From birds to bees, from sound to light, from heat to ice, kids will have hours of enjoyment (and learning!) with over 300 entertaining experiments. Each project introduces fascinating scientific principles, and shows children how and why things work. With a flowerpot and a long stick as your sundial, follow the shifting shadows to read the time. Turn a match and a watch into a compass. Create chemistry color magic: soak a red cabbage leaf in boiling water, add the violet liquid to glasses of water, white vinegar, and bicarbonate of soda, and watch what happens! Write a secret message in invisible ink made from vinegar and either lemon or onion juice. If you like looking at bubbles, poke a stick into the bottom of a muddy pond; methane gas caused by decomposing plants will come bubbling up. We all use electricity every day. But why does a battery make a flashlight light or a radio play? Find out! And if you've got an old one that you think is used up, warm it gently to bring it back to life. Make sure people hear what you've got to say: speak through a microphone! Construct one with two lead pencils, a matchbox, an earphone, and a battery. Other great experiments deal with magnetism, air, heat, evaporation, liquids, buoyancy, gravity, force and inertia, botany, reptiles and amphibians, invertebrates, and illusions. Parents will be pleased they'll have to help with some of these--after all, why should kids have all the fun? Sterling 352 pages, 372 b/w illus., 6 x 8.
Gr 3-6-A collection of experiments that demonstrate standard observations in both the physical and life sciences. The 325 activities include making a potato battery, collecting and pressing leaves, and exploring magnetic fields. Each project is outlined on a single page and illustrated with a clear, but static, black-and-white drawing that appears to be computer generated. A final sentence or paragraph explains why a particular reaction or observation occurs. Although sharp objects, heat, and chemicals are used, precautions are not indicated except for a brief mention in the introduction of "appropriate adult supervision." Many of the activities are clever and some are original, such as making tissue paper dolls dance under a glass rubbed with a woolen cloth. The experiments have been selected from three books originally published in Germany. Some lapses in editing have one experiment referring to another not included in this compilation. A matter-of-fact, rather dry compendium.-Kathryn Kosiorek, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OH
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