Stomp Rockets, Catapults, and Kaleidoscopes: 30+ Amazing Science Projects You Can Build for Less than $1
A Note to Adults The projects in this book do not include laboratory exercises structured discov ery lessons or experiments in the formal sense of the word Students learn from firsthand experience in the process of trying to build the projects and make them work Each project demonstrates several science or math concepts that can be found in most curricula and lists of standards Each project has been tested in between 10 and 30 classes over the course of four years I can be confi dent when I say the projects work You can have great times with your kid while building stuff Here are some pointers to make the process work Don't take over your kid's project If you get so excited about it that you grab it from them to do the next step you’ve overstepped your mandate There are safety issues to be sure but don't let the off chance of a small cut or scrape stand in the way of your youngster's learning to use a new tool or build a great
Don't demand perfection Even built crudely most of these toys will work Polish comes with practice The kid's pride in completion is the priority Let kids make mistakes Many times a mistake will teach more than will a first time success Know your role you are the assistant If you want to build your own toys wait until your kid goes to bed I'm serious if your kid sees your success to be better than his or her own the child may be put off from trying another project But if you can work together with your kid in a way that demonstrates you're helping without taking the lead you’ll have hours of fun together I find a good technique is to be fiddling with something unrelated nearby That way I can easily step in and out of the kids work with advice and help without hav ing to twiddle my thumbs as they slowly learn how to do something I already know The toys here span the technical sub jects physics including sound light mechanics electricity and magnetism chemistry geology and biology Usually several topics can be explored with a sin
gle project The toys are ideal for spark ing students interest in a concept area and can be used as stepping stones toward more learning Happy
INTRODUCTION ALL NATURAL THINGS SOLAR SYSTEMS volcanoes glac iers tornadoes camels live oak trees sea turtles algae cardiovascular systems silicon nuclei just work without any human effort On the other hand most of the gadgets that you use each day both high and low tech have been made to work by people When you cry out It doesn't work you should remember that not working is actually a gadget's default condition To make something work is exceptional it takes know how and ingenuity Ten thousand years ago every family knew more or less how to make every thing work that was necessary for their existence where to find the materials how to put them togeth er how to use the finished product People in many so called backward places in the world can still do this today But here in our advanced society where we're up to our ears in technology I challenge you to think of three things you depend on daily that you could create from scratch even given all the materi als set out in front of you We are clearly losing our touch This book will show you how to build more than 30 amazing science toys You will learn a lot as you
