Featured Resources: Sciences & Math
The Featured Resources for Fall 2008 are recent acquisitions and were reviwed by ESU students majoring in elementary education.
Seven Blind Mice, Ed Young, Puffin Publishers, ISBN: 0-689-11895-2, SMEC Number LIT-637 This is a book about seven blind mice that "discover" an elephant. Individually, each mouse feels a small part of the elephant and determines what he thinks it is. The last mouse puts all of the parts together and says that it is an elephant. The art in the book is amazing. The mice are blind; therefore, the reader can only see what the mice "see". The pages are black but the objects that can be seen are in bright colors. The pictures also show the texture of the objects. It will keep children guessing until the end. Reviewed by Christina Humphrey |
This book discusses what calcium is, including some of the different materials that contain calcium. The book explains when calcium can be bad and when calcium can be good. The book also gives the ready little facts about calcium. I thought that this would be a good book to use in the classroom. This book puts the ideas into concepts that the students can ready and understand. The graphics are also very good for the children because they are all pictures of things that children have actually seen The vocabulary is also very good because it uses words that children can actually understand
Reviewed by Kayla Recce
Calcium, Salvatore Tocci, Children's Press Scholastic, ISBN 0516278479, SMEC Number SRD-256 |
Material Matters- Chemical Reactions by Carol Baldwin, Raintree, Inc., ISBN: 14109-1681-2, SMEC Number SRD- 420 The book starts by defining what a chemical reaction is. It explains how chemical reactions happen every day and everywhere around us. Chemical reactions create new material when they react with each other. Then, the author breaks down a reaction all the way to the atoms of a substance. It explains how all things are made up of matter, and all matter has atoms. Compounds are formed from two or more atoms from at least two elements. The author explains that these compounds are the building blocks of chemical reactions. As you progress into the book, the author describes the types of chemical reactions that take place and how you label them. Baldwin describes exactly what happens in a reaction and how to affect that particular reaction. Finally, the author shows the reader what chemical reactions take place in nature and how they affect the environment.
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The author does an excellent job of explaining some of the most complex scientific things so that a person with no science background can understand what is being discussed. I like the examples the author chooses to explain how chemical reactions work. Her use of everyday things that a nonscientist can relate to makes the book informative but also interesting to read. The pictures are a good visual anchor for the reader to help understand the complex nature of the subject. Reviewed by Zach Rampy |
Density Dan, Terri Johnson and Sherry Cook, Creative 3, LLC, ISBN: l-933815-03-5, SMEC Number SAC-460 Reviewed by Matthew Ufford |
Density Dan starts a galaxy named Quirk, where the Quirkles live. The Quirkles are scientists. These scientists traveled to a land called Boresville, to share their knowledge. A Quirkle, named Density Dan, discovers two friends, Dipsy Dog and Danny Duck trying to float in dark water. The two can not float so Density Dan drives them to an ocean At the ocean, Dipsy Hog and Danny Duck float in the Salt water. Density Dan explains why they can float, because salt water is heavier than fresh water. They love their discovery and will float whenever they had time. Density Dan is a good book that gives children a great look at density. The content in this book is very helpful in understanding why things sink in fresh water, but float in salt water. The graphics in this book are very colorful, bright and big so they stand out. This is good for younger children, so they can relate the words to the pictures. The vocabulary used in this book, is very appropriate for young children. The names of the characters are fun. When a word is used that children might not know, a definition follows right after it, for example "denser (heavier)”. |
This book is about Mrs. Peterkin pouring herself a perfect cup of coffee, but accidentally adding salt rather than sugar. This upset her so she asks her family to help. The family cannot figure out what to do to the coffee so they call in a chemist. The chemist cannot fix the situation, so they ask a herb woman to fix it. They decide to consult a lady from Philadelphia. The lady’s answer is simple but sure, she tells them to just get a new cup of coffee. I thought that this book is very cute. It is definitely a book that little kids would enjoy reading. The thing that I like the most about this book is that it is full of information, but it presents it in such a manner that you do not realize you are learning. The one thing that I did not like about this book is how it gives big chemistry names of substances that the chemist put in the coffee, but then never discusses or explains them in the book. This book would be great to introduce different elements and compounds in class. It covers many different substances, but it does not delve into them very extensively; a class could. Solubility would be another concept to link with this book. The book discusses salt and sugar dissolving in the water, as well as the different chemical used by the chemist and the herbs used by the herbalist. The teacher could put out a cup of salt water and one of sugar water and see how the students would figure out which is which (without tasting of course). |
The Lady Who Put Salt in Her Coffee, Lucretia Hale, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, ISBN-0-15-243475-5, SMEC Number SRD-168
Reviewed by Becky Hinck |
How Much, How Many. How Far, How Heavy, How Long. How Tall is 1000? Helen Nolan, Scholastic, ISBN 0439355S50, SMEC MRD-196 This book explains in great detail the significance of 1000. The first few pages ask students to begin to grasp the number 1000, by asking questions like. "What does 1000 look like?" It then compares the number 1000 in different situations. It shows students how the number 1000 can be seen as a very large number or a very small number. For example, "1000 people sitting in rows will fill a small hockey arena”. But if 1000 people are all waiting to get in, the line they make will stretch out the door, down the street, and right around the block. " |
The book then allows students to expand their imaginations by showing them how the number 1000 is used in their daily lives. It accomplishes this by comparing the number 1000 to the world around them, "How heavy are 1000 cookies? Could you lift them? IF you can lift a two-year-old, you could lift 1000 Oreo Cookies" To finish, the book asks students to consider " So, now you know how much 1000 is, what do you think a thousand 1000s would be?" Overall. I think this unique book takes something as simple as a number and makes it real to young students. In addition, I enjoyed the comparisons and metaphors in this book. I feel the author greatly helped define 1000, not just as a number but as something of substance. Plus, I thought the graphics of this book, done by Tracy Walker, were creative, as well as full of life and color. I enjoyed how she used the same boy, and girl though-out the book to keep it unified, as well as and giving it a sense of story. Overall, this book was easy to read with a vocabulary easily able to be grasp by students of many reading levels.
Reviewed by Rochele Romano |
Super Sand Castle Saturday, Stuart J. Murphy, Harper Collins, ISBN: 0-06-02761206, SMEC Number: MRD-155
Super Sand Castle Saturday is a book about measuring. Three children at the beach are having a contest to see who can build the tallest tower, the deepest moat, and the longest wall. While building their castles, they measure with shovels, spoons, and feet to see who has the biggest castle. They soon find out that everyone measured with different sized objects. Super Sand Castle Saturday is a wonderful book that teaches children exactly what we learned in our first day of Our Physical World, that unless you all measure with the same exact thing, you come up with different answers. It was a wonderful book for children to learn that there are different ways to measure things and to make sure you measure everything the same. It had good graphics that showed the measurement mistakes well and good vocabulary for an elementary student to understand.
Reviewed by Elizabeth Preston |
The Wiz Kids Plugged In, Susan Goldman Rubin, Scholastic Inc., ISBN 0-590-06583-1, SMEC Number SRD-143.
This book is about three kids who are playing a video game instead of doing their science project over electricity. When a storm comes and shuts off their power, the kids open their science book to learn about what happened to their power. They soon put on Connie's grandmother's magic glasses to learn all about electricity and the people who took part in the inventions that go with it. They meet Benjamin Franklin, then Alessandro Volta, and lastly Thomas Edison. The kids discover that electricity can be fun and interesting. Once the power comes back on, the kids want to work on their science project instead of playing video games. For their project they make their own circuit. The book has instructions so you can make one too. I think that the book is very informative and kid friendly. The book uses correct vocabulary. It demonstrates, through pictures, how electricity works. The pictures are excellent. Incorporating actual people who changed electricity and invented things brings new and interesting information to the book. The content is very basic, but conveys the general facts about electricity. It explains currents, circuits, electrons, and of course, all the cool things invented using electricity as a basis. Reviewed by Chelsie Kisner |
Gilbert Gas, Terri Johnson and Sherry Cook , Creative 3 LLC, ISBN: 1-933815-06-X SMEC Number: SAC- 463 Gilbert Gas introduces a far away galaxy called "Quirksville", explaining that this planet is made up of many little scientists who love experiments and have vivid imaginations. Gilbert Gas is a very happy Quirkle. One day he and his goat friend Gary go to the grocery store and get "grape gola and gooey gum". But Gary the Goat drops his grape gola on the ground and before Gilbert Gas can stop him he opens his gola. When the gola explodes all over Gary, Gilbert explains that it got all over him because of carbon dioxide in the bottle. Gary says he doesn't like carbon dioxide, but Gilbert quickly explains that carbon dioxide is important because plants use that to breathe and then give off oxygen for us to breathe. Both agree that carbon dioxide is in fact very important to have and the story ends. This book was really cute because it used lots of "G" words that would probably amuse the children listening to the story. There were some words that the children may not understand, but this would be a good time to teach them some scientific vocabulary. For the most part, the vocabulary is simple for the children to understand. The illustrations are very appealing; it was actually the main reason I choose this book. I think that the students you read it to would enjoy the bright colors and the goofiness that Gilbert and Gary portray when talking with the "gola" all over them. I thought that this book could explain carbon dioxide a little bit better. There was only two pages dedicated to the actual scientific aspect of the book. I know that it is aimed at a young age group, but I think adding a little bit more information would not be overdoing it. Overall, I thought this book was very cute though. Reviewed by Kelli Hurla |
How Tall? How Short? How Far Away? David Adler, Square Moon Productions, ISBN: 0823413756, SMEC Number: MRD-193
This book introduces several measuring systems such as the Egyptian system, the inch-pound system, and the metric system. The inch-pound system is also known as the customary system which is what we use in the United States. The metric system is used almost everywhere else around the world. This book gives a conversion table on the last page to show how to convert between the inch-pound system and the metric system. It also gives great details on which units to use when measuring large distances versus small distances. This informative and interesting book teaches many different themes and concepts such as: measurement, length, height, distance, creativity; measuring systems, the history of measurement, and conversions between different systems using the conversion table in the back of the book. This book has great illustrations to teach visual and verbal literacy to children as they read this book. I even learned some new information from this book that I had never read before such as the Egyptian system.
Reviewed by Marcie Fundis |
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Last Updated July 31, 2008