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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Stepping Stone: Totally True Adventures!
by Lori Haskins Houran
from Random House
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
100 Science Experiments
Usborne Internet-Linked
by Georgina Andrews & Kate Knighton
from Usborne
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in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$10.00 (3 in stock)
100 Things You Should Know about Mammals
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1000 Facts About Space
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1001 Animals to Spot
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1001 Bugs to Spot
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101 Questions About Volcanoes
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101 Super Simple Science Experiments
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from Gravitas Publications, Inc.
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19th Century Railway Station
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21 Super Simple Astronomy Experiments
by Rebecca W. Keller
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21 Super Simple Biology Experiments
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21 Super Simple Chemistry Experiments
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21 Super Simple Physics Experiments
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290
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3-D Human Body
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365 More Simple Science Experiments with Everyday Materials
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365 Simple Science Experiments with Everyday Materials
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44 Animals of the Bible
by Nancy Johnson
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$9.59
50 Science Things to Make & Do
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7 Continents: Antarctica
by Jo Ellen Moore
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A Closer Look at Plant Life
Closer Look books
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About Mammals
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About Paper
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Accidents May Happen
by Charlotte Foltz Jones, illustrated by John O'Brien
from Delacorte Press
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures in Sound with Max Axiom, Super Scientist
Max Axiom, Super Scientist
by Emily Sohn, illustrated by Cynthia Martin and Anne Timmons
from Capstone Press
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Adventures of Bob White
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #23
by Thornton W. Burgess
Illustrated from Dover Publications
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$4.25
Adventures of Munford: Munford Meets Robert Fulton
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Fir from Geography Matters
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Adventures with Atoms and Molecules Book I
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Engineering in Action
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Dover Coloring Books
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Album of Astronomy
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Album of North American Birds
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Alexander Graham Bell
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Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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All Aboard!
by Monica Kulling; illustrated by Bill Slavin
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$8.99
All About Animals and Their Young
All About Books #25
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All About Bible Animals
by Simona Piscioneri
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
All About Biology
All About Books #52
by Bernard Glemser
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All About Birds
All About Books #11
by Robert S. Lemmon, illustrated by Fritz Kredel
1955 Edition from Random House
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All About Dinosaurs
All About Books #1
by Roy Chapman Andrews
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All About Dogs
All About Books #42
by Carl Burger
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All About Electricity
All About Books #23
by Ira M. Freeman, illustrated by Evelyn Urbanowich
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All About Engines and Power
All About Books #45
by Sam & Beryl Epstein
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All About Famous Inventors and Their Inventions
All About Books #18
by Fletcher Pratt
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All About Fish
All About Books #34
by Carl Burger
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All About Horses
All About Books #43
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All About Light and Radiation
All About Books #57
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All About Monkeys
All About Books #26
by Robert S. Lemmon
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All About Moths and Butterflies
All About Books #15
by Robert S. Lemmon, illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Random House
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All About Mountains and Mountaineering
All About #41
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All About Our Changing Rocks
All About Books #12
by Anne Terry White
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All About Prehistoric Cave Men
All About Books #30
by Sam & Beryl Epstein
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All About Radio and Television
All About Books #2
by Jack Gould
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All About Radio and Television
All About Books #2
by Jack Gould
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All About Rockets and Jets
All About Books #13
by Fletcher Pratt
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All About Rockets and Space Flight
All About Books #50
by Harold Goodwin
from Random House
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
All About Sailing the Seven Seas
All About Books #40
by Ruth Brindze
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All About Satellites and Space Ships
All About Books #28
by David Dietz
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All About Satellites and Space Ships
All About Books #28
by David Dietz
Revised edition from Random House
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All About Sound and Ultrasonics
All About Books #37
by Ira M. Freeman
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All About Strange Beasts of the Past
All About Books #17
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All About Strange Beasts of the Present
All About Books #19
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All About the Atom
All About Books #10
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All About the Desert
All About Books #21
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All About the Flowering World
All About Books #14
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All About the Human Body
All About Books #27
by Bernard Glemser, illustrated by Felix Traugott
from Unknown Publisher
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All About the Human Mind
All About Books #47
by Robert M. Goldenson, illustrated with photographs & diagrams
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All About the Insect World
All About Books #6
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All About the Jungle
All About Books #29
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All About the Planet Earth
All About Books #46
by Patricia Lauber, illustrated by Lee Ames
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All About the Planets
All About Books #33
by Patricia Lauber
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All About the Sea
All About Books #3
by Ferdinand C. Lane, illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Random House
Humorous Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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All About the Stars
All About Books #7
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All About the Universe
All About Books #55
by David Dietz, illustrated by John Polgreen
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
All About the Weather
All About Books #5
by Ivan Ray Tannehill
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All About the Weather - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Bruce LaFontaine
from Dover Publications
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$4.24
All About the Wonders of Chemistry
All About Books #9
by Ira M. Freeman, illustrated by George Wilde
from Random House
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All About Volcanoes & Earthquakes
All About Books #4
by Frederick H. Pough
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All About Whales
All About Books #8
by Roy Chapman Andrews
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All in a Drop
by Lori Alexander; illustrated by Vivien Mildenberger
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$10.19
All the Year Round
by Alice Gall, illustrated by Fleming Crew
Second Printing from Oxford University
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$25.00 (1 in stock)
Amazing Impossible Erie Canal
by Cheryl Harness
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Historical Non-Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.99
Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself
by Maxine Anderson
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$7.50 (2 in stock)
Amazing Pop-Up Pull-Out Space Shuttle
by David Hawcock
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Amazing Story of the Combustion Engine
Max Axiom STEM Adventures
by Mari Bolte, illustrated by Pop Art Properties
from Capstone Press
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Amazing Thing Called Memory
by Kelley Williams
from The Good and the Beautiful
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Amazon Rainforest
Good and the Beautiful Library Level 7
by Elizabeth Theurnagle
from The Good and the Beautiful
for 4th-7th grade
in GATB Science & Health (Location: CUR-GABSc)
America's Deserts
by Marianne D. Wallace
1st edition
for 4th-6th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
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