A Project Guide to Forces and Motion


Book Description

Scientists have known for a long time that things move in predictable patterns. It took an apple falling to help further their knowledge, though. We now know how things move and why. Scientists continue to study motion and the forces that cause it, and you can too! In this book, you’ll learn about pushes and pulls and different types of energy. The next time you play soccer, you’ll be able to use your new scientific knowledge to teach your friends and family why that soccer ball moves the way it does.




A Project Guide to Matter


Book Description

The water you drink. The air you breathe. This book you’re holding. Everything around you is made of matter. Learn more about what makes up matter, the forms it can take, and nature’s rules about it. With inexpensive items that you probably have lying around your home, you can do these easy and fun experiments on solids, liquids, and gases. Think like a chemist as you construct a tower of liquids, grow your own crystals, and even measure the speed of smell. Explore the powerful world of matter, from the visible to the invisible.




Explore Forces and Motion!


Book Description

Everything moves! Kids run around the playground, cars drive on the road, and balls fly through the air. What causes all this motion? Physics! Forces and motion rule the way everything moves through space. In Explore Forces and Motion! With 25 Great Projects, readers ages 7 through 10 discover that the push and pull of every object on the planet and in space depends on how a force acts upon it. Things float because of a force called buoyancy, we stick to the ground because of a force called gravity, and we make footprints in sand because of a force called pressure. Physics becomes accessible and interactive through activities such as a experimenting with a water cup drop, building a bridge, and spotting magnetic field lines. Simple machines such as levers, pulleys, and wedges are used as vehicles for discovery and comprehension of the foundational concepts of physical science. Using a theme familiar to everyone—motion—this book captures the imagination and encourages young readers to push, pull, twist, turn, and spin their way to learning about forces and motion.




A Project Guide to Light and Optics


Book Description

What do CDs, lamps, lasers, and microwave ovens all have in common? They all use the power of light and optics! From ancient times when scientists puzzled over the effects of the Sun on Earth to today, where scientists and engineers use lasers to make precise cuts in metal, people have been fascinated by light and optics. In this book, you’ll delve into this incredible subject and learn how light can bend and bounce. You’ll understand how scientists use light to send data from one side of the world to the other. And, you’ll have fun discovering new things to do with flashlights and mirrors. These experiments and activities can be used as a starting point for science fair projects, or you can do them just for fun. Either way, you’ll find out a lot about the properties of light!




A Project Guide to Sound


Book Description

Babies crying, school bells ringing, cars roaring by, the ding signaling that a new text message has arrived . . . sounds are all around us, but how are they made? And how do we hear them? Sounds are created when air vibrates, and we hear them because our ears are specially developed to funnel in and process those vibrations. Through the activities and experiments in this book, you’ll take a hands-on look at how sounds are made and how they are heard. From salt drums to xylophones and sonic booms, you’ll have fun making music and noise—and learning a little along the way!




A Project Guide to Electricity and Magnetism


Book Description

Electrical and magnetic forces are so much a part of our everyday lives, that we don’t often think about how they work or how they are related. Before digital music players and eBook readers were commonplace, though, scientists put a lot of effort into discovering just what these forces were and how to harness their energy in ways that would make life easier. Through their experimentation, they discovered the connection between electrical and magnetic forces. They found ways to bring electricity to people who wanted it. Today, we benefit from these discoveries, but there are always new things to discover! Whether you try the experiments and activities in this book for fun or for a science fair project, you’ll get an up-close look at the forces of electricity and magnetism. Enjoy each of the shocking activities in this book as you discover the pull of science!




New Standards-Based Lessons for the Busy Elementary School Librarian


Book Description

This book provides targeted and invaluable help for the busy elementary school librarian and the science teacher as they work together to design and co-teach library-based lessons guided by the Next Generation Science Standards, English Literacy Common Core Standards, and the new AASL Standards. All standards are cited in easy-to-use reproducible lessons. Energy-packed and interactive lessons are coordinated to common elementary science curricula at the grade level indicated and are also adaptable and usable as template lessons as needed. Necessary handouts and other tools, with current lists of recommended resources, are provided. Elementary school librarians and classroom teachers as well as curriculum coordinators, elementary reading, social studies, and science instructors will find value in this collection of lessons. The highly rated materials recommended in the resource lists are valuable for aiding librarians in collection development to support new and current standards.




A Project Guide to Chemistry


Book Description

When tiny atoms interact, their chemistry affects our world. From cars rusting to stomachs digesting, chemical reactions make things happen. See the invisible atomic world with these easy and fun projects on chemistry and chemical reactions that you can do yourself. Think like a chemist as you burn oxygen in air, move microscopic metals through solution, make your own plastic, and much more. Uncover nature’s mysterious recipes with chemistry!




Explore Gravity!


Book Description

How can something that grounds us and keeps us here on this earth be so invisible and mysterious? We’re not talking about anything abstract and undetectable. We’re talking about GRAVITY! Gravity is a force that affects everyone and everything. Gravity is something we can easily understand, even kids, especially if they have the right tools to teach them. Explore Gravity! With 25 Great Projects will introduce kids ages 6-9 to the basics of gravity, including concepts of matter, attraction, and gravitational pull. Projects include creating a working model of a scale to learn what “weight” really means and how it’s affected by gravity. By playing with various weights to make a marvelous mobile, readers learn about the center of balance and how martial artists use this knowledge to throw their weight around. All the projects in this book are easy to follow, require little adult supervision, and use commonly found household products, many from the recycling box! The fun facts, trivia, jokes, comics, and hands-on activities will help kids discover the captivating science of gravity. Furthermore, the informational text and hands-on activities will excite kids about STEM, the interrelated fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.




Are Bowling Balls Bullies?


Book Description

"Humorous text and characters help teach kids about forces and motion" --