Books in Simple Machine Science series

If you need to move something heavy from one height to another, you need an inclined plane. These simple machines help us go up, and they help us go down. Moving vans use them, and so do people in wheelchairs. Inclined planes can also help us keep a door open and let us do skateboarding tricks at the skate park. Accessible text and vivid photographs help readers understand this essential science topic. A helpful graphic organizer and a useful glossary allow readers to easily navigate this book, making it a reading experience that is both educational and engaging.

Focusing on the universal laws, characteristics, and tendencies common to nearly all gases, this book is an excellent primer on how gases behave and react under various typical laboratory and real-world conditions. It provides compelling profiles of the scientists who discovered many gases, pioneered our understanding of them, and formulated many of the "Gas laws." The book features an intriguing section on the practical uses of gases in our everyday world, from fire extinguishers and air bags to carbonated soda and methane fuel cells. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of global warming from the perspective of gases and the gas laws discussed in earlier chapters. Tying everything together in this way and ending on a hopeful, encouraging note, this book makes invisible gases entirely present to the reader and explains just how important they are to life on Earth.

How are wheelbarrows, can openers, and bicycle brakes alike? Why is it easier to hold a bolt tight with a pair of pliers than with your bare hands? Why is it easier to eat a carrot with back teeth than with your front? Why is a seesaw considered a machine? This book shows you how different kinds of these simple machines are all around you to make your work and play easier.