Explore Solids and Liquids!: With 25 Great Projects

by Kathleen M. Reilly, Bryan Stone (Illustrator)

Overview

For a kid, watching a solid turn into a liquid or a liquid into a gas is nothing short of magic. In Explore Solids and Liquids! With 25 Great Projects kids experience the wonder of different states of matter. They’ll learn what matter is made of, how it can change, and how these interactions really work in our universe. With plenty of activities and projects, young readers gain a solid understanding of the matter they touch, see, feel, and experience every single day.

As young readers discover the basic concepts and vocabulary of chemistry, they will experiment with household objects to discover how solids, liquids, and gases occupy space. Kids will dissolve solids into liquids and bring them back again, use salt and pepper to demonstrate water's surface tension, and fly helium-filled balloons to see what happens to molecules at different temperatures. Illustrated with cartoon illustrations and filled with fun facts, Explore Solids and Liquids! makes science entertaining and exciting.

Explore Solids and Liquids! meets common core state standards in language arts for reading informational text and literary nonfiction and is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. Guided Reading Levels and Lexile measurements indicate grade level and text complexity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619302372
Publisher:	Nomad Press
Publication date:	08/12/2014
Series:	Nomad Press Explore Your World Series
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 9.70(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	820L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Kathleen Reilly has written several books for Nomad Press, including Planet Earth: 25 Environmental Projects You Can Build Yourself; The Human Body: 25 Fantastic Projects Illuminate How the Body Works; Explore Weather and Climate! with 25 Projects; and Natural Disasters: Investigate Earth’s Most Destructive Forces with 25 Projects. She is an award-winning author of several other science books for kids and is a contributor to dozens of publications, including Better Homes & Gardens, Family Circle, Family Fun, National Geographic Kids, and Parents. Kate lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Bryan Stone is a cartoonist and the illustrator of several books for Nomad Press including Explore Night Science!, Explore Flight!, Explore Rivers and Ponds!, Explore Rocks and Minerals!, and Explore Electricity!. He lives in Hartland, Vermont.

Table of Contents

• Introduction: Matter Really Matters

• Chapter 1: Solids

• Chapter 2: Liquids

• Chapter 3: Gases

• Chapter 4: The Changing States of Matter

• Chapter 5: More Matter!

• Chapter 6: Mixtures and Compounds

• Glossary

• Resources

• Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

• Jennifer Schulze, MSEd, Reading Specialist Instructor, Western Oregon University
“This versatile book can be used by a classroom teacher or homeschool parent, inquisitive or struggling student. It’s interesting, easy to read, and spot on where matter is concerned.”

• Dr. Christopher Gorman, Professor of Chemistry, North Carolina State University
“Fun activities that illustrate how matter behaves in its different forms. Just the sort of thing to pique a budding, young scientist’s curiosity”

• Dr. Todd F. Hoover, Early Childhood & Adolescent Education, University of Pennsylvania
“An engaging book both visually and in content, using classic activities and discrepant events, as well as new and exciting ones! A good book to help children go hands-on and to learn about solids and liquids.”

Editorial Reviews

Science Books & Films


++: Highly Recommended
 

Children are often mesmerized by experiments that change the form of matter. With experience, they gain an understanding of the relationships among solids, liquids, and gases. The book provides background knowledge of gases, solids and liquids and then presents 25 simple experiments that can be complete with substances found in most kitchens. Clear directions for each experiment take the young scientist through a series of easy to follow steps. Many experiments conclude with an explanation of what happened and why. Experiments range from simple ones like "Ice Fishing" to making ice cream called a "Frosty Treat." In each experiment or explanation, states of matter are changed by melting, cooling or freezing, vaporization, condensation, sublimation or deposition. The author creates engaging experiments that most children can do and incorporates a science notebook and worksheet to record observations. This provides a good structure for applying the scientific method. The artwork is simple, the pages are easy to read, and an impish character looking like a mad scientist is found throughout the book. Generally the vocabulary and concepts are within the range of elementary students. The author did an outstanding job of making the concepts of molecules and atoms understandable for an elementary student, and these concepts are critical to the discussion of density. Difficult content was developed in a logical sequence and there is a good flow of ideas and experiments within the book. This book is an excellent resource for an elementary science classroom studying forms of matter.



• Booklist:
". . . The accessible text takes a friendly tone, providing ample background information and easily recognizable everyday examples. Cartoon illustrations, inset boxes with facts, and occasional jokes help keep readers engaged. Experimenters are asked to make predictions, try multiple variations, and record observations. . . This should provide inspiration and insights into scientific exploration for students, teachers, and budding mad scientists.”



• Library Media Connections:
This introduction to basic chemistry investigates solids, liquids, and gases and how these forms of matter change and transform. With a frog-like creature with Albert Einsteins face as the guide, each chapter provides background material leading the reader to a series of well-constructed hands-on activities. . . This is an attractive presentation, easy to navigate, that encourages young readers to learn through text and experimentation." Recommended

From the Publisher