Fizz, Bubble and Flash: Element Explorations and Atom Adventures for Hands-On Science Fun

For ages 8+. What do elements have to do with your everyday life? They make your world -- and beyond -- move and groove, fizz, bubble and flash! Discover what you have in common with party balloons, footballs, computer chips, pizza dough, table salt and TV screens; "Break" a water molecule, produce fluorescent light (without using a switch!), enjoy a half-life snack, compare antiperspirants, and separate the iron from your breakfast cereal!; Find out why broccoli smells, why soda makes a coin shine, the secret of static cling, and what makes a smoke detector work.

Grade 4-8-This book begins with an introduction to the elements and an explanation of the periodic table. The following chapters describe the different columns, or families, of the periodic table from the alkali metals to the actinides, presenting information about certain elements. Boxed areas provide each element's symbol, number, mass, and brief details about its discovery. Related experiments appear throughout. While they are illustrative and simple, many of the projects, such as making slime and using iodine to identify starchy foods, will be familiar to students and educators. Ideas for making the activities appropriate for science fairs are also included. Sidebars highlight interesting facts, and useful pronunciation guides help with difficult words. Humorous black-and-white cartoons and photographs add to the busy layout. While the visual presentation will appeal to primary graders, the reading level and content is more suited to middle school students. Still, this would be a solid addition for teachers with a chemistry curriculum, as well as for youngsters seeking information on the subject.
Maren Ostergard, Bellevue Regional Library, WA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 4-7. From the publisher's Kids Can! Book series, this introduces chemistry to children in an unintimidating, sometimes entertaining text, illustrated with black-and-white, cartoon-style drawings. Brandolini explains the periodic table and presents hands-on activities such as making "slime," testing foods for starch content, and observing the release of carbon dioxide in a yeast-sugar solution. She also includes stories of discoveries, applications of chemistry, and ideas for science-fair projects. Readers will find a great deal of accessible information here, but the material, presentation, and vocabulary are more difficult than they might initially expect. For example, the term ion is introduced and used early in the book, but it is not clearly defined until later. Still, this is one of the few books that attempt to present the fundamentals of chemistry to children. Carolyn Phelan
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