Science Resources

Sometimes the best way to teach a subject is to lay some ground rules and then let students actually "do" what they're studying. This is especially true of science, a study predicated on activity, experimentation and the observation of physical properties. It's also one of the best ways to get kids interested in science in the first place.

If he hadn't stood atop the Tower of Pisa dropping things off the edge, Galileo would never have made his observation that objects of any weight fall at the same rate in a vacuum. Archimedes had to get in the tub to discover that it is volume that displaces water. And the only way Newton could discover calculus was by scribbling numbers on pieces of paper.

Your kid probably isn't the next Einstein, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't learn as much about science as possible, or that he should do so with his hands tied behind his back. The problem with a lot of science textbooks is that they emphasize book knowledge without taking into account the hands-on nature of science and science learning. Observation is often touted as an essential part of the science process, but rarely is it enforced in the typical school curriculum.

Science resources can change all that. There are plenty of fact-based books (particularly those from Usborne) that pair facts with vivid illustrations, and those are fun for rainy days—kids are a lot better at acquiring and retaining raw information than we often give them credit for. But those are just a place to start; the options are limitless.

One of the best sorts of science resource are books filled with experiments. Whether it's Explorabook from Klutz Press which focuses on fun activities and includes everything you need to complete them, or Vicki Cobb's Bet You Can! experiments using household items, or the more advanced Science for Every Kid books by Janice VanCleave, you aren't likely to run out of options.

Astronomy is more observation-oriented, and we offer plenty of books on that topic, too. The Stars by H.A. Rey is a now-classic guide to the night sky for beginners, while Starry Messenger explains some of the basic tenets of modern astronomy through the (detailed and beautifully illustrated) life of Galileo Galilei. Isaac Asimov has written a number of books on space science, as has Seymour Simon.

Just letting your kids outside with notebooks and maybe a magnifying glass is as good as any book for helping them develop a love of nature and nature study, though manuals to help them identify plants, animals, rocks, etc. is a good idea. One of our favorite such books is the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock.

Keeping a well-stocked chemistry lab is a good idea for older students. Many experiments require chemicals, ingredients and equipment you aren't likely to just have lying around, so you'll need to be intentional about keeping a lot of those things stocked. Field trips are always a good idea as well, whether to a local laboratory, observatory, zoo, factory, or anywhere else that strikes your kids' fancy and has educational potential.

Whatever else you do, keep an open mind while guiding your kids' science education. The beauty of God's world and the excitement of learning about it should always be kept in view; whatever difficulty there is in physics, biology or chemistry should be met head on but not dwelt on or made cause for discouragement. Have fun, and don't restrict your science time to reading stuff—take time to actually do science, and you might find along with your children that it isn't such a bad thing to study after all.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

 

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Anatomy Coloring Book
by Wynn Kapit
4th edition from Pearson Education
for 9th-Adult
in Anatomy Coloring Books (Location: SCI-ANACOL)
$29.99
Anatomy Flashcards
from QuickStudy
for 10th-Adult
in Human Anatomy & Physiology (Location: SCI-ANA)
$24.95
Backyard Ballistics
by William Gurstelle
Second Edition from Chicago Review Press
for 7th-Adult
in Dangerous Books for Kids (Location: SS-DAN)
$16.95
Biology Coloring Book
by Robert Griffin
from HarperCollins
for 10th-Adult
in Biology (Location: SCI-BIO)
$26.99 $14.00 (1 in stock)
Birds of the Pacific Northwest
by John Shewey & Tim Blount, edited by Hendrik Herlyn
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 5th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$27.95
Body By Design
by Alan Gillen
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Human Anatomy & Physiology (Location: SCI-ANA)
$13.59
Brendan Voyage
Modern Library Exploration
by Tim Severin
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.00
Creation and Change
by Douglas Kelly
from Mentor Books
for 11th-Adult
in Faith & Science (Location: XAP-SCI)
$17.99
Creation: Facts of Life
by Gary Parker
from Master Books
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: Christian Books (Location: XCLE)
$8.00
Creative Haven Beautiful Birds - Coloring Book
Creative Haven
by Dot Barlowe
First Edition, Fir from Dover Publications
for 7th-Adult
in Adult Coloring Books (Location: COL-ADULT)
$6.99
Darwin's Black Box
by Michael J. Behe
10th edition from Free Press
for 11th-Adult
in Faith & Science (Location: XAP-SCI)
$18.99
Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds
by Phillip E. Johnson
from InterVarsity Press
for 11th-Adult
in Faith & Science (Location: XAP-SCI)
$18.00
Different Shade of Green
by Gordon Wilson
from Canon Press
for 11th-Adult
in Environment & Conservation (Location: SCI-ENV)
$15.95
Elements of Faith
by Richard Duncan
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Chemistry (Location: SCI-CHEM)
$39.19
Evolution: The Grand Experiment
by Dr. Carl Werner
from New Leaf Press
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$34.99
Evolution: The Grand Experiment - Presentation CD
by Dr. Carl Werner
from New Leaf Press
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$14.99
Evolution: The Grand Experiment - Teacher's Manual
by Dr. Carl Werner
from New Leaf Press
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$16.99 $11.00 (1 in stock)
Field and Hedgerow
by Richard Jefferies
from Living Book Press
for 6th-Adult
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$11.99
For the Love of Physics
from Free Press
for 7th-Adult
in Physics (Location: SCI-PHY)
$18.00
Forager's Harvest
by Samuel Thayer
from Forager's Harvest
for 9th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$27.95
From the Earth to the Moon
by Jules Verne, Translated by Louis Mercer & Eleanor King
Illustrated 1874 from SeaWolf Press
for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.95
Genesis of Germs
by Alan L. Gillen
from Master Books
for 10th-Adult
in Genetics & Microscopic Life (Location: SCI-GEN)
$17.59 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Geology By Design
by Carl R. Froede, Jr.
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Geology (Rocks & Minerals) (Location: SCI-GEO)
$13.59
Grand Canyon
by Tom Vail
from Master Books
for 5th-Adult
in Geology (Rocks & Minerals) (Location: SCI-GEO)
$13.59
Great Physicists from Galileo to Einstein
by George Gamow
from Dover Publications
Biography for 9th-Adult
in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
$16.95
Human Brain Coloring Book
by Lawrence M. Elson
from Harper Perennial
for 9th-Adult
in Anatomy Coloring Books (Location: SCI-ANACOL)
$22.00
In the Heart of the Sea
by Nathaniel Philbrick
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th grade-adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00
Instincts by Design
by E. Howard Callahan
from Master Books
for 8th-Adult
in Biology (Location: SCI-BIO)
$19.99
It Couldn't Just Happen
by Lawrence O. Richards
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Faith & Science (Location: XAP-SCI)
$16.99
Junk Drawer Ecology
by Bobby Mercer
from Chicago Review Press
for 4th-Adult
in Science Experiments & Activities (Location: SCI-EXP)
$16.99
Kaplan Anatomy Coloring Book
by Eric Wise, Stephanie Mccann
7th edition from Kaplan
for 9th-Adult
in Anatomy Coloring Books (Location: SCI-ANACOL)
$24.99
Life of the Fields
by Richard Jefferies
from Living Book Press
for 6th-Adult
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$9.99
Living Fossils
by Carl Werner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$23.99
Living Fossils - DVD
by Dr. Carl Werner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$15.99
Living Fossils - Presentation CD
by Carl Werner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$11.99
Living Fossils - Teacher's Manual
by Carl Werner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$13.59
Microbe Hunters
by Paul De Kruif
from Purple House Press
for 10th-Adult
in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
$12.99
Moby-Dick
Signet Classics
by Herman Melville
from Signet Classics
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.95
Moby-Dick
Everyman's Library
by Herman Melville
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$35.00
Moby-Dick
by Herman Melville
from Penguin Putnam
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$16.00
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region
2nd edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$23.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds: Western Region
National Audubon Society Field Guides
Revised from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$26.00
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Butterflies
by Robert Michael Pyle
Chanticleer Press ed from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$24.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects & Spiders
by Lorus and Margery Milne
Later Printing from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$25.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms
by Gary H. Lincoff
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$26.00
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$25.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Seashore Creatures
by Norman A Meinkoth
First Edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$27.00
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Shells
Reprint from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$24.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Night Sky
First Edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$24.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Pacific Northwest
National Audubon Society Field Guide
by Peter Alden & Dennis Paulson
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$27.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees: Eastern Region
Chanticleer Press Ed from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$23.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees: Western Region
by Elbert L. Little
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$26.00
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers: Eastern Region
2nd edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$24.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers: Western Region
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$24.95
Nature Study Guide
by W.S. Furneaux
from Yesterday's Classics
for Adult
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$18.95
Notes on Birds 1
by Anna Botsford Comstock
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
$9.99
Notes on Birds 2
by Anna Botsford Comstock
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
$9.99
Notes on Common Animals
by Anna Botsford Comstock
2021 Printing from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
$9.99
Notes on Fishes
by Anna Botsford Comstock
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
$9.99
Notes on Insects
by Anna Botsford Comstock
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
$9.99
Notes on Plants and Flowers
by Anna Botsford Comstock
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
$9.99
Notes on Trees
by Anna Botsford Comstock
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
$9.99
Ocean Anatomy
by Julia Rothman
from Storey Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$18.99
Pacific Northwest Insects
Timber Press Field Guides
by Judy Haggard, Peter Haggard
from Seattle Audubon Society
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$34.95
Peterson Field Guide: Birds - Coloring Book
Peterson Field Guide Color-In Books
by Peter C. Alden & Roger Tory Peterson
from Houghton Mifflin
for 9th-Adult
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$11.99
Riot and the Dance - Lab Manual
by Dr. Gordon Wilson
from Canon Press
for 11th-Adult
in Biology (Location: SCI-BIO)
$22.00
Riot and the Dance - Teacher's Guide
by Dr. Gordon Wilson
from Canon Press
for 11th-Adult
in Biology (Location: SCI-BIO)
$24.00
Riot and the Dance - Textbook
by Dr. Gordon Wilson
from Canon Press
for 11th-Adult
in Biology (Location: SCI-BIO)
$70.00
Scientific Creationism
by Henry M. Morris
2nd edition from Master Books
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: Christian Books (Location: XCLE)
$8.00
Six Easy Pieces
from Basic Books
for 9th-Adult
in Physics (Location: SCI-PHY)
$15.99
Smithsonian Handbook of Horses
Dorling Kindersley Handbooks
by Elwyn H. Edwards
from DK Publishing
Science Reference for 4th-12th grade
in Horses & Ponies (Location: SCI-MAMHOR)
$24.00
Smithsonian Natural History
2nd edition from DK Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$50.00
Summer for the Gods
by Edward J. Larson
from Harvard University Press
for 11th-Adult
in Clearance: Christian Books (Location: XCLE)
$12.00 $4.00 (1 in stock)
The Martian
by Andy Weir
Reprint from Broadway Books
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-Ups
by Gina Ingoglia
from Brooklyn Botanic Garden
for Kindergarten-Adult
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$15.95
Trees and Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest
Timber Press Field Guides
by Ellen Kuhlmann, Mark Turner
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$29.95
Universe By Design
by Dr. Danny Faulkner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Astronomy (Space) (Location: SCI-AST)
$15.19
What Is Creation Science?
by Gary E. Parker, Henry M. Morris
Revised from Master Books
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: Christian Books (Location: XCLE)
$9.00
Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest
Timber Press Field Guides
by Mark Turner, Phyllis Gustafson
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$29.95
Wildlife Anatomy
by Julia Rothman
1st edition from Storey Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$18.99
Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest
Timber Press Field Guides
by David Moskowitz
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$29.99
Wright Brothers
by David McCullough
Reprint from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.00
Your Guide to the Grand Canyon
by Tom Vail, Michael Oard, Dennis Bokovoy, & John Hergenrather
from Master Books
for 8th-Adult
in Geology (Rocks & Minerals) (Location: SCI-GEO)
$15.19
Your Guide to Zion and Bryce Canyon (True North)
by Dennis Bokovoy, John Hergenrather, Mike Oard, Tom Vail
Spi from Master Books
for ages 10 and up
in Geology (Rocks & Minerals) (Location: SCI-GEO)
$12.79
Zoology Coloring Book
by Lawrence M. Elson
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 9th-Adult
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$24.99 $14.00 (1 in stock)