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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Air Forces of the World
by Sue Butterworth, editor
from Chartwell Books
for 9th-Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
American Fishermen
by Albert Cook Church (photography), text by James B. Connolly
from Bonanza Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
American Sailing Coasters of the North Atlantic
by Paul C. Morris, foreword by Edouard Stackpole
1979 Reprint from Bonanza Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
American Ship Models and How to Build Them
by V. R. Grimwood, foreword by Howard I. Chapelle
from Bonanza Books
for 9th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
American Wild Life
1952nd edition from Wm. H. Wise & Co.
for 8th-Adult
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Amphibians and Reptiles of the Pacific States
by Gayle Pickwell
from Stanford University Press
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Apollo on the Moon
by Henry S. F. Cooper, Jr.
from Dial Press
for 6th-Adult
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Asimov's New Guide to Science
by Isaac Asimov
from Basic Books
for Adult
in Science Reference (Location: SCIREF)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Atlas of Natural Wonders
by Rupert O. Matthews
from Weekly Reader
for 9th-Adult
in Geology (Rocks & Minerals) (Location: SCI-GEO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Audubon's Birds of America
by John James Audubon
from Galahad Books
for Adult
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Backyard Astronomer's Guide
by Terence Dickinson & Alan Dyer
Revised from Firefly Books
for 9th-Adult
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Beechcraft: Pursuit of Perfection
by Edward H. Phillips
from Flying Books
for Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Bird Families of the World
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for Adult
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Birds of America
by T. Gilbert Pearson (editor), illustrated by Louis Agassiz Fuertes
from Doubleday & Company
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in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Birds of Prey
A Grosset All-Color Guide
by Glenys and Derek Lloyd, Illustrated by Ken Lilly
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 9th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Blow Ye Winds Westerly
by Elizabeth Gemming
1st edition from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Boatbuilding
by Howard I. Chapelle
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Birds Volumes I & II
by Gilbert Grosvenor & Alexander Wetmore (editors), illustrated by Major Allan Brooks
from National Geographic
for Adult
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$18.00 (1 in stock)
British and European Combat Aircraft
Combat Aircraft Library
by Paul A. Jackson
from Crescent Books
for Adult
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Chapman Piloting
by Elbert S. Maloney
57th edition from Hearst Marine Books
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Clipper Ships
by David R. MacGregor
from Argus Books
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Deep-Water Sail
by Harold A. Underhill
from Brown, Son & Ferguson, Ltd.
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$18.00 (1 in stock)
Destroyers for Great Britain
by Arnold Hague
Revised & Expanded from Naval Institute Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Echoes of the Whistle
by Gerald Rushton, introduction by Leonard G. McCann
from Douglas & McIntyre, Limited
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Einstein's Universe
by Nigel Calder
from Viking Press
for Adult
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Encyclopedia of Animals
from Fog City Press
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Encyclopedia of Mammals
by Professor David Macdonald, editor
from Barnes & Noble
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
by James Trefil
from Routledge
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Encylopedia of Underwater Life
by Andrew Campbell and John Dawes
from Oxford University
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$20.00 (1 in stock)
Experts' Book of Boating
by Ruth Brindze (editor), illustrated by Fred Wellbrock
from Prentice Hall
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Flying Combat Aircraft of the USAAF-USAF
by Robin Higham and Abigail Siddall, editors
from Iowa State University Press
for Adult
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Flying Squadrons
by S. Paul Johnston
1st edition from Duell, Sloan and Pearce
for Adult
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Fresh & Salt Water Fishes of the World
by Edward C. Migdalski and George S. Fichter, illustrated by Norman Weaver
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Adult
in Sharks & Fishes (Location: SCI-FISH)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
From Conception to Birth
by Alexander Tsiaras
1st edition from Doubleday & Company
in Pregnancy & Infant Care (Location: PRE-INF)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Full Fathom Five
by Frank H. Shaw
from Macmillan
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Getting There
by Suzanne Hilton
from Westminster Press
for 5th-Adult
in Things That Go (Location: SCI-TTGO)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Gregor Mendel
by Simon Mawer
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 11th-Adult
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
High Flew the Falcons
by Herbert Molloy Mason, Jr.
1st edition from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for Adult
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
History of Invention
by Egon Larsen
Revised from J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd.
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
History of the American Sailing Navy
by Howard I. Chapelle
from Bonanza Books
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Hostile Skies
by James J. Hudson
1st edition from Syracuse University Press
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
How Edison's Lamp Helped Light the West
by John Dierdorff
from Pacific Power & Light
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Hunters
by Dr. Philip Whitfield, illustrated by Richard Orr
from Simon and Schuster
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Illustrated History of Ships and Boats
by Lionel Casson
from Doubleday & Company
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Last Grain Race
by Eric Newby
1st Printing from Houghton Mifflin
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$32.00 (1 in stock)
Lefties
by Jack Fincher
1993 reprint from Barnes & Noble
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Liberty Ships
by John Gorley Bunker
from Naval Institute Press
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Living Amphibians of the World
by Doris M. Cochran
from Doubleday & Company
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Manual of Celestial Navigation
by Arthur A. Ageton
from D. Van Nostrand Co.
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$18.00 (1 in stock)
Map That Changed the World
by Simon Winchester
1st edition from HarperCollins
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$10.00 (2 in stock)
Medley of Mast and Sail 2
by Alex A. Hurst
from Naval Institute Press
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Mustang at War
by Roger A. Freeman
from Doubleday & Company
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Nature of Natural History
by Marston Bates
from Charles Scribner's Sons
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Nothing Like It in the World
by Stephen E. Ambrose
from Simon and Schuster
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Of Yachts and Men
by William Atkin, illustrations by Charles G. Davis, introduction by Charles F. Chapman
from Sheridan House
for Adult
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
One Giant Leap
by Charles Pappas
from Lyons Press
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$13.00 (1 in stock)
Oregon Shipwrecks
by Don Marshall
1st edition from Binford & Mort Publishing
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Our Amazing Birds
by Robert S. Lemmon, illustrated by Don R. Eckelberry
from Doubleday & Company
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Our Historic Desert
by Diana Elaine Lindsay
First Edition from Copley Books
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pacific Lumber Ships
by Gordon Newell and Joe Williamson
1st edition from Superior Publishing Company
for Adult
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
People, Places, Things, Ideas - 4 Volume Set
from Hawthorn Books, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$32.00 (1 in stock)
Peterson Field Guides: Western Birds
by Noble Proctor, Roger Tory Peterson
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 7th-Adult
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Pictorial History of Outboard Motors
by W.J. Webb with Robert W. Carrick
from Renaissance Editions
for Adult
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$48.00 (1 in stock)
Piloting, Seamanship, and Small Boat Handling
by Charles F. Chapman
from Motor Boating
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Pioneer Aircraft 1903-14
by Kenneth Munson, illustrated by John W. Wood
from Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Planets, The
by Dava Sobel
from Viking Press
for 10th-Adult
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Posted Missing
by Alan Villiers
from Charles Scribner's Sons
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
Principles of Warship Construction and Damage Control
by G.C. Manning and T.L. Schumacher
4th edition from United States Naval Institute
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$19.00 (1 in stock)
Rand McNally Atlas of the Oceans
from Rand McNally
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Relativity
by Albert Einstein, translated by Robert W. Lawson
from Crown Publishers
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast
by R.C. Anderson
from Marine Research Society
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$20.00 (1 in stock)
Sailing-Ship
by Romola & R. C. Anderson
from Bonanza Books
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$5.50 (1 in stock)
Science Book of Space Travel
by Harold Leland Goodwin, illustrated by Jack Coggins
First Printing from Franklin Watts
for 10th-Adult
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Scientific Illustration
by Phyllis Wood
from Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.
for Adult
in Science Reference (Location: SCIREF)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Sea and River Pilots
by Nancy Martin
from Terence Dalton Limited
for Adult
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sea Trip in Clipper Ship Days
by Mary Matthews Bray
from Gorham Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Seafaring America
by Alexander Laing
from McGraw-Hill
for 6th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Secrets of Backyard Bird-Feeding Success
by Deborah L. Martin
from Rodale Press
for 7th-Adult
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Ships
by Tom McCluskie
from Chartwell Books
for 10th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ships
Man in Motion
by C. Hamilton Ellis
from Peebles Press International
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ships and Cargoes
by Joseph Leeming
1st edition from Doubleday, Page & Company
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Ships Through the Ages
by Douglas Lobley
from Octopus Books Limited
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Steam and Sail in Britain and North America
by Rear Admiral P.W. Brock and Basil Greenhill
1st edition from Pyne Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Stories Behind Everyday Things
from Reader's Digest
for Adult
in Science Reference (Location: SCIREF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Tall Ships
by Maldwin Drummond, illustrated by Mike Willoughby, Foreword by H.R.H the Duke of Edinburgh
First American Edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 10th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Tides
by Jonathan White
from Trinity University Press
for 9th-Adult
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Timechart History of Aviation
from Lowe & B. Hould Publishers
for 6th-Adult
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Trains
by John R. Day, illustrated by David A. Warner & Nigel W. Hearn
1989 Reprint from Treasure Press
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Undersea Adventure
by Philippe Diole, translated from the French by Alan Ross
3rd Printing from Julian Messner
for 9th-Adult
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Universe in a Nutshell
by Stephen Hawking
from Bantam Books
for Adult
in Physics (Location: SCI-PHY)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
US Carriers at War
by Peter Kilduff
2nd edition from Naval Institute Press
for 9th-Adult
in Military & Weapon History (Location: HISV-MILIT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Victorian & Edwardian Sailing Ships
by Basil Greenhill & Ann Giffard
1981 Reprint from Naval Institute Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Visual Dictionary of Everyday Things
DK Visual Dictionaries
from DK Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Visual Dictionary of Physics
DK Visual Dictionaries
by Jack Challoner
from DK Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Visual Dictionary of the Universe
DK Visual Dictionaries
by Paul Docherty, ed.
from DK Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Volcanoes
by Phillippe Bourseiller
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
West Coast Windjammers in Story and Pictures
by Jim Gibbs
from Superior Publishing Company
for 8th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
What Darwin Got Wrong
by Jerry Fodor & Massimo Piatelli-Palmarni
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 10th-Adult
in Science Reference (Location: SCIREF)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Wild Life the World Over
by Frank Shay, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
1953rd edition from Wm. H. Wise & Co.
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Wilderness Warrior
by Douglas Brinkley
from HarperCollins
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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