reclaimed, there are indeed many ways and means to at least reconstruct some of this, a reason for celebration albeit with some caveats (and of course with the included bibliography of both books and online resources providing for me the icing on the cake and to mostly definitely and without reservations warmly recommend The Prairie Builders: Reconstructing America's Lost Grasslands).
With an optimistic perspective and proof of success depicted in the represented details of The Prairie Builders: Reconstructing America's Lost Grasslands (regarding Pauline Drobney’s reconstruction of out of commission Iowa farmland to create the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge and Diane Debinski striving to reintroduce the Regal Fritillary butterfly into its former prairie habitat) this is mostly a story of hope and perseverance, but also with the necessary caveats provided by author Sneed B. Collard III (speaking for the two biologists, speaking for Pauline Drobney and Diane Debinski) that the American (and Canadian) Midwestern prairies, that the grasslands will of course never be able to be entirely reconstructed (as there is just too much agriculture, too much farming for this) but that every little bit of reclaimed prairie is both a very positive thing and also a way to protect and to increase biodiversity and to make farming and even on a larger scale more environmentally cautious and responsible.
And yes, an important environmental and conservation lesson is featured in The Prairie Builders: Reconstructing America's Lost Grasslands, with Sneed B. Collard III showing his readers, showing his intended audience of older children from about the age of nine onwards with a clear narrative and visually stunning accompanying photographs that even though the pre-settlement and pre large scale agriculture expansive former glory of the North American grasslands will likely never be totally reclaimed, there are indeed many ways and means to at least reconstruct some of this, a reason for celebration albeit with some caveats (and of course with the included bibliography of both books and online resources providing for me the icing on the cake and to mostly definitely and without reservations warmly recommend The Prairie Builders: Reconstructing America's Lost Grasslands).
October 19, 2017
Summary: The Prairie Builders; Reconstructing America’s Lost Grasslands informs readers of a story about the native tallgrass prairie. The author uses scientists who are studying the Smith National Wildlife Refuge to explain the vision for a new prairie.
Evaluation: This book uses photos instead of illustrations to explain the written content. Most texts use illustrations such as drawing within their books. This book provides a nice change for readers to expand their knowledge through understanding the illustrations of a text.
Teaching Ideas: This would be a great book to use within the classroom as an integrated science and writing lesson. The students use facts from the book to write informational pieces using facts to support their writing.
Evaluation: This book uses photos instead of illustrations to explain the written content. Most texts use illustrations such as drawing within their books. This book provides a nice change for readers to expand their knowledge through understanding the illustrations of a text.
Teaching Ideas: This would be a great book to use within the classroom as an integrated science and writing lesson. The students use facts from the book to write informational pieces using facts to support their writing.
May 27, 2019
Great book with excellent photography about an interesting and important topic - rebuilding destroyed ecosystems.
December 5, 2012
1.This book belongs to the Informational/Non-fiction genre.
2.This book follows the scientists and volunteers at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge as they attempt to reconstruct a large area of prairie that was previously destroyed and turned into farmland. Using photographs, maps, and more, Sneed relays information about restoring the prairie, prairie flowers and animals, and the complexity and challenges of creating an ecosystem from scratch.
3.Critique:
A)The photographs in this book are stunning and allow the reader to see and connect with the progress of the restoration of the prairie
B)This is a traditional informational book, with many facts and a lot of information being imparted to the reader throughout the book. The text, if standing alone, may begin to overwhelm the readers that this book is intended for, students in elementary school, but the addition of the photographs from the restoration of the refuge allow the readers to make concrete connections from the somewhat abstract text. The photographs show the progress of the restoration from the planting of the seeds, the burning of the fields, and finally the growing of the plants to help the reader see the progress. In addition to seeing the progress, the reality and beauty of the photographs allow the reader to relate to the restoration and forms a desire to help with the restoration or other ecosystems restorations in their own state.
C)The transition from plowing the farm land to having a thriving prairie is astounding in this book. On page 16, there is a photograph of the original tract of farmland being bulldozed by about half a dozen machines. The land is barren and brown with only dirt and the bulldozers on it. The photographs continue to become more colorful and beautiful as the book and the prairie restoration project progresses. The reader sees animals, grasses, flowers, and insects all blooming in their new ecosystem. Finally on pages 61 and 65, beautiful photos of prairie flowers and grasses are shown, exhibiting the progress of the project and giving the reader hope for our environments that need to be restored. Seeing the project from start to its current state, allows the reader to understand the text, and relate to it in ways that the reader couldn’t without real photographs!
4. I loved this book. One thing I really loved were the beautiful pictures which helped tell the story so well. The photos and the text in this book tell the story. Students could imitate this and find a landscape or project they cared about and photograph it. Using those pictures they could create a story. The students could learn about how to organize their story for clarity and meaning by examining this book and other informational books. I would also use this book in my classroom as a reference book in the classroom library. In addition, this book could be used to help teach the students how to write to inform. The students could compare and contrast this book with other informational books to discover the characteristics of informational writing. They could then use these characteristics to write an informational piece. This book also connects to the science curriculum about ecosystems.
2.This book follows the scientists and volunteers at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge as they attempt to reconstruct a large area of prairie that was previously destroyed and turned into farmland. Using photographs, maps, and more, Sneed relays information about restoring the prairie, prairie flowers and animals, and the complexity and challenges of creating an ecosystem from scratch.
3.Critique:
A)The photographs in this book are stunning and allow the reader to see and connect with the progress of the restoration of the prairie
B)This is a traditional informational book, with many facts and a lot of information being imparted to the reader throughout the book. The text, if standing alone, may begin to overwhelm the readers that this book is intended for, students in elementary school, but the addition of the photographs from the restoration of the refuge allow the readers to make concrete connections from the somewhat abstract text. The photographs show the progress of the restoration from the planting of the seeds, the burning of the fields, and finally the growing of the plants to help the reader see the progress. In addition to seeing the progress, the reality and beauty of the photographs allow the reader to relate to the restoration and forms a desire to help with the restoration or other ecosystems restorations in their own state.
C)The transition from plowing the farm land to having a thriving prairie is astounding in this book. On page 16, there is a photograph of the original tract of farmland being bulldozed by about half a dozen machines. The land is barren and brown with only dirt and the bulldozers on it. The photographs continue to become more colorful and beautiful as the book and the prairie restoration project progresses. The reader sees animals, grasses, flowers, and insects all blooming in their new ecosystem. Finally on pages 61 and 65, beautiful photos of prairie flowers and grasses are shown, exhibiting the progress of the project and giving the reader hope for our environments that need to be restored. Seeing the project from start to its current state, allows the reader to understand the text, and relate to it in ways that the reader couldn’t without real photographs!
4. I loved this book. One thing I really loved were the beautiful pictures which helped tell the story so well. The photos and the text in this book tell the story. Students could imitate this and find a landscape or project they cared about and photograph it. Using those pictures they could create a story. The students could learn about how to organize their story for clarity and meaning by examining this book and other informational books. I would also use this book in my classroom as a reference book in the classroom library. In addition, this book could be used to help teach the students how to write to inform. The students could compare and contrast this book with other informational books to discover the characteristics of informational writing. They could then use these characteristics to write an informational piece. This book also connects to the science curriculum about ecosystems.
April 20, 2014
Collard III, Sneed B. The Prairie Builders: Reconstructing America’s Lost Grasslands (2005). The text follows scientists and volunteers on the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge Prairie Learning Center. This science series is packed with information about the Prairie Restoration, prairie ecosystems, native plants and animals in the prairies of Central Iowa. This book discusses animals, insects and plant life that was originally found in this particular habitat. For various reasons, the animals, insects, and plants are endangered and possibly on it’s way to extinction. They are attempting to return the prairie to its’ natural state. They have to be mindful of reintroducing wildlife to create a careful balance of the prairie ecosystem. Many photographs with captions are found throughout the text. They add to the beauty of the book while also embedding information. The photographs are essential in understanding the complexities of the situation. It also provides two maps. The first map covers where prairies are located in the United States, Canada and parts of Mexico. The second map is of the Learning Center. The author includes a glossary, helpful websites (to learn more information) and a list of helpful books.
Genre: Science Series, Non-Fiction, And Informational Text.
Target Audience: Fifth Grade through Eighth Grade.
Personal/Critique: The text provided a great deal of information. The pictures really helped to tell the story. By seeing the beauty of the prairie, it made the reader want to restore and preserve it. The balance of photographs and text made it easy to follow. The captions provided even more details. It was interesting to see how much work it takes to preserve our natural world and that it’s a delicate situation.
Award: American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru SB & F Prize for Excellence in Science Award.
Genre: Science Series, Non-Fiction, And Informational Text.
Target Audience: Fifth Grade through Eighth Grade.
Personal/Critique: The text provided a great deal of information. The pictures really helped to tell the story. By seeing the beauty of the prairie, it made the reader want to restore and preserve it. The balance of photographs and text made it easy to follow. The captions provided even more details. It was interesting to see how much work it takes to preserve our natural world and that it’s a delicate situation.
Award: American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru SB & F Prize for Excellence in Science Award.
December 10, 2012
Scientists in the Field Series
Genre – Informational
Summary:
Pauline Drobney details her path on being challenged to recreate America’s lost grassland when Congressman Smith made it his personal quest to acquire land for a reserve. The challenge’s faced with locating the correct seeds and wildlife has made this an almost lifelong journey.
A) Information and visuals
B) The author of the book does a great job of providing balance between the written information and the visuals provided for reference. The importance of science and biology is demonstrated when trying to find seeds or reintroduce insects and animals that have gone missing over the years.
C) Diane Debinski was in charge of bringing the Regal Fritillary population back to the newly recreated grassland. Page 55 illustrations showing the vegetation needed for their survival and the type of cages that they used in an attempt to bring back the Regal butterfly population. Eventually they were able to repopulate the butterflies after many trials due to her dedication and determination.
Curriculum Connection:
Student’s can use this book to learn about the different eco systems that exist in Prairie grasslands. You could have students plant different types of seeds into cups filled with soil and monitor how they grow in different soil and lighting conditions. This book can also be used in conjunction with a lesson on American Indians to show how they managed the grasslands while they occupied them.
Genre – Informational
Summary:
Pauline Drobney details her path on being challenged to recreate America’s lost grassland when Congressman Smith made it his personal quest to acquire land for a reserve. The challenge’s faced with locating the correct seeds and wildlife has made this an almost lifelong journey.
A) Information and visuals
B) The author of the book does a great job of providing balance between the written information and the visuals provided for reference. The importance of science and biology is demonstrated when trying to find seeds or reintroduce insects and animals that have gone missing over the years.
C) Diane Debinski was in charge of bringing the Regal Fritillary population back to the newly recreated grassland. Page 55 illustrations showing the vegetation needed for their survival and the type of cages that they used in an attempt to bring back the Regal butterfly population. Eventually they were able to repopulate the butterflies after many trials due to her dedication and determination.
Curriculum Connection:
Student’s can use this book to learn about the different eco systems that exist in Prairie grasslands. You could have students plant different types of seeds into cups filled with soil and monitor how they grow in different soil and lighting conditions. This book can also be used in conjunction with a lesson on American Indians to show how they managed the grasslands while they occupied them.
October 12, 2008
My seven year old checked this book out of the library. I offered to read it to him and he agreed. When I would say, "Do you want to stop for now?" he'd say, "No, I really like this, keep reading." We ended up reading it in three sittings and really, really enjoyed reading about re-establising prairie land in a national refuge in Iowa. Both of us really want to visit there sometime. It was great to hear about the whole process and how challenging it truly is to try to recreate something once it is gone. This book has a lot of really nice photographs and great information. Good for a budding young scientist.
June 18, 2010
Good science, good writing, nice photographs. Good case study. Shows that ecological restoration is complex. Underlines that restored ecosystem is not as good as the original, but positive message overall.
Read this to see if it was relevant to a project at work - it is, so we will list it as recommended reading. It is part of a series called "Scientists in the Field" and I currently have a pile of those checked out, some as potentially useful to the project, some just because they looked interesting!
Read this to see if it was relevant to a project at work - it is, so we will list it as recommended reading. It is part of a series called "Scientists in the Field" and I currently have a pile of those checked out, some as potentially useful to the project, some just because they looked interesting!
August 9, 2013
I repeat, I love this series! I grew up with the remnants of WI prairies and many of these plants are in my gardens today. I think every school should have access to an environment this species rich. It is such a great learning tool. The book follows the process of reclaiming farm fields and converting them to new prairie. As the land shifts purpose, the wildlife returns and the ecosystem is regenerated.
June 12, 2015
Engaging and informative. I think this book would really grab and inspire the curious late elementary or middle school student. Written well enough to be interesting for adults reading along too.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews