Investigating Solids, Liquids, and Gases with Toys

Rating:
Summary: A Must for Your Professional Science Teaching Library
Review: Terrific Science Press has published several excellent books that I know of: Teaching Chemistry with Toys (grades K-9), Teaching Physics with Toys (grades K-9), and Exploring Energy with Toys (grades 4-8). I use them all with gusto, and I looked forward to receiving Investigating Solids, Liquids, and Gases with Toys (middle school). I was not disappointed.

The book begins with 13 pages of content review that includes excellent graphics, tables, and graphs. This is followed by an 8 page section on pedagogical strategies. The heart of the book, of course, is the set of 24 activities, evenly distributed between states of matter and changes of state. Each activity is clearly laid out with the following sections: time required, key science topics, student background (if required), national science education standards, additional process skills (for some activities), materials - for getting ready - for the procedure - for the extensions, safety and disposal, getting ready, introducing the activity, procedure, variations and extensions, explanation, assessment suggestions, cross-curricular integration, and handout masters that are worth the price of the book even if you already do some of these activities. Excellent graphics add to this outstanding resource. Nice extras at the end of the book include 6 masters for assessment models and a list of suppliers for materials that might need to be ordered. (Most of the activities use common materials.)

Activities: (1) Properties of Matter (2) BedBugs (3) Mystery Eggs (4) Balloon in a Bottle (5) Burping Bottle (6) Tissue in a Cup (7) Showing That Air Has Mass (8) Marshmallow in a Syringe (9) Moving Molecules (10) Non-Newtonian Fluids (11) Rock Candy Crystals (12) Crystals from Solutions (13) Crystals by Freezing (14) Boiling Water in a Paper Pot (15) Boiling Liquids in a Syringe (16) Boiling Water with Ice (17) Liquid to Gas in a Flick (18) Disappearing Air Freshener (19) A Cool Phase Change (20) Using Dry Ice to Inflate a Balloon (21) The Phase Changes of Carbon Dioxide (22) Balloon-into-a-Flask Challenge (23) Crushing an Aluminum Can (24) Hats Off to the Drinking Bird

One more thing: I also think that many of these activities could be done at the high school level, although you might choose to modify the hand-out questions.

Rating:
Summary: A Must for Your Professional Science Teaching Library
Review: Terrific Science Press has published several excellent books that I know of: Teaching Chemistry with Toys (grades K-9), Teaching Physics with Toys (grades K-9), and Exploring Energy with Toys (grades 4-8). I use them all with gusto, and I looked forward to receiving Investigating Solids, Liquids, and Gases with Toys (middle school). I was not disappointed.

The book begins with 13 pages of content review that includes excellent graphics, tables, and graphs. This is followed by an 8 page section on pedagogical strategies. The heart of the book, of course, is the set of 24 activities, evenly distributed between states of matter and changes of state. Each activity is clearly laid out with the following sections: time required, key science topics, student background (if required), national science education standards, additional process skills (for some activities), materials - for getting ready - for the procedure - for the extensions, safety and disposal, getting ready, introducing the activity, procedure, variations and extensions, explanation, assessment suggestions, cross-curricular integration, and handout masters that are worth the price of the book even if you already do some of these activities. Excellent graphics add to this outstanding resource. Nice extras at the end of the book include 6 masters for assessment models and a list of suppliers for materials that might need to be ordered. (Most of the activities use common materials.)

Activities: (1) Properties of Matter (2) BedBugs (3) Mystery Eggs (4) Balloon in a Bottle (5) Burping Bottle (6) Tissue in a Cup (7) Showing That Air Has Mass (8) Marshmallow in a Syringe (9) Moving Molecules (10) Non-Newtonian Fluids (11) Rock Candy Crystals (12) Crystals from Solutions (13) Crystals by Freezing (14) Boiling Water in a Paper Pot (15) Boiling Liquids in a Syringe (16) Boiling Water with Ice (17) Liquid to Gas in a Flick (18) Disappearing Air Freshener (19) A Cool Phase Change (20) Using Dry Ice to Inflate a Balloon (21) The Phase Changes of Carbon Dioxide (22) Balloon-into-a-Flask Challenge (23) Crushing an Aluminum Can (24) Hats Off to the Drinking Bird

One more thing: I also think that many of these activities could be done at the high school level, although you might choose to modify the hand-out questions.