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Book Reviews
We have keynoted volume 1 of this book in earlier newsletters and we have been giving workshop participants and schools a copy of volume 1 because we think that it is the best book of elementary-level hands-on activities for the price. Recently The Best of WonderScience, Over 200 Hands-on Elementary Science Activities, volume 2, has been published. This second volume has been put together by James H. Kessler and Andrea T. Bennett, the writers for the first volume. It incorporates activities from editions of the WonderScience magazine since volume 1 along with some additional activities. This about 430-page volume is equally well
written, safety tested, in full color, and appropriate for a variety of
content areas. The main sections include Science through your Senses,
Chemical Tests, Materials, Measuring, Math Skills, Physics, States of Matter,
and Earth and Space Science. Children learn the importance of establishing
an experimental control, changing and controlling variables, observing,
measuring, recording data, and drawing reasonable conclusions. Moreover,
there is an excellent APPENDIX describing prudent safety practices for
the elementary school (K-6) science classroom, teacher information pages
suggesting introductions and modifications to activities as well as expected
results and activity extensions, links to National Science Education Standards,
and student activity sheets for recording observations and answering questions.
Finally, this volume contains a detailed keyword and activities index for
both volumes. The cost is $29.95 from the American Chemical Society,
PO Box 57136, Washington, DC 20037-0136; 800-227-5558; FAX 202-872-6067.
The cost may be somewhat higher in local bookstores or from the publisher,
The Wadsworth Education Resource Center, at http://education.
wadsworth.com. We don't say this very frequently, but this is
a book that elementary teachers must have available! It is also a
perfect gift for an elementary school child or grandchild who is excited
about science.
Site overview:
Kids Involved
Doing Science is at http://www.kids.union.edu. |
