Silly Science: Strange and Startling Projects to Amaze Your Family and Friends - Softcover

Levine, Shar; Johnstone, Leslie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0471110132 ISBN 13: 9780471110132

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 1995

Synopsis

E ach and every experiment in Silly Science is guaranteed to make you giggle, and teach you about science at the same time.

What could be sillier than making spaghetti dance, performing magic tricks with a diaper, or building a maze for a potato? Believe it or not, you need real science to do goofy stuff like this, but you don't need fancy equipment. Every one of the 28 projects in this book can be completed with materials you find around the house. The simple, clear instructions and illustrations help you get each experiment right the first time you try it.

About this title

About the Author

SHAR LEVINE is the former owner of Einstein's The Science Centre, a science book and toy store in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the coauthor of Projects for a Healthy Planet and Einstein's Science Parties, both published by Wiley.

LESLIE JOHNSTONE is an elementary school teacher in Vancouver and an editor of Catalyst, a journal for science teachers.

What could be sillier than making spaghetti dance, performing magic tricks with a diaper, or building a maze for a potato? Believe it or not, you need real science to do goofy stuff like this, but you don't need fancy equipment. Every one of the 28 projects in this book can be completed with materials you find around the house. The simple, clear instructions and illustrations help you get each experiment right the first time you try it.

Reviews

Grade 4-6-The first book offers 25 simple projects designed to help children explore the science behind the way ordinary things work, and is divided into 5 sections: light and optics, heat, earth science, chemistry, and electricity and magnetism. Directions are given for making useful objects, such as a kaleidoscope, refracting telescope, silver polish, bath salts, and a burglar alarm, out of common household materials. Silly Science illustrates scientific principles through 28 "...seemingly useless experiments." Each has a clever, interest-catching title and introductory statement. For example, "Foiled Again!" uses aluminum foil and a penny to demonstrate the chemical process of corrosion, and "Make It Snappy" explores the effects of heat on the stretching properties of rubber bands. In both titles, each project has a list of materials needed, step-by-step instructions, a one-paragraph "What Happened" statement, and a "Did You Know?" section of factoids and related information. Safety warnings are incorporated into the directions. Some of the black-and-white illustrations relate to procedural set-ups, but most are simply decorative cartoons. Children will find the activities fun and easy to do, but it may take adult guidance to get them to focus on the "What Happened" sections and to expand on the brief information provided for an understanding of the principles involved.
Carolyn Angus, The Claremont Graduate School, CA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471110132
• ISBN 13: 9780471110132
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 95