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.

 

Did you find this review helpful?
78 Items found Print
Active Filters: 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), Library Binding
Animal Architects
by W. Wright Robinson
from Blackbirch Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Animals and Their Travels - Deluxe Edition
by Richard A. Martin, series editor Herbert S. Zim
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Animals on the Move
by Ann and Myron Sutton, illustrated by Paula Hutchison
1968 First Cadmus Edition from Hale-Cadmus
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Baby Animals
Extraordinary Animals
by Andrew Brown
from Crabtree Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Barn Owls
by Wolfgang Epple, photographs by Manfred Rogl
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Beginning Science with Mr. Wizard: Water
by Don Herbert, Hy Ruchlis, illustrated by Mel Hunter
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Better Mousetraps
by Nathan Aaseng
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 3rd-6th grade
in Inventions & Discoveries (Location: SCI-INV)
Big and Small, Short and Tall
by Ron Roy, illustrated by Lynne Cherry
from Clarion Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
California Plant & Animal Communities
by Barbara J. Collins
from California State Department of Education
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Coyote
by Stephen R. Swinburne
from Boyds Mill Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Dan and the Miranda
by Wilson Gage, illustrated by Glen Rounds
from World Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Deepest Lake
by Kris Hirschmann
1st edition from KidHaven Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in River, Pond & Swamp (Location: SCI-ECO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Discoverer: The Story of a Satellite
by Michael Chester and Saunders B. Kramer
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Earth
by Steven L. Kipp
from Bridgestone Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Astronomy (Space) (Location: SCI-AST)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Eggs of Things
by Maxine W. Kumin and Anne Sexton, illustrated by Leonard Shortall
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Everyday Chemicals
by Kathryn Whyman
from Stargazer Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Chemistry (Location: SCI-CHEM)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Exploring the Animal Kingdom
by Millicent E. Selsam, illustrated by Lee Ames
from Garden City Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
Fast Forward: Rain Forest
by Kathryn Senior; illustrated by Carolyn Scrace
from Salariya Book Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Ecology (Location: SCI-ECO)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
First Book of Mammals
by Margaret Williamson
from Franklin Watts
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
First Book of Sea Shells
by Betty Cavanna, Illustrated by Marguerite Scott
from Franklin Watts
for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
First Look at Owls, Eagles, and Other Hunters of the Sky
by Millicent E. Selsam, illustrated by Joyce Hunt
from Walker Publishing, Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Fun-Time Terrariums and Aquariums
by Jerome Leavitt and John Huntsberger, illustrated by Bill Armstrong
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Future in Space
Isaac Asimov's Library of the Universe
by Isaac Asimov
from Gareth Stevens Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Space Race & Exploration (Location: HISA-20SPR)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Grasshopper on the Road
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Arnold Lobel
from Harper & Row
for Preschool-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
Gulf Stream
by Ruth Brindze, illustrated by Helene Carter
from Vanguard Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Halley's Comet
by Norman D. Anderson and Walter R. Brown
from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Astronomy (Space) (Location: SCI-AST)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Housefly
by Heiderose and Andreas Fischer-Nagel
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
How and Why Wonder Book of Ants and Bees
by Ronald N. Rood, Illustrated by Cynthia and Alvin Koehler
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
How and Why Wonder Book of Fish
by Geoffrey Coe, illustrated by Cynthia IlIff Koehler and Alvin Koehler
1972 Printing from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
How and Why Wonder Book of Insects
by Ronald N. Rood, Illustrated by Cynthia and Alvin Koehler
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
How and Why Wonder Book of Mushrooms Ferns and Mosses
by Amy Elizabeth Jensen, illustrated by Cynthia Iliff Koehler and Alvin Koehler
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
How and Why Wonder Book of Oceanography
by Robert Scharff, illustrated by Robert Doremus
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
How and Why Wonder Book of Prehistoric Mammals
by Martin L. Keen, illustrated by John Hull
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
How and Why Wonder Book of Sea Shells
by Donald F. Low, illustrated by Cynthia and Alvin Koehler
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
How and Why Wonder Book of the Moon
by Felix Sutton, illustrated by Raul Mina Mora
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
How Do Airplanes Fly?
Ask Isaac Asimov
by Isaac Asimov and Elizabeth Kaplan
from Gareth Stevens Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in How Things Work (Location: SCIREF-HOW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
How People Learned to Move About
by Shirley Chilton, Roy Chilton, Robert Chilton; illustrated by N. Kay Stevenson and Kathleen McCarthy
from Elk Grove Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
How We Hear
by Judith Fryer, illustrated by George Overlie
from Medical Books for Children
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Look at the Stars
by Dr. H.C. King, illustrated by Jan Fairservis
from Coward McCann
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$14.00 (2 in stock)
Meteors and Meteorites
by David C. Knight
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Microbes at Work
by Millicent E. Selsam, illustrated by Helen Ludwig
from William Morrow & Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Mission to Mars
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 2
by Franklyn M. Branley, Illustrated by True Kelley, Foreword by Neil Armstrong
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Space Race & Exploration (Location: HISA-20SPR)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Monarch Butterfly: Winging North & South
by Marion W. Marcher; illustrated by Barbara Latham
from Holiday House
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$36.00 (1 in stock)
New True Book of Bald Eagles
by Emilie U. Lepthien
from Children's Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
New True Book: Hurricanes
by Arlene Erlbach
from Children's Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Meteorology (Weather & Climate) (Location: SCI-WEA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Octopus
by Olive L. Earle
from William Morrow & Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Oliver Pete is a Bird
by Carroll Lane Fenton and Dorothy Constance Pallas
from The John Day Company
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Our Planet Earth
Isaac Asimov's New Library of the Universe
by Isaac Asimov, Revised and Updated by Francis Reddy
from Gareth Stevens Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Earth Science (Location: SCI-EARTH)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Outside and Inside Spiders
by Sandra Markle
from Atheneum
for 2nd-4th grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Pinto Horse
by Gail B. Stewart, Photography by William Munoz
from Capstone Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Red Sea
by Leighton Taylor, photography by Norbert Wu
from Blackbirch Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Near & Middle East (Location: HISMC-NME)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Rockets to the Moon
by Erik Bergaust
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Seasons, The
by Derek Jervis, illustrated by Joan Beales
from The John Day Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
See Through the Forest
by Millicent Ellis Selsam, illustrated by Winifred Lubell
from Harper & Row
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Shape: The Purpose of Forms
Science At Work
by Eric Laithwaite
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-6th grade
in How Things Work (Location: SCIREF-HOW)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Sharks
by Herbert S. Zim, illustrated by Stephen Howe
from William Morrow & Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Your Blood
by Edith Lucie Weart, illustrated by Z. Onyshkewych
from Coward McCann
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Story of Your Bones
by Edith Lucie Weart, illustrated by Jan Fairservis
from Coward McCann
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
The Tiger
by George B. Schaller and Millicent E. Selsam
from HarperCrest
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Trains
A New True Book
by Ray Broekel
from Children's Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Things That Go (Location: SCI-TTGO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
True Book of Chemistry
by Philip Carona, illustrated by George Wilde
from Children's Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
True Book of Insects
by Illa Podendorf, illustrated by Chauncey Maltman
from Children's Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
True Book: Tropical Rain Forests
by Darlene R. Stille
from Children's Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Ecology (Location: SCI-ECO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
UFOs: Unidentified Flying Objects
by Howard Liss
from Hawthorn Books, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Water Appears and Disappears
Basic Science Education Series
by Glenn O. Blough, illustrated by Florence McAnelly and James Teason
from Golden Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
We'll Race You, Henry
by Barbara Mitchell
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
What Makes a Car Go?
by Scott Corbett, illustrated by Leonard Darwin
5th printing from Atlantic Monthly Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Why Things Don't Work: Tank
by David West
from Raintree
for 3rd-6th grade
in How Things Work (Location: SCIREF-HOW)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Why Things Don't Work: Train
by David West
from Raintree
for 3rd-6th grade
in How Things Work (Location: SCIREF-HOW)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Why? A Book of Reasons
The Reason Why Series
by Irving & Ruth Adler
from The John Day Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Wild America Habitats: Deserts
by Melissa Cole
from Blackbirch Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Deserts & Grasslands (Location: SCI-ECO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Wild Babies
by Irene Brady
from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-3rd grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Wonders of an Oceanarium
by Lou Jacobs, Jr.
from Hale-Cadmus
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Wonders of Water
by Charles Lavaroni, Arthur Staebler (scientific consultant)
from California State Department of Education
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World at War: Fighter Planes
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
You Will Go to the Moon
by Mae and Ira Freeman, illustrated by Lee Ames
Revised from Random House
for 1st-3rd grade
in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Young Experimenters' Workbook
by Harry and Laura Sootin, illustrated by Frank Aloise
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Your Eyes
The Reason Why Series
by Irving & Ruth Adler
from The John Day Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$6.00 (1 in stock)