Explore Electricity!: With 25 Great Projects

by Carmella Van Vleet, Bryan Stone (Illustrator)

Overview

Given the pace of how we harness and utilize electricity, as well as the importance of developing new sources of energy, electricity is a timely subject for kids to explore. In Explore Electricity! With 25 Great Projects , kids ages 6-9 will learn the basics of electricity: currents, circuits, power, magnetism and electromagnetism, motors and generators. They’ll become more attuned to how much they rely on electricity in their daily lives. They’ll also understand that while electricity is a wonderful resource, and one we’ve used to our advantage ever since it was discovered, the future of how we make and use electricity is still changing and there are things they can do today to impact these changes.

This title invites kids to experiment on their own with 25 simple projects that will “spark” their learning and enthusiasm, including making their own clothespin switch, lemon battery, compass, electromagnet, and flashlight, as well as generating their own “lightning.” These hands-on activities combined with informational text will excite kids about STEM? the interrelated fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619301801
Publisher:	Nomad Press
Publication date:	08/01/2013
Series:	Nomad Press Explore Your World Series
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	800L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Carmella Van Vleet is the author of several books for Nomad Press including Amazing Ben Franklin Inventions You Can Build Yourself , Explore Ancient Egypt! , Seven Wonders of the World , and Great Ancient Egypt Projects You Can Build Yourself . Her work has been featured in Highlights , Parenting , and Scholastic Instructor . Carmella lives in Lewis Center, Ohio.

Bryan Stone is a cartoonist who graduated from the Center for Cartoon Studies. He has illustrated several books for Nomad Press including Explore Night Science! , Explore Rivers and Ponds! , Explore Rocks and Minerals! , Explore Flight! , and Explore Electricity! . Bryan lives in Hartland, Vermont.

Table of Contents

Timeline
Introduction: Let’s Explore Electricity
Chapter 1: Static Electricity
Chapter 2: Currents
Chapter 3: Circuits
Chapter 4: Electromagnetism
Chapter 5: Motors and Generators
Chapter 6: Earth-Friendly Electricity
Glossary
Resources
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This book is an excellent source for science experiments, arts and crafts, historical exercises, and just plain fun!”  —Children’s Literature Review on Amazing Ben Franklin Projects You Can Build Yourself

“This book a worthwhile addition to your library.”  —School Library Journal on Explore Ancient Greece

“A great read—informative, yet concise. Definitely a book you’ll want to revisit to try out every project.”  —DIG Magazine on Seven Wonders of the World

Editorial Reviews

National Science Teachers Association Recommends
“ Explore Electricity! is written for an elementary age level, but middle school students would enjoy learning about historical background on electricity while completing the electricity projects. The contents of this book will captivate students with the electrifying topics. . . This book is a well–written resource for classroom teachers, students, and parents.”

Booklist
"With a heavy emphasis on STEM and engaging trivia, this well-designed title is a quality introduction to the basics of electricity. Van Vleet puts humankind’s fascination with electricity in historical context and briefly discusses our dependency on electrical energy. Circuits, electromagnetism, batteries, and lightning are all topics explored in informational text with embedded experimental projects. . ."

Bookloons
"Both home schooling families and teachers will find this book a handy aid when it comes to teaching a youngster about electricity."

Dr. Karen Panetta, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tufts University
“Power, energy and electronics dominate our lives, yet very few people understand how electricity works or the exciting opportunities waiting out there for future electrical engineers to conquer. These fun, low-cost projects are a great way to engage your entire family to learn about and appreciate the great innovations electricity has brought to our lives.”

Marla Conn, educational consultant
“ Explore Electricity! gives students the opportunity to learn about electricity and its impact on society—past, present, and future. Will make a perfect supplemental text for the STEM program grades 4–8.”

Troy McBride, Chief Technology Officer, SustainX, Inc. & Norwich Technologies, Inc.
“This is the kind of book that we need—hands-on science and technology written for children.”

From the Publisher

Part of the "Explore Your World" series, Van Vleet, walks us through the basic physics of electricity and unlike other books of this ilk, she follows up each explanation with an easy demonstration that drives the point home. For example, she explains that "a watt is a unit of power...the higher the watts, the more power and the more work that can be done." Her simple demonstration uses a small and a large balloon and water. With both balloons filled with water, she has the reader poke a hole in the bottom and notice the speed of the water coming out. Then do the same with the bigger balloon. "Which balloon pushed out the water with more power?" The book covers the following topics: static electricity, currents, circuits, electromagnetism, motors and generators, and finally earth-friendly electricity. Each page has its own glossary, set in a box titled: "Words to Know." In another nice layout feature, Stone has feature a drawing of a circuit board on the edges of the pages that hold experiments, making it easier to turn directly to the hands-on portion of the book. For kids who want and need hands-on applications to understand otherwise abstract science, this book is a winner. Reviewer: Amy S. Hansen

Children's Literature - Amy S. Hansen

02/01/2014
Gr 4–8—This entry into an already populated field provides an introduction that goes beyond the usual to include compact fluorescent lights, diodes, semiconductors, transformers, breaker panels, commutators, and capacitors. The six chapters cover "Static Electricity," "Currents," "Circuits," "Electromagnetism," "Motors and Generators," and "Earth-Friendly Electricity." A time line introduces the title and each chapter includes historical references and several activities-mostly boilerplate. While the book's scope is broader than most comparable titles, the explanations can be skimpy and obtuse. Stone's black-and-white diagrams are plentiful but the lack of labels to clarify the concepts is problematic. Beginners will be better served by Matt Mullin's Electricity or Susan H. Gray's Experiments With Electricity (both Scholastic, 2011), Robert Gardner's Electricity and Magnetism (Enslow, 2010) or the more detailed explanations in Shar Levine and Leslie Johnstone's Shocking Science (Sterling, 1999 o.p.).—Carol S. Surges, formerly at Longfellow Middle School, Wauwatosa, WI

School Library Journal